Meadows Farm Complex
Why it's listed
Meadows Farm Complex is a working dairy farm of 96.26 acres on Rippleton Road, just south of the village of Cazenovia, New York. Its buildings span roughly a century. The earliest is a one-and-one-half-story Federal-style farmhouse, thought to date from the 1810s, with a central chimney and a five-bay front. Nearby stands a ca. 1900 farmhouse with restrained Queen Anne details such as sunburst woodwork and scallop shingles. Between them sits a large L-shaped dairy barn built from two mid- to late nineteenth century barns joined in the early twentieth century. Smaller structures include a brick and fieldstone smokehouse, a former slaughterhouse, a machine shed, two sheds and a fieldstone well. Until about 1884 the farm was a dependency of the Ledyard family's Meadows estate. The complex was listed because it preserves an unusually intact set of farm buildings and a rural setting that reflect Cazenovia's agricultural prosperity.
Significance in brief: The complex is argued to be a distinctive, remarkably intact collection of nineteenth and early twentieth century rural farm architecture, built over about a century from ca. 1810. It recalls Cazenovia's prominence as a prosperous agricultural community and documents rural vernacular building traditions in central New York. The dairy barn is described as a rare, architecturally sophisticated example of its kind.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 87001869, listed November 2, 1987. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Rippleton Rd., Cazenovia |
|---|---|
| County | Madison County |
| Listed | November 2, 1987 |
| Reference number | 87001869 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architectural style | Federal (vernacular) guesthouse, ca. 1810s; Queen Anne / Picturesque farmhouse, ca. 1900 |
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Agriculture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Working dairy farm; both farmhouses are in residential use. Condition is listed as fair, with no known threats. |
| Acreage | 94.4 |
| Coordinates | 42.91632, -75.86098 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 87001869.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6803426
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.