Wombough, William, House
Why it's listed
Built around 1830 on East Front Street in Addison, New York, this clapboard farmhouse sits on roughly 58 acres of its original farmland. It is two and one-half stories, five bays wide, with fluted pilasters, a full-width porch and a rear salt-box extension that holds the kitchen and dining area. It was built for William Wombough, who set up a sawmill in 1805 and a gristmill in 1806, received rights in 1816 to build a dam on the Canisteo River, and had village lots laid out in 1832 that formed the nucleus of Addison. Ownership later passed to his son-in-law Rufus Baldwin Jr., then to Calvin Cowley, who ran a large farm. Around 1910 the house was altered in Colonial Revival fashion, with new windows and interior features. It was listed for its ties to early settlement and as a rare local example of simple Federal and Greek Revival design, set within a surviving agricultural landscape.
Significance in brief: The house is significant under Criterion A for its link to the early settlement of Addison, having been built for a leading landowner, developer and early industrialist. It is significant under Criterion C as a rare surviving example of the simple late Federal to early Greek Revival style in the Southern Tier. Alterations made around 1910 kept much nineteenth-century fabric while reflecting changing tastes of a farming family.
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 03000593, listed July 3, 2003. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 145 E. Front St., Addison |
|---|---|
| County | Steuben County |
| Listed | July 3, 2003 |
| Reference number | 03000593 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | ca. 1830-1910 |
| Architectural style | Early Republic; Transitional Federal/Greek Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Exploration/Settlement, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still used as a residence; two noncontributing buildings (a former summer kitchen now a garage, and a ranch-style tenant house) share the property, and the nineteenth-century barns no longer exist. |
| Coordinates | 42.11468, -77.21825 (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 03000593.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q8020520
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.