Potter, Arnold, House
The pin is a point inside the NPS boundary polygon, not a surveyed location.
Why it's listed
This farmhouse and barn complex on Voak Road in Potter, Yates County, centers on a square, two-story Georgian-style house built around 1790 for Arnold Potter. Robert Jordan of Rhode Island designed it, and local carpenters Samuel Clark and Nathan Warner built it. The exterior was altered in the early 1900s, including loss of its Palladian window and original entrance, but the symmetrical central-hall plan, wide chestnut floorboards, mantels and original stair survive. Behind the house stand a ca. 1890 gambrel-roofed barn, two ca. 1920 silos and several sheds on 138.5 acres still farmed for dairy, corn and hay. Potter, a follower of Jemima Wilkinson's Society of Universal Friends who later broke with it, bought 55,000 acres east of Canandaigua Lake in 1789, sold parcels to settlers, and built a gristmill and sawmill. He presided at the first town meeting of Augusta in 1797 and served as a county judge until his death in 1810.
Significance in brief: It is tied to Arnold Potter, an early settler, land and mill owner and founding figure of the town, who came to the Finger Lakes as a follower of Jemima Wilkinson, the Universal Friend. It is a rare example of Georgian-influenced residential architecture in Yates County. It is also a local example of a farm complex that evolved from the 1790s to about 1920.
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 94000950, listed August 24, 1994. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 1445 Voak Rd., Potter |
|---|---|
| County | Yates County |
| Listed | August 24, 1994 |
| Reference number | 94000950 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1790 - ca. 1920 |
| Architect / builder | Robert Jordan, Architect; Samuel Clark, Nathan Warner, Carpenters |
| Architectural style | Early Republic: Georgian |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Exploration/Settlement, Agriculture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still a private single-family dwelling; most of the farmland is used for dairy farming and corn and hay cultivation. The exterior has been altered, while much of the interior survives intact. |
| Acreage | 138.5 |
| Coordinates | 42.68892, -77.12888 (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 94000950.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4795204
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.