Porch Particulars

At about the same time Susan Whitaker set out to repair the Greek Revival-style porch of her gift shop, located in an historic home in Trumansburg, New York, a local antiques dealer presented her with an old photograph of the building. The problem was that the porch in the photograph bore no resemblance to the decaying structure Whitaker wanted to restore to its original condition. Somewhere in between, history had intervened.

The two-family brick home was originally built in 1867, on the site of a wooden structure destroyed during Trumansburg's "great fire" of 1864. At that time, a father and son each occupied one half of the building. But when a family dispute caused the two to separate, one side of the duplex was sold, resulting in a property line that ran through the center of the house. (There are still remnants of a fence in the attic dividing the two halves.)

During the following years, the building underwent many changes, serving as a funeral parlor and a clinic. In the early 1900s, a Dr. Townsend purchased both units for his medical practice. It was probably around this time, during a period when Greek Revival houses were being built in Trumansburg and surrounding areas, that the porch was redesigned.

The home remained in the Townsend and Feller families until 1995, when Susan Whitaker purchased it and created a 950-square-foot gift store, Black Sheep Designs, in what had been the living room, dining room, and kitchen of the residence. Whitaker carries a varied line of giftware for local customers, as well as wares made by local artisans, including pottery, tapestry handbags, jewelry, and pressed flowers, to appeal to the many summer tourists who visit upstate New York's Finger Lakes wine region each year, and account for a large part of the store's customer base.

The added traffic of customers coming and going began to wear on the porch, and Susan Whitaker knew she had to do something about it. In 1999, with the photographic evidence in hand, she sought a builder to restore the porch to its original style. Local carpenter Peter Cooke used the photo and two existing columns from another part of the house to design a porch that would serve the store's needs and remain as faithful as possible to the original style. While the new porch matched the Italianate style of the house, some modern-day compromises had to be made, including a pitched roof, new lighting, and handicap access to conform to building codes.

Since the reconstruction involved the entire front of the building, Whitaker arranged to move shelving inside the store to provide access through a side door. Many customers were undeterred, however, ignoring directional signs, ducking under the yellow tape, and walking across narrow planks to enter through the front door. Construction noise and dust were added annoyances. Still, customers seemed to take an interest in the transformation, and were as eager as Whitaker to witness the rejuvenation of the porch.

The porch was completed in about four months at a cost of $27,000 partly paid with the help of a grant from a Tompkins County revitalization program.

Whitaker has been surprised and thrilled by the results. She says that people who had never noticed the store before now come by to visit, and the new look of the Italianate porch even seems to stop some of the traffic that passes through the village.

Thanks in part to the new porch, which was nominated for an Historic Ithaca renovation award, Trumansburg's residents continue to take pride in their community. The Presbyterian Church located next door to Black Sheep Designs was listed with the National Historic Registry, and a new library, designed to reflect the architectural style of the town and approved by the New York State Preservation Society, was recently opened.

And the renovations continue. Whitaker found a glass artist who was able to replace the front entrance's broken and missing red glass sidelights with glass imported from France. In addition, window replacement and painting (with original colors) continues at Black Sheep Designs.

Unfortunately, with all that activity — not to mention having a store to run — Susan Whitaker has precious little time to sit with visitors and enjoy the view from her new, 135-year-old front porch.