Even More Great Homes of Rochester

California meets Rochester

Bungalows, originally meant as a small but beautiful means of coping with the East Indian sun, are most often associated with California. They reached their height of popularity at the time as the Arts and Crafts movement in America. A builder who saw both come alive in a Pasadena bungalow took the exact plans to copy in his hometown back east. That bungalow was voted Most Beautiful Home in Rochester in 1916, several years after the builder ran out of money before ever getting to live in his dream. The current owners, Jim and Marie Via, have brought the original passion for the rough, hands on beauty of the Arts and Crafts style into the ongoing, authentic restoration of the bungalow.

Tuscany in Mendon

Architect Rodney Skirment had never had a client spend 5 years researching the perfect place and style of their dream house. The style was inspired by the classic lines of 16th century master Andreas Palladio. For several reasons, the dream house that became a real life, 3-story Italian villa has passed on to Robert and Jill Klimasewski. They have made their own mark from the playful rooster theme in the fully equipped Tuscan kitchen to the soaring center space that dominates the home. It is a new home but one destined to be a classic.

Children return to East Avenue

East Avenue, for more than a century the address of Rochester’s rich and powerful is lovely still but has come alive to a sound not heard often for a generation: young families have returned. Among those, the Coves. Colleagues wanted to lure Dr. Christopher Cove back to Strong Memorial from Cleveland. Initially reluctant, he and his wife, Lisa, changed their minds almost instantly when they stepped inside a sprawling English Tudor on the corner of East Boulevard. The Coves’ 3 sons now have the run of a home most often associated with a very different family, the Eisenharts. The longest term residents of the Tudor mansion were once among the most powerful and philanthropic in Western New York.

Salt of the Earth

Warsaw, New York was once the salt capitol of the nation. There was money to be made there, money the Humphrey family earned from real estate, banking and other business interests. The family is still in banking and is still in the house that that first bloom of money built, a stately 1880s Queen Anne that has been lovingly and painstakingly restored over a 14 year period. In each room is a different elegance and wood. In each, a different mood enjoyed in different seasons.

The House with the Light On

Travel down Main Street in Canandaigua and you have seen it, the commanding presence that beautifully combines several styles and eras. Its also the place where, sparked by tragedy, a light shines on for a son who will never come home.