The Andrew Short House

The house located at 1294 Lehigh Station Road, currently owned by Greg and Bonnie Kase, was recently placed in Historic Site District 11 by the Henrietta Town Board. Driving by, you may think that the house looks too "new" to qualify as an historic property. However, this farmhouse is also part of the National Register of Historic Places.

With the help of a representative of the New York State Historic Preservation Office, the homeowners worked tirelessly to have their house recognized at the local, state and national level. The following description comes from the nomination materials from the SHPO office:

"Constructed in the 1850s, the house is a farm residence of vertical wood plank construction, the first to be documented for the town. The interior of the house retains its historic features with lath and plaster walls and ceilings, wall and ceiling moldings, wood floors and an enclosed staircase. With most of its historic fabric intact, the house is an excellent example of mid-nineteenth century plank house construction and of house it was updated to fit the needs of the farm and family."

Plank houses required large supplies of lumber. Before it became the Town of Henrietta, this area was known as the West Woods of Pittsford. Lumber for houses was readily available.

Andrew Short was an Irish immigrant who settled in Henrietta around 1855. He worked as a laborer in the city of Rochester and earned the funds to purchase three acres of farmland on Lehigh Station Road. Eventually he was able to expand his farm to approximately twenty acres by 1870. The farm was inherited by his daughter Elizabeth, the first child from his second marriage. Her daughter, Ester Schaefer Halpin eventually became the owner and sold the property out of the family in 1948.

The house recalls the agricultural beginnings of the town. We are also reminded of the importance of immigrants who, while seeking a better life for themselves, developed the land, organized the town and contributed to the community we call home.