RochesterSubway.com : The Old Barber House

The Old Barber House

February 11th, 2013

John Failings Barber settled in the area of Portage, NY during the pioneer days. He struggled with tragedy and hardship and eventually became a prosperous farmer and banker. He built this home—which he called, “Chestnut Place”—on the corner of Short Tract and Oakland roads external link . Before I continue, please be advised, this house is on posted private property.

Emily Stauring external link is a photographer from Arkport, NY. She took most of these photos while out for a drive with a friend…

I asked Emily how she found the place, and what she knew of its history. She says:

Apparently the first people who built it all died of illness, then the next family had a bunch of people pass away, and apparently the latest person who bought it to fix it up had a bunch of plywood fall on one of the contractors and kill him. Now, this is just what I have heard and you know how rumors are! I talked to a lady who used to live in it and was haunted by an old lady she said. It was actually a house that college kids used to party in, and a friend of mine remembered where it was. Three levels—definitely a mansion—apparently it used to have a curved staircase and awesome old fireplaces and a piano, but people have stolen pretty much everything in it. It absolutely had an eerie haunted feeling to it. But I couldn’t resist!

In 1819, John Barber’s mother died. He was just 9 years old at the time. His father brought him and his siblings to Portage external link from Canajoharie, NY . When John’s father died in 1827, John was left with 3 younger brothers and a sister to care for – which he did.

John saw to it that his brothers and sister received educations. He worked hard clearing land with an ox and bull plow which his father had made. In 1835 was able to buy 50 acres of his own land. In the winter he lumbered and rafted timber to Rochester on the Genesee when the river could be run during the spring. He is known to have walked home from Rochester.

The photo above was taken by our friends Chris and Luke (of the Burnt Over District external link blog). This looks like an opening for a missing staircase.

According to a local newspaper article from 1884, Mr. Barber became a very successful business man and banker, although he also continued farming.

Sometime after 1872, Nathaniel Alward, John’s brother-in-law, started to build this house on the site of an earlier one. For some reason Alward decided to go back to Cayuga County (where he had come from). John purchased and completed the house himself. He called it “Chestnut Place” because of the many chestnut trees there.

Robert Gath and his family were the last to live here. Robert wrote this description of it: “Fifteen rooms, a half mile of halls, 9 closets, one fireplace of black marble and two of oak. The doors are curly maple and winding staircase cherry. The wall paper in the the upstairs rooms in the original paper.” He said the marble bathroom is gone.

John Barber’s granddaughter Ethel, her husband Arthur Yates Bennett, and their daughter Dorothy, were the last family members to live in the house. They moved to Alden, NY external link in 1920.

This is the earliest known photo of the old Barber House, taken in 1960 by Roy Gath. On February 23, Joan Schumaker, who has been working on collecting information about the Barber house, will be giving a talk at the Mt. Morris Dam on John Barber. See the Nunda Historical Society’s website external link for more information.

UPDATE: The article previously stated that “John Barber’s granddaughter Ethel, her husband Arthur Yates Bennett, and their daughter Dorothy, were the last people to live in the house.” In fact, they were the last family members to live in the house. Robert Gath and his family were actually the last people to live here. A few reader’s correctly pointed this out.

Thanks to:

Luke & Chris (exploringtheburnedoverdistrict.wordpress.com external link ) for the photo of the staircase opening, and for tipping me off to this fascinating story.

Emily Stauring. You can see more of Emily’s photos (and buy prints) from her March 2011 trip here external link .

Tom Cook and the Nunda Historical Society external link for the 1960′s photo and all the great information.

Tags: abandoned, abandoned house, abandoned mansion, abandoned places, Barber House, Burned Over District, Cayuga County, Chestnut Place, Emily Stauring, Graffiti, Joan Schumaker, John Barber, John Failing Barber, Luke Myer, mansion, Marjorie Frost, Nathaniel Alward, Nunda Historical Society, Oakland Road, photography, Portage NY, Portageville NY, Robert Gath, rochester photos, Roy Gath, Short Tract, Tom Cook

This entry was posted on Monday, February 11th, 2013 at 6:53 am and is filed under Rochester Destinations, Rochester History, Rochester Images. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

25 Responses to “The Old Barber House”

Bill Y says:

February 11, 2013 at 9:08 am

I’ve driven by this place often on my way to my hometown. Thanks for the backstory!
Joel Helfrich says:

February 11, 2013 at 9:35 am

Is the house for sale? If so, it would be a great addition to the back pages of THIS OLD HOUSE magazine.
Peggy Armstrong says:

February 11, 2013 at 10:49 am

Been by this house numerous times, just very intriguing, this would be a case for the Haunted House Hunters on the reality TV show!
Linda Rainer says:

February 11, 2013 at 12:11 pm

My mom Alice Wing Kiefer lived there at some point and my aunt was born there. I don’t know details but will talk to my mom about it. She currently lives at the nursing home in Mt Morris. I remember her telling me she used to rollerskate in the house because it was so big.
RochesterSubway.com says:

February 11, 2013 at 1:18 pm

@Linda! That’s amazing! If you get a chance to talk to your mom about this let us know what she says. You can drop a comment back here or email me directly. Would love to find out more about this house.
Jason Haremza says:

February 11, 2013 at 3:05 pm

Can anyone confirm the details on the Feb. 23 talk? I couldn’t find anything on the Nunda Historical Society Website.
Lisa says:

February 11, 2013 at 7:04 pm

I had heard that Red Hook and Mt. Morris developer Greg O’Connell owns this property now. I never looked into it. Do you know who owns it?
Tom says:

February 11, 2013 at 7:15 pm

Joan’s talk on John Barber and Chestnut Place on February 23 is part of the Mt. Morris Dam’s 2013 Discovery Series. The talk is held at the visitor center at the dam at 1 pm. There is also a model of the house and other materials at the Nunda Historical Society’s building in Nunda.
anonymous says:

February 11, 2013 at 10:56 pm

Very cool! We actually used to “party” there, or drink like fish and go up there to scare each other. I don’t believe it’s haunted at all – but it was a great time back in the day. As an adult (now) I look at these pictures and remember back to the little things you could see inside the “Gath Masion” and how awesome it was. Vintage.
Nina Vossler says:

February 12, 2013 at 7:03 am

My mom and I walked through this house back in the late 80s/early 90s. Never got spooked. I stop for a photo every time I head to Rochester shopping. Shame to see how it’s dilapidating so much more rapidly in just the last few years. Would love to see that model house in Nunda. Even the out-buildings are cool here. Wish it could be renovated!
carolyn. hale says:

February 12, 2013 at 7:35 am

In recent years someone was working on it and it seemed they were going to restore the structure…we heard the restoration stopped because of permit issues. Is there any talk that the restoration would start up again?
chevon duryea says:

February 12, 2013 at 8:53 am

my mother dawn gath and her mother and father use to live there. everyone around here calls it the Gath mansion. ive been in this house b4 and havent ever got the haunted feeling from it. i think whoever claims its haunted is full of it… its def a cool house and i wish someone would fix it or rebuild it.
Sharon says:

February 12, 2013 at 10:20 am

Thanks for this story! This old house is on my shortcut road to Rochester–for years I’ve wondered about its history…and why no one has saved it. Fascinating story:)
jo dockey says:

February 12, 2013 at 10:30 am

I have also been so intrigued with this property. I also cruised through it with my mother, my sister comments as well, above. I was elated when I saw the work being done on the back side of the home. Many, many trips to Rochester have peaked my interest and awe of this property. I have wondered about the history, and daydreamed the remainder of my trip to Rochester regarding just how astonishing this home probably was. I have also wondered about a
home in Portagville that looks of the same time and style(aprox across from their Post Office)and wondered if there was any connection. I think it’s awesome that with help maybe someone could contine to preserve it…… it’s falling fast. Thanks for the history and beautiful photos.
Scott K says:

February 12, 2013 at 11:58 am

I’ve been there a number of times as well. On my one and only attempt to explore the entire inside, I heard strange noises while upstairs, and got too paranoid to go up to the top floor. Ghost? Probably not, but it does get creepy in there on a cloudy day when you’re all alone. That main hall upstairs is bigger than some of the rooms in my own house!

On one visit, I spoke to a lady walking by who lives down the road. Among other things, she told of a contractor who backed up to the house one day, and dismantled and removed the curved grand staircase. All that’s left of that now is a big hole in the second floor. You have to use the back stair to get uptstairs now. Not that I recommend trespassing, I was in there before the present posted signs went up.

The house that used to be across the road was also very interesting, if much smaller. The local lady said it was burnt by local teens to destroy stolen property they had hidden there. Former servant quaters for the Barber home? Don’t know.
Sue Emmons says:

February 12, 2013 at 1:18 pm

I have a paranormal group and this is very interesting. Does anyone know who owns the house now?
JR says:

February 12, 2013 at 4:32 pm

My understanding is that Greg O’Connell did buy it but a contractor got injured (leg through floor?) and that no further work can take place until the workman’s comp case is completed – which could take forever.
Ida S says:

February 12, 2013 at 5:42 pm

I used the house as a landmark location when chasing balloons. We called it the Munster house. Ms.Peek used it for a cat rescue for some time in the 90′s. I got 2 cats there.
Linda Rainer says:

February 13, 2013 at 1:31 pm

I talked to my mom today and she said her dad rented the place for two years.My Aunt was definately born there. My mom was 10 years old at the time she is now 86. She also told about sliding down the bannister on the spiral staircase.
Loren Tripp says:

February 13, 2013 at 9:08 pm

Funny I was looking at this and I am currently living in The old Barber homestead in Groveland NY. Which itself is a mansion.6500 sq ft. Also with a house across the street used by the farm hands. It is a shame these wonderful works
of architecture are not preserved!
Midge VanEtten says:

February 14, 2013 at 3:40 pm

My husband and I went to Letchworth yesterday on a Valentines date and stopped to see the house. I was surprised how the condition had worsened since the article pictures were taken. I took several photos and when looking in the upstairs window to the Right of the gable it looked like a tall, slender, white haired woman was looking out at us. I def. think a paranormal group should check it out.
RochesterSubway.com says:

February 14, 2013 at 4:24 pm

YIKES! Did you get a picture of the woman?
Loren Tripp says:

February 14, 2013 at 9:56 pm

Could you please post the pictures of how the home looks now?
Sue Emmons says:

February 15, 2013 at 11:02 am

If anyone has current info on the house can you please contact me? I am the founder of the Southern Tier Paranormal Research Team and would love to know if my team would be allowed on the property.
http://southerntierparanormal.webs.com/
you can reach me at southerntierprt@gmail.com. Thank you.
Becky Dickerson says:

March 30, 2013 at 2:28 pm

I live down the rd from this old house It is veryyyyyy unsafe around it its a shame that its slowlyy falling badly appart.There is no tresspassing around it.Very dangerous.I have have walked down taken pictures and i have seen what is to a figure of what appears of a person near the back side standing as to be watching towards road.

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