This elegant Colonial Revival home on a bluff in the Western Slope section was built in the early years of the Great Depression for the family of architect Alexander Duncan Seymour Jr.
Seymour had practiced in New York City before he joined the Cornell architecture faculty in 1928. He was named Andrew Dickson White Professor in 1940.
Seymour was a nationally recognized architect and won a 1912 competition for his co-designed Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial on Lake Erie in Ohio. The monument, which commemorates Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry’s naval victory during the War of 1812, has the distinction of being the largest Doric column in the world.
The Seymours lived in their Western Slope home for more than 20 years and sold it shortly before Seymour became emeritus professor in 1950. Alexander and Martha retired to Maine, where the “Skipper” indulged his love for power yachting and water color painting.
Patricia Longoria
Deputy Historian
2017
SOURCES
“Alexander Duncan Seymour, Jr.,” Who Was Who in America, Marquis Biographies Online;
“Alexander Duncan Seymour, Jr.” Cornell University Faculty Memorial Statement, http://ecommons.library.cornell.edu/handle/1813/17813;
Andrew McPherson-Built Homes Photo Collection, Village of Cayuga Heights, provided by Carol Sisler;
Harvey H. Kaiser, The National Park Architecture Sourcebook, Princeton Architectural Press, 2008, pp. 303-304;
“Prof. Seymour Dead at 73,” Ithaca Journal, August 27, 1957, p. 5;
Tompkins County Deed Book 215, Page 36, June 11, 1928, Jared T. Newman and Jane E.W. Newman to Alexander Duncan Seymour and Martha R. Seymour;
Tompkins County Deed Book 321, Page 147, Alexander Duncan Seymour and Martha R. Seymour to Gilbert M. Weeks, May 28, 1949.
“Alexander Duncan Seymour, Jr.,” Who Was Who in America, Marquis Biographies Online;
“Alexander Duncan Seymour, Jr.” Cornell University Faculty Memorial Statement, http://ecommons.library.cornell.edu/handle/1813/17813;
Andrew McPherson-Built Homes Photo Collection, Village of Cayuga Heights, provided by Carol Sisler;
Harvey H. Kaiser, The National Park Architecture Sourcebook, Princeton Architectural Press, 2008, pp. 303-304;
“Prof. Seymour Dead at 73,” Ithaca Journal, August 27, 1957, p. 5;
Tompkins County Deed Book 215, Page 36, June 11, 1928, Jared T. Newman and Jane E.W. Newman to Alexander Duncan Seymour and Martha R. Seymour;
Tompkins County Deed Book 321, Page 147, Alexander Duncan Seymour and Martha R. Seymour to Gilbert M. Weeks, May 28, 1949.