630 Highland Rd.

Far Horizons
630 Highland Road
Year Built: 1930
Architect: J. Lakin Baldridge
Style: Tudor Revival

William C. Geer was born in Ogdensburg, New York, in 1876. He graduated from Cornell University with an AB degree in 1902, and a PhD in Chemistry in 1905. Geer worked as chief chemist and finally as vice president in charge of research with B. F. Goodrich in Akron, Ohio. William Geer and Effie Work (1874-1972) married in 1908. They had two daughters, Aurelia Work (1915-1999) and Margery Work (1918-1982). Effie’s older brother, Bertram G. Work (1868-1927), was the president of B. F. Goodrich.

After William Geer retired from B. F. Goodrich in 1925, the family left its Free English Manorial style home in Akron. In 1929 the Geers moved to Ithaca and bought six lots in Cayuga Heights. It was there that they built Far Horizons, the English cottage-style house designed by J. Lakin Baldridge. Construction was completed in 1930 at a cost of $95,000.

Located on two acres, the one-family residence has twelve rooms with a brick- and half-timbered exterior. It has a slate roof, and, at the time it was built, there were rustic, wide-plank "tavern" floors in the living room and dining room, as well as a specially constructed dance floor in the playroom. The house contains four bedrooms, three tiled bathrooms, and separate servant’s quarters on the second floor.

A large picture window at the back of the house captured Cayuga Lake views. As a Cornell student, Geer explained, he "was always enamored with the lake and valley views." He had Village Engineer Carl Crandall survey the lot to ensure that the window was placed for the best views.

The Geers advertised Far Horizons for sale in the Cornell Alumni News in 1949. (Cornell Alumni News, Volume 51, Number 17, June 1, 1949, 490.)

English importer Arthur Todhunter founded Todhunter, Inc. after settling in New York in 1909. The company sold antique English architectural elements and later artisan-made reproductions in the decades when the English Tudor style was popular.

In 1949 the Geer’s brought suit against the Board of Assessors for the Town of Ithaca. This case was appealed in the Tompkins County Supreme Court. The case was related to a request for a reduced assessment. The settlement was made in favor of the Geers. They were, at that time, attempting to sell the house.

The Geer court case provides a wealth of details about the original interior and exterior architecture of the home. In his testimony, Geer described the features Baldridge incorporated to make the house consistent with the English cottage aesthetic.

The intentional "sway-back roof," which is a feature seen in several Cayuga Heights homes of the era, mimics the thatched roof of English Tudor cottages. The heavy slate roof tiles are wider near the gutters and taper to a smaller size near the roof line. The "burned brick" on the exterior was made to look like the waste brick used in old English homes. The leaded glass windows evoke those used in European homes of the Middle Ages, especially in Tudor England.

Inside the home, custom-designed wood embellishments emphasized the English look. A custom-carved oak newel post accented the curved wooden staircase. The Geers commissioned custom fireplace mantels from Todhunter, Inc., a New York company that specialized in reproduction English and colonial American wood and metal work.

Dr. Geer also built a laboratory at 624 Highland Road, where he conducted research. (Read more about its history by clicking the link below.)

The Geer Laboratory

Soon after Geer set up his private research laboratory next door to Far Horizons, he began conducting research on airplane wing deicing. The work was funded by a grant from the Daniel Guggenheim Foundation for Promotion of Aeronautics and was carried out largely at Cornell. Geer and his colleagues invented an “ice-removing overshoe” for airplane wings. These vulcanized rubber “overshoes” were designed to fit over the airplane wing and inflate and deflate to make the ice fall away. The “breathing” mechanism was produced by a motor-driven pump in the cockpit and functioned in the same manner as human lungs. The process was successfully tested in Akron, Ohio, in 1930 and allowed aircraft to fly safely in the winter (see "Overshoes for Plane End Ice Danger," Popular Science July 1931, p. 28 and Helen Waterhouse, "Ice Box," Flying Magazine August 1941, pp. 43-44). Geer's invention is still in use today for smaller aircraft.

On August 27, 1954, William and Effie Geer sold 630 Highland Road to Robert Ruff Sprole Sr. (1912-1992) and Zetta K. Sprole (1909-1990). The Sproles both attended Cornell University. Zetta, an Ithaca High School graduate, received her Cornell degree in 1931 and Robert in 1935. They had four children.

Robert Sprole was the president and co-founder of Therm, Incorporated, a local firm that specializes in electric meters and jet engine components.

In 1968 Mr. Sprole founded Challenge Industries, a not-for-profit organization that provides evaluation, job training, and job counseling for disabled individuals. A strong supporter of local agencies such as BOCES and Family and Children’s Services, Mr. Sprole received the Distinguished Citizen Award in 1986 and the Agda Osborn Award in 1988. An endowed memorial scholarship was established by the Sproles at Tompkins Cortland Community College (TC3).

By Lee Moon, House Historian

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