639 Durfee House, 1787
The first frame structure to be built west of
Rome, New York, this house was originally a one-room office on the southeast
corner of Main Street and East Washington. It was built for Caleb Benton, one of
a group of speculators who came to lease land from the Indians. After it was
enlarged, it was moved in 1838 by William DeZeng, and Geneva College purchased
it in 1840 for the president’s house. Finding it unsuitable, President Hale
purchased and remodeled it. Upon retirement in 1858, he sold it back to the
college when that institution was in a better financial situation. |