Silas O. Smith House, Rochester New York
The construction of thehouse located at 485 East Avenue, corner of Sibley Place, now owned and occupied (1934) by Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Willard, was commenced in 1839 and occupied November 13, 1841, by Silas O. Smith, according to information given by Mrs. Willard to the Old Houses Committee.
Silas O. smith died in 1863, and the house was then occupied by Hiram Smith (who was not related to the original owner). Still later, the house was occupied by Frank Lord from 1870-1874, who sold it to Hiram Sibley.
In 1875, Mr. Sibley presented the house to Hobart F. Atkinson, father of Mrs, Willard. Mr. Sibley tore down the kitchen wing of two and a half stories, and made some slight changes in the interior, and, in later years, the wooden entrance on the side was replaced by a stone structure and two windows were added on the west side.
Old letters that have been preserved show that the house was occupied on November 13, 1841, and was known as Woodside, being then quite on the outskirts of the city. The building is a fine example of its type of architecture (Greek Revival) and its sturdy structure gives every promise of rounding out, a century of existence, and going on for still another hundred years.
