Excellence Award Spotlight: Opendore
“What once seemed like a lost treasure has become a wonderful community asset,” said Guy Garnsey, President of Howland Stone Store Museum and project manager. “The vision of those who conceived the building’s restoration and the enormous volunteer effort in management and construction labor has been extraordinary.”
Opendore is the historic home of William, Hannah, and Isabel Howland, national leaders in the women's suffrage movement. The house is an important contributing property to the Sherwood Equal Rights Historic District. Originally constructed in 1837, Opendore was remodeled in the 1860s and 1888, and a major Colonial Revival style expansion was made in 1910, designed by noted Syracuse architect Albert Brockway.
The Howland home was once the center of Sherwood's community life. Despite its historical importance, Opendore had been abandoned since the 1970s, standing vacant and suffering major structural decay for three decades. Opendore was rescued from certain demolition by the Howland Stone Store Museum, which bought the building for back taxes in 2008.
Before and after images of the drawing room (left) and entry hall (right) show just how deteriorated the home was before being restored.
In 2011, the Museum secured a John E. Streb Preservation grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to fund a building condition report by Crawford & Stearns, Preservation Architects, which provided recommendations for future work. Construction took place in four phases between 2012 and 2021 and involved the careful repair and replication of exterior and interior details. The exterior clapboard siding was repaired and painted to recreate the original paint scheme of yellow with white trim and green accents. Original wood windows and historic French doors were restored and reglazed with period appropriate glass. Throughout the building interior, extensive moldings, trim, wainscot, pocket doors, an archway, and five fireplace mantels were lovingly rebuilt, repaired, or replicated by skilled volunteer woodworkers, working from historic photos, and using salvaged components when possible. Notably, Opendore is now heated and cooled by a geothermal system, with four ground source wells and two heat pumps serving the entire building. As a result, no fossil fuels are consumed for the building's environmental control.
The restoration of Opendore would not have been possible without dedicated volunteers. Seen here is one of them restoring the entry hall mantle. Over 40 people donated a combined 14,000+ hours to the project.
Opendore now welcomes visitors with public programs and exhibitions on its main floor. The second floor has been made accessible with a lift and includes a women's history research library, gallery as well as staff offices. Opendore’s new climate controlled archival storage room is now home to the Museum's nationally significant collection of suffrage posters and other collection materials.
Opendore is a showpiece of community pride for the southern Cayuga County and greater Finger Lakes region. The many volunteers and professionals who have contributed time, imagination, skill, and funding consider Opendore a vital asset in the heart of this small rural community. Both historical and cultural resources embedded in the property have been preserved, against all odds, for the benefit of all.
“Without the vision and dedication of the Howland Stone Store Museum, Opendore would surely have been lost,” said Preservation League President Jay DiLorenzo. “Opendore is a tangible reminder of the area’s importance in the history of abolitionism and women’s rights. We are thrilled to recognize this incredible restoration with an Excellence Award this year.”
Major funding for the Opendore restoration project came from two matching grants through the New York State Environmental Protection Fund and a third grant from the Rural Area Revitalization Project through NYS Homes & Community Renewal. Additional funding was received from many individuals, foundations, businesses, and nonprofits. Over the course of six years, a staggering 14,000+ hours of volunteer labor has been contributed by over 40 devoted community members, of which 7,500 hours served as a match for the EPF grants. These diverse entities have funded a $1.1 million restored building that is debt-free.
The Opendore project team included: Howland Stone Store Museum, owner; Crawford and Stearns, Architects & Preservation Planners, PLLC, project architect; and New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation.
Since 1984, the League's annual Excellence Awards program has allowed us to shine a light on the people who are using historic preservation to make all our lives better —through exemplary restoration projects, indispensable publications, individual action, and organizational distinction.
For more about all of this year’s winners, please click here.