Brighton's Designated Landmarks Bus Tour

As part of the Brighton Bicentennial celebration, Historic Brighton ran several tours of the town's designated landmarks. Our bus was almost full, and we recognized several friends as we made our way towards the back. David Whitaker, the president of the organization, and his wife (one of Charlie's cousins, fortuitously, as it would turn out...) and daughter-in-law also boarded and sat near us.  Our three guides introduced themselves, after which the driver did a safety overview, much the same as an airline would.  That shouldn't have been relevant to the day's events...

Apparently, there are 59 landmarks, the first of which was designated in 1996, and the buildings date from 1792 to 1957.  The tour was to cover 50 these buildings.  We began with a drive past Stone Tolan House, Monroe's oldest structure, and then swung down Grosvenor Road, with an explanation of its lovely, mostly Tudor-revival houses, but no designated houses (yet?).  We drove through part of the Houston Barnard tract, but the only house that was mentioned was the old Gannett house.  We were off to the far side of Brighton, presumably to work up to these majestic mansions.  We passed the Clover Street condos, the first to be built in Monroe County.  As we crossed Monroe, heading briefly into Pittsford, our guide pointed out the Spring House, which used to sit on the canal before it was rerouted and route 590 took its place, and whose bar was strategically located just on the Brighton side of the border with Pittsford, which was then a dry town.

#9 School House -
photo by Katherine Grabosky

Back in Brighton, at the corner of French Road and Edgewood Avenue, our attention was drawn to the #9 School House, with its lovely bell tower.  It had been converted to a private home, in wonderful example of adaptive reuse.  And then we hit a snag.  Well, to be precise, a transformer.  Luckily, we just grazed it - we didn't cause a power outage or a need to use the on-board fire extinguisher.

15 Southwood Lane

In the driver's efforts to pull to the shoulder and slow down as we passed 15 Southwood Lane, the Second Evans Farmhouse, one of the back windows buckled, and we came to a stop. It was going to be at least a half hour before we were rescued, so some of us disembarked for a short walking tour to 245 Edgewood, past #281, with its foundation stones from the digging of the Erie Canal.  It was chilly when the sun didn't counteract the wind, so we were headed back to the bus, when David's son drove up in a large SUV, and his wife and daughter-in-law tried to sneak off.  I quickly cited family ties to secure Charlie and myself a spot in the vehicle, although I did defer to David, should he want to bail.  In true captain fashion, however, he chose to remain with his vessel.  I have no idea what time they returned to the car park, but we got back in time to enjoy the rest of the afternoon.

281 Edgewood Avenue

Luckily, Historic Brighton had given us all a lovely booklet with a map and description of all of the landmarks, so we can do our own walking tour of the Houston Barnard section on a nice day. Perusing the pamphlet, Charlie was amused to see his uncle's home, the "Baird-Finucane House" on East Avenue, listed.  We would have like to inquire why that house, and not, for example, his grandparent's house, or any of the other spectacular homes on Ambassador Drive or Sandringham Road, made the cut. But perhaps there's a good reason not to have your house designated, since the honor comes with restrictions on alterations, and oversight by the Historic Preservation Commission.

I certainly hope that the subsequent bus tours were less eventful than ours, and that Historic Brighton makes their publication available to those who wish to do their own walking or driving tour of these beautiful historic homes.