15 Main Street

Architect Claude Bragdon, assisted by James B. Arnold of Rochester, drew the plans for this house, which was built in 1896 for Judge Edward R Coyne. After Judge Coyne was appointed Livingston County Judge in 1895 and was elected to the office in 1896. On November 20, 1895, he married Miss Elizabeth Doty of Rochester in a ceremony the press called ''one of the most brilliant ever held in the City of Rochester.” He engaged Claude Bragdon, the talented architect from New York City, to design a house to be used as their residence. When the Coynes separated about 1905 and Mrs.Coyne moved to New York with their young daughter, Edward Coyne sold the house to Mr. and Mrs. William Olmsted, who made it their residence. Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Sheppard bought this house and lived there until 1955 when it was purchased as the residence for the President of Geneseo State College.

This stately, classical revival house shows the architect's attention to detail as seen in the Palladian window and the early Georgian style doorway. Claude Bragdon, two years later, designed the front section of our present Livingston County Court House. Except in the kitchen, the original woodwork remains on the first floor. In the late 1950's, a small greenhouse was added at the basement level. With its manicured lawns and lovely gardens, the house is beautifully preserved.

It may be of interest to know that originally there were two buildings on the site. About 1813, four brothers (the Campbells) built two structures. One was their home; the other was their hat shop, a successful undertaking for many years.