3 Main Street

This house was built in 1894 by J. E. Johnson and sold to Colonel H. L. Arnold in 1911. Colonel Arnold was a veteran of the Civil War who was wounded in battle and honorably discharged 2006in June of 1865. He returned to Geneseo and resumed his duties as a private citizen. After serving as Livingston County Sheriff from 1870 to 1873, he was in turn the state agent for discharged convicts and United States Consul to Canada.

After Colonel Arnold’s death, the house passed into the hands of his daughter, Lucy.  Miss Arnold was a graduate of the Geneseo Normal School and taught in the district school on Center Street (now the Livingston County Museum). It was she who added the north wing. For a time in the 1930's and 1940's the house served as the residence of Professor Wells, then president of the Geneseo State Normal School.

This house shows the taste for massive proportions prevalent in the late 19th century, as evident in the roof and elaborate gables. The stained glass windows in the front hall are another characteristic of this period.  There has been some interior remodeling but care has been taken to preserve details that make the house distinctive.