Upstate

Could You Live a Wonderful Life in This Seneca Falls Manse? Yours for $439K

by Susan De Vries

12/10/2021 9 minute 0

While there isn’t definitive proof that filmmaker Frank Capra had Seneca Falls in mind when crafting the world of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” the town has wholeheartedly embraced the possibility of being the inspiration behind what is now a classic holiday film. The nostalgia is particularly thick this time of year when the Seneca Falls It’s a Wonderful Life Museum hosts its annual festival.

In time for this year’s festival, which wraps up on December 12 and celebrates the 75th anniversary of the film’s release, a house is now on the market that claims a movie connection. A short walk from the museum, The Gould Swaby Mansion at 24 Cayuga Street is a sprawling circa 19th century manse that, according to the listing, was the real house behind George and Mary Bailey’s fixer-upper, the old Granville House in the fictional Bedford Falls.

exterior of granville house — A screenshot from the film of actors James Stewart and Donna Reed in front of the Old Granville House

Devotees of the film and old house buffs alike may notice one important feature missing that defined the wreck that Mary was determined to make a home: the tower. The museum suggests two other Second Empire-style houses that Capra might have seen on his reported visit to the area while working on the movie script as more likely sources of inspiration. Of course, the actual house was on the RKO Pictures Encino Ranch.

Movie trivia aside, what is indisputable is Seneca Falls’ rich history that stretches back much further than 1946. It was a center of social reform, including the temperance, abolition and suffrage movements, and the falls behind the town’s name also made it a center of industry in the 19th century.

Historic maps show a house on this corner at least by 1856; whether it is the current house is unclear. The house, and much of the downtown, is located in the Seneca Falls Village National Historic District, and the 1990s nomination form dates what it refers to as the Swaby House to circa 1870 with 1970 alterations. It notes that house is located at what was once known as “Mansion Knoll” but the architect is not identified.

The Swaby behind the name was Dr. William Arthur Swaby who in 1858 married Amelia Smith Gould. Amelia was part of the family behind the Goulds Manufacturing Company, producers of pumps and still in business as Gould Pumps.

historic image of exterior of house — The house circa 1904. Photo via “Grip’s” Historical Souvenir of Seneca Falls, N.Y.

Swaby and Amelia were married in 1858 and the 1860 census shows them living in Seneca Falls with a young daughter and three servants in a house valued at $4,000. Newspaper references to the couple living on Cayuga Street pop up as early as 1874. A clue to the origin of the house might be a brief 1879 mention in the Seneca Co. Courier that Dr. Swaby had begun “quite extensive repairs and an addition to his house.” It is possible that Swaby overhauled an earlier house, giving it a mansard roof in keeping with more current styles or expanding it as the family grew to include three additional children.

Swaby died in 1888, but Amelia lived till the age of 95, dying at her home at 24 Cayuga Street in 1934. Their daughter Alice Swaby Knapp continued to live in the house until her own death in 1961. The house and much of her estate was left to beloved nurse Bertha Nash who had moved in with the Swaby family at least by 1920.

Even without a possible connection to the the fictional Bailey family, the house has a picturesque exterior with a patterned slate roof and bracketed porch. Seen from the front the house might appear modest in scale but the view from the side shows three distinct sections to the house, with each of the rear additions slightly recessed. Both repeat the mansard silhouette of the main block of the house but the rear addition is clapboard rather than brick.

The sprawling house house has been divided into three separate living spaces and mostly recently used as an Airbnb. The main house includes four bedrooms and three bathrooms while the two other units have one bedroom and one bath each. While there are plenty of listing photos, a 3-D tour allows a closer look inside.

The most interesting details are on the parlor level of the main residence. The entry doesn’t appear to have the loose newel post that annoyed George Bailey, but it does have a period one, and the entry opens up to front and rear parlors. The front parlor has full-height windows with interior shutters and a columned mantel that looks more like a Colonial Revival-era addition while the rear parlor has a mantel more in keeping with an 1870s date. An arched opening leads to a small study and the formal dining room. Here the standout is the hand-painted Chinoiserie wall covering, although when it was installed is unknown.

The kitchen is at the rear with a tin ceiling, tile floor, wood cabinets and a stone-topped island. It doesn’t quite have the period style of the formal rooms but is certainly spacious.

A laundry room, full bath and bedroom finish off the first floor, while upstairs are three more bedrooms and two full baths. The bedrooms have wood floors and the largest has a mantel.

One of the one-bedroom units is on the second floor while the other is on the third floor. Both units have plenty of carpeting, which might make zooming a vacuum through for post Airbnb booking clean-up faster but leave something lacking in the style department. The kitchens and baths in both units appear to be in good repair.

It is worth a look at the 3-D tour to get a peak at the storage half of the third floor with its wood-lined walls and ceiling.

The house sits on a corner lot with a stretch of side yard and a bit of backyard that includes a detached garage. The waterfront is a short walk away as are a number of important historical sites including the Women’s Rights National Historical Park, which documents the first Women’s Rights Convention in the town in 1848 and the struggle for suffrage.

If you want to focus on the connection to the James Stewart and Donna Reed-starring film, the Seneca Falls It’s a Wonderful Life Museum has a walking tour brochure that will take you by the scenic spots near Cayuga Street that have a connection to the movie. To get a chance to hear from some original cast members, including some of the actors who starred as the Bailey children, along with a parade, chestnut roasting and ceremonial museum expansion ground breaking, there are still a few days left of the annual festival with full information online.

This particular bit of Seneca Falls history on Cayuga Street is priced at $439,000 and listed with Daniel Toner of Century 21.