Allenton Farm/Creating Beaver Island State Park

At Allentown Farm on the southern end of Grand Island, Lewis F. Allen introduced new crops, improved his beef cattle through careful breeding, conducted experiments to increase his dairy herd's milk production, and became nationally known for his work with shorthorn cattle, while also planting vineyards and apple, pear, and cherry orchards. In 1866, he gave his son William Cleveland Allen two parcels of farmland on which the Villa at River Lea was later built, and the house's design was influenced by cottages and farmhouses in Lewis F. Allen's 1852 book Rural Architecture: Being a Complete Description of Farm Houses, Cottages, and Outbuildings. Built around 1873 by William Cleveland Allen, River Lea originally had porches and verandas encircling it, served as a summer home where statesmen and politicians came to enjoy cool breezes and to boat and fish offshore, and still retained evidence of its original appearance despite later alterations. By 1879, as Grand Island was becoming a premier resort community, Lewis F. Allen subdivided the rest of his farmland into smaller lots for sale, and in 1887 the remaining farm property was sold to a private syndicate, while River Lea remained a summer home. River Lea was ravaged by a fire in 1934, and when remodeled its porches were removed and the house was divided into a duplex apartment. By the 1930s, New York State had begun buying several Grand Island properties to create Beaver Island State Park, and in 1962 it bought River Lea and the surrounding property for an eighteen-hole golf course, but the Villa was saved from demolition when members of the Grand Island Historical Society and the Grand Island community joined together to preserve it.

Grand Island, New York · United States