Canal Lamp Inn

CHRISTMAS AT BETH & KEITH MILLER'S CANAL LAMP INN (THE AGATE/ZORNOW HOUSE) Built in 1887 for John Agate, the Canal Lamp Inn remains one the village of Pittsfor...d's most stately homes. Designed by the Rochester architect Charles Crandall, it is a sophisticated example of the Queen Anne style. In the early twentieth century, my great grandparents, Herbert and Leslie Hutchinson, moved from the house that today serves as Pittsford Village Hall 2 doors down the street to this house to provide more room for their five children. The house then passed to my grandparents, Ted and Margaret Hutchinson Zornow, who also raised five children and lived in the house for many, many years. For the last fifteen years, Beth and Keith Miller have maintained the house as a labor of love. The present name "Canal Lamp Inn" is appropriate as all of the home's prior owners, John Agate, Herb Hutchinson, and Ted Zornow, owned and operated businesses on the Erie Canal. Every year when Beth decorates the inn for Christmas I feel nostalgic remembering the wonderful Christmases I and my family spent there in the past while growing up here in Pittsford.

HISTORY OF THE AGATE/ZORNOW HOUSE DOCUMENTED IN NEW VIDEO Produced by: MRS. TONI STEVENS-OLIVER'S 4TH GRADE CLASS AT THE THORNELL ROAD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.... Several months ago I was invited to speak to a group of fourth grade students about the history of the house where both my grandparents and great grandparents once lived. Since that time the students have been researching the history of the house and the people who lived there. The work continued unabated during the Covid19 lockdown as the students worked independently with guidance from their instructor, Toni Stevens-Oliver. The final product is an outstanding record of part our community's history. It is also a fascinating look back at life many years ago. To see the video search for the following in your browser: agatezornowhouse.wixsite.com/mysite

LILAC TREE IN FRONT OF MY GRANDPARENTS' HOUSE (The Canal Lamp Inn Bed & Breakfast) I have always admired this tree for its profuse showy and fragrant blooms in... late June. It is a very old Japanese Tree Lilac (Syringa reticulata) that was planted by my great grandfather, Herbert Hutchinson. My mother's cousin, Andy Smith grew up in the house next door. Andy occasionally writes about life growing up in Pittsford, and shares these reminisces with members of the extended Hutchinson family. Today, I received the following from Andy: "When I was a kid at 25 North Main June was a great time to be there. The dogwoods around the library next door were in bloom in May and early June and the blossoms had a special appeal against the pale yellow of the library building. It was a fine combination of the natural and the built. Most especially though, being June it was the end of the school year. There was in your grandparents front yard a Japanese lilac and also, between their house and ours (Una's house actually), was a large basswood tree. The sweet and spicy scents from those trees blossoming in June made a heavenly place. I would check out as many woodland Indian books as I could find in the library and sit on the floor in my brothers and my bedroom and read those. We had a fan in the window bringing those heavenly scents into our house. I was fortunate to live in such a place. I hope you have found some blossoms lately."