SHINGLEHOUSE — A drive down a country road in Shinglehouse meanders past fields and farmland before passing in front of the historic Orchard Guest House that once served as a trolley station for trains traveling to Olean, N.Y., and points in between.
The house at 382 Coon’s Crossing Road, owned and restored through the efforts of 97-year-old D. Frances Ripley of Olean, is “full of history,” as well as charm.
“This house has genuine, honest-to-goodness history — it was a trolley station for trolleys that traveled from Shinglehouse to Olean from 1902 to 1907,” Ripley said of the three-bedroom, two-story home set on 38 acres of farmland.
Ripley said she believes the house was constructed by the Coon family as a residence, but was later converted into a trolley station when a trolley line was constructed nearby.
Ripley conjectured there was also a barn where they could park wagons or buggies before waiting in the station and catching the trolley for the longer 18 mile ride to Olean. She said the name of the road, Coon’s Crossing, is derived from the fact that the single track trolley line, since removed, crossed the road years ago.
Over a century of different owners, the house fell into disrepair and was acquired in 2010 by Ripley, who had moved to Olean in 2003 from Altamont located near Albany. An accomplished and well-traveled nonagenarian, Ripley had worked for years as a medical technician for the Veterans Administration hospital in Albany before retirement in1982.
Ripley had the Shinglehouse home upgraded by professionals who installed new electrical lines and plumbing, among other repairs. The hard work of restoring the structure was voluntarily done by her Shinglehouse neighbors, Tom and Jo Weitzel, their son, Tom Jr., and grandson, Jake. Ripley, who has poor eyesight, has been regularly transported to the house by Jack Bollman, a congregation member at her church, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Olean.
By 2016, after years of labor and ingenuity in replacing fixtures in the house obtained from yard and garage sales, the beautifully restored, fully furnished house was opened to guests.
“It took a village to repair this house, it really did,” Ripley remarked. “Everybody worked on this house … and now I have a piece of history, hallelujah.”
Jo Weitzel, who is the caretaker of the house, said the home has housed guests from all over the country. Individuals who rent the facility, which can sleep eight people, have access to a kitchen and all of the amenities indoors and outside including a fire pit.
“We just had guests who left here yesterday,” Weitzel said earlier this week. “This was the second time they’ve been here, they came from South Carolina.”
Hunters and outdoor recreationalists are also welcome, she added.
Weitzel said each of the three bedrooms are dedicated to individuals who were instrumental in the house or connected to the nearby L.E.E.K. Hunting and Mountain Preserve for Wounded Warriors in Oswayo. Weitzel is fond of the preserve as it was her family’s farm before it was sold to the L.E.E.K. organization several years ago.
Ripley is also a patriot, as evidenced by her career with the VA as well as through her connection with the National Purple Heart Hall of Fame. Skilled in the fiber arts, Ripley was commissioned by the state of New York to recreate Martha Washington’s original Purple Heart made of fabric as it was disintegrating under glass. Ripley used the same material used by Washington for creating the replica, which is now on display at Peebles Island State Park, headquarters of the Bureau of Historic Sites and Bureau of Historic Preservation Field Services.
Ripley also created a reproduction of Washington’s Purple Heart for the L.E.E.K. preserve.
Carrying their patriotism a step further, Ripley and the Weitzels dedicated the master bedroom in the house in honor of the late Cpl. Jason Dunham of Scio, N.Y., who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions while serving with 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, during the Iraq War. They also have dedicated the nearby trolley line, which is being restored as a walkway, in memory of Dunham.
The second bedroom is dedicated to the late Suzy Jones Pire, who is a descendant of the original owners of the L.E.E.K. preserve and was the first person to make meals for the veterans at facility. The third bedroom is dedicated to Ripley who has a number of her personal items, such as a quilt she made, in the room.
For more information on the house or rental procedures, visit www.homeaway.com online.
