Save my historic home

The historic house at 1981 Clinton Ave South is in danger of foreclosure, and we need your help. My name is Kate, and I’m the daughter of Russ Cragg, the current owner. I’ve created this GoFundMe for my dad. Here’s his words:

I’m trying to raise money to save my family home of 67 years. This brick house, built circa 1855, is an officially designated Brighton landmark. It was built by the Hartley family in the Italianate architecture style. The house has many interesting architectural details, including 3 fireplaces, 2 kitchens, a library with a unique inlaid mosaic in front of the green stone hearth, a carriage barn built in the 1890s, and the original cupola with 4-directional views overlooking Brighton.

The house was bought by my father and mother, Burt and Marie Cragg in 1956. I grew up in this house with my late sister Linda, when the area around the house was very rural. Across the street were cow & horse farms. The backyard and surrounding area was a peaceful swamp-like ecosystem with a pond, and it was an idyllic place to grow up.

I spent my entire childhood helping my father (a lineman for RG&E) renovate the house, including carpentry, and installing a hot water baseboard heating system. I learned many renovation skills from him, from plumbing, painting and plastering, to electrical work.

In 1978, my father passed away. My mother inherited the house and I moved into the upstairs apartment section with my family, eventually raising my two children, Will and Kate, in the house with my wife at the time. My son was born in the house in 1991. I worked at RIT for many years eventually earning a bachelor of science degree in Communications and a minor in management. I then began working at Kodak in 1996 as a Chemical Process Manager.

In 2004, I was laid off from my employment at Eastman Kodak when the company downsized. My mother passed away in 2005 at which point I inherited the house and property. Since then, I have never been able to find employment that matched the salary I was paid at Kodak, making the yearly house taxes a continuing challenge, especially in retirement with increasing health issues.

During the time I’ve owned the house I’ve been continuously working on improvement projects, including:

I take my stewardship of this house seriously and I love the old home as well as its history. Wherever possible, I have tried to preserve and maintain the original historical fixtures.

In spite of the skills my father taught me, many house issues that cropped up over the years were beyond my skills to fix. The upkeep of the house and property by a single person is a huge task, and I’ve fallen behind over the years. For years, I’ve had sciatica which has complicated both employment and house projects. I am now 71 years old in retirement, and can only work so many hours. As back taxes accumulated, they also accrued interest, worsening my financial situation.

During the pandemic, I was an essential worker at an electronics and prototyping shop, which manufactured medical devices, among other things. I’ve also worked many odd jobs including house painting work and landscaping around Brighton. I volunteer by creating vegetable gardens at the local Pittsford YCMA, and attend the First Unitarian Church in Rochester. Recently I helped a good friend restore the Children’s Garden at the Brighton Memorial Library. I truly love this house, which is where I have all my memories of my family, my childhood, and where I’ve created many vegetable gardens over the years.

I now find myself in the unfortunate position of owing back taxes with a deadline of late September, which is where your help would be crucial. If my funding goal is met, I would be able to satisfy the outstanding debt, avoid foreclosure, and get back on my feet. Any additional funds above $120,000 will be used to complete urgent roofing work, tree maintenance, and heating plant replacement.

If these back taxes are paid off, I will qualify for reduced taxes (~6-8K yearly) due to being a senior citizen. I plan to continue to improve the upstairs apartment section of the house with the help of my children in order to get a renter, which will help me to pay future taxes. Thank you so much for reading and anything you can give is deeply appreciated.