The Trembley House Hotel

Located at 59 East Main Street is the former Trembley House Hotel. The Trembley House, named for Leroy Trembley (1830-1901), was constructed in 1871, just one month after a disastrous fire destroyed most of downtown Trumansburg. Trembley chose brick, a more fire-resistant material, for the structure. The building was renamed the Cornell House when Trembley sold the property to Charles Plyer in 1881. The building was used as a hotel, under various owners, until operations were shut down in 1913 due to financial instability. The Trumansburg Masons, Fidelity Lodge #157, purchased the building in 1914, and it has served as the local Masonic Temple ever since. The building was also home to the Ulysses Philomathic Library from 1935 to 2001. The Italianate details of the Trembley House represent a departure from the Greek Revival design of the First Presbyterian Church. Italianate architecture was popular in Tompkins County from the 1860s to 1880s. The Trembley House’s horizontal roof line, decorative brick corbelling, and rounded-arch window surrounds are hallmarks of the style. Also notice the elaborate wrought-iron balcony. Exterior-cast and wrought-iron details were fashionable during the latter half of the nineteenth century in Trumansburg. This trend will be highlighted by other commercial structures featured on this tour.

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