Mud House

The Mud House is a rectangular earthen building in Penfield with a gable roof and fieldstone foundation, standing on a road outside town. The structure shows the building techniques of early farmers who mixed earth with other materials to create permanent homes.

The house was built in 1836 during the expansion of the Brown Brothers Nursery, showing early American methods with compressed earth. Its construction came at a time when settlers had to develop new building techniques to work with their local resources.

The house shows how settlers used earth and natural materials to build sturdy homes, reflecting practical problem-solving from that era. Walking around it reveals a building tradition that shaped how people adapted to their new surroundings.

The building sits on open land and is visible from outside, allowing visitors to see the exterior and the materials used in its construction. The location requires driving or a longer walk to reach, so check beforehand if inside viewing is possible.

The building is one of the few surviving examples of rammed-earth construction from the 1800s in the northeastern United States and shows a craft technique rarely used today. This way of building with earth and straw disappeared quickly once new materials became available.