Rochester teacher’s restored cottage to be featured on Magnolia Network show

Marcia Greenwood, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Updated ·4 min read

Bradley Huber had low expectations and a budget to match when he started searching for a warm-weather retreat in the Finger Lakes region.

Basically, “I was looking for a dump that needed to be cleaned up,” said Huber, 37.

Real estate agents showed him dumps all right, and then suggested he could tear down one of them and build something new in its place.

But Huber, who teaches reading at East High School’s Lower School in the Rochester City School District, is a dedicated preservationist. And as a person of average means, “I couldn’t afford anything in the proper Finger Lakes, or the official Finger Lakes” — not even a dump.

Then he remembered how as a child, his parents would take him to the Silver Lake Twin Drive-in in Wyoming County during the summertime and that it was close to the actual Silver Lake. So, he decided to revisit the area about 48 miles southwest of Rochester, and that’s where he struck gold.

Bradley Huber of Irondequoit purchased this dilapidated cottage in Silver Lake, Wyoming County, in May 2022.
Bradley Huber of Irondequoit purchased this dilapidated cottage in Silver Lake, Wyoming County, in May 2022.

Huber found his dump — a circa-1878 cottage that, thanks to its dilapidated state, was priced to move at $47,000 but also located within the Silver Lake Institute Historic District, which meant he would be eligible for federal and New York state tax credits that would offset about half the cost of a $45,000 rehab.

In May 2022, he bought the 938-square-foot two-story, and on Wednesday, Sept. 20, millions of TV viewers will get to see the renovation process during an hourlong episode of “In With the Old,” airing at 8 p.m. on the Magnolia Network and streaming on Discovery+ and Max (formerly HBO Max).

Second go-round

This isn’t Huber’s first foray into DIY renovation — or being on national television.

In 2011, he purchased an 864-square-foot bungalow in Irondequoit’s Winona Woods neighborhood and lovingly restored the 1930 residence himself, guided only by YouTube and Instagram tutorials.

His own Instagram posts about that project caught the attention of HGTV’s “Cheap Old Houses,” and two years ago it featured the two-bedroom, one-bathroom home on an episode.

The Magnolia Network, helmed by home improvement gurus Chip and Joanna Gaines, also tracked down Huber through Instagram about chronicling the Silver Lake cottage job.

Agreeing to be on “In With the Old” meant dramatically ramping up the speed of the work.

The exterior of Bradley Huber's Silver Lake cottage after a major overhaul.
The exterior of Bradley Huber's Silver Lake cottage after a major overhaul.

A “fun hobby that I could walk away from when I got tired” suddenly had to be completed by Memorial Day of this year. “So, any spare moment I had — every school break, every vacation — I would go down there,” said Huber, who was helped by his boyfriend, Daniel Kanter of Kingston, New York.

The three-season dwelling, originally part of a Methodist Revivalist Camp, has no furnace, but to meet the show’s tight production schedule, work had to go on through the winter, which meant putting space heaters into service. Still, they didn’t generate enough warmth to turn on the water, “so there was no place to go to the bathroom,” Huber said.

Heavy lift

TV pressures aside, the rehab was never going to be a country hayride.

First, “There were so many animals living in the house,” Huber said. “Bats — there was a whole incident with a bat. We opened a wall, and it was just full of carpenter ants. There were squirrels in the attic. I think we’ve gotten rid of them all.”

The structure, which has three bedrooms and one bathroom, also was built without a foundation. And like needed electrical rewiring, that work is being handled by professionals.

The kitchen of Bradley Huber's Silver Lake cottage mid-renovation.
The kitchen of Bradley Huber's Silver Lake cottage mid-renovation.

However, Huber and Kanter completed every other task: leveling floors, assembling kitchen cabinets, building a custom red oak countertop, creating a fireplace mantle in the living room, refinishing floors, painting inside and out, restoring original windows, shoring up the porch, crafting outdoor railings, hanging wallpaper and finding every piece of furniture, every appliance, every fixture and every décor item that fills the space.

“Stuff literally came out of woods, off the curb, from Facebook Marketplace,” Huber said.

The end result is an impressive eclectic and pleasing cottage-chic blend of eras.

'I like the community aspect'

But there is more to love than the property itself.

The Silver Lake Institute owns the Silver Lake waterfront, so everybody has access to the water and docks and such.

The kitchen of Bradley Huber's Silver Lake cottage post-renovation.
The kitchen of Bradley Huber's Silver Lake cottage post-renovation.

And the Silver Lake Institute is modeled on the Chautauqua Institution and its mix of arts and educational programming. “They have concerts every Friday night, and lectures and workshops, and all that kind of stuff. I like the community aspect,” he said.

Huber also joined the Institute’s board of directors and sits on a number of committees, meaning he has more than a financial stake in the community, which to him is a big plus. “I liked that I could get involved here,” he said.

At the end of the day, though, the cottage is a refuge, and Huber needs it: “Teaching is stressful," he said.

Reporter Marcia Greenwood covers general assignments. Send story tips to mgreenwo@rocheste.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @MarciaGreenwood.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Magnolia Network show to feature restored Silver Lake, New York cottage