Arriving in Pleasant Valley in June of 1807, the Cornelius Younglove family was one of the first families to establish a permanent home in this area. In fact, some of the land originally developed by the Youngloves is still held today by the family’s descendants. As Orson Fowler’s A Home For All encouraged, T.M. Younglove, (Cornelius’ son), was directly responsible for the construction of his octagon house in 1859, and he personally attended to many of the menial tasks necessary to complete the project. Approximately 15 years earlier, in 1844, Younglove, as a trustee, participated in the decision to construct an octagonal schoolhouse in Hammondsport to replace the original school building built in 1795. And in 1860, he was one of the founders of the Pleasant Valley Wine Company, the recipient of New York State’s first winery license, and a current listing on the National Register of Historic Places. This family’s entrepreneurial spirit continued with Oliver Hoyt Younglove, (T.M.’s son), and his partial ownership in the local hardware store from 1881 to 1888, and his involvement in the Monarch Wine Cellar, as well as his responsibilities running the 150-acre family farm and vineyard. For over 100 years, the Younglove octagon house remained in the family, however, in the early 1960’s, the Younglove Octagon House was converted to a two-family rental, and sold. Over the past 40 years, the house was home to several families, and dozens of renters before it underwent a detailed restoration, as it became the Black Sheep Inn.

Click here to read more about the Younglove family from Grace Hudson, a direct descendent of Cornelius Younglove.