At East Hill Psychotherapy, client comfort and confidentiality are of highest priority. The offices are located in a quiet residential neighborhood within the East Hill Historic District, just two blocks from the Ithaca Commons. A waiting room with its own access separate from the meeting room helps ensure client confidentiality. Clients arriving early for their appointments can take a private moment to settle in with a cup of tea in the cozy sitting room or freshen up in the handicapped accessible restroom. The offices are close to TCAT stops and are in walking distance from Cornell University. There is free off-street parking.
The building dates to the early 19th century, not long after Ithaca was founded. The land was purchased from Simeon DeWitt in 1832 by a teacher from Connecticut, who came to Ithaca to teach in its first school. He built the house as a residence for his family and soon let out rooms to various boarders, including some of Cornell University’s first students. Later in the 19th century, students at a local prep school lived here, as did one of Ezra Cornell’s grandsons, Charles E. Cornell and his wife.
During renovations to create the office, this large fireplace with a baking oven was found hidden behind two water heaters and a sheet of plywood. It shows the technology for kitchens in the early 19th century and was too important not to restore, giving the office its decor and an old-fashioned, homey feel. The mantelpiece did not survive, so a ‘new’ one was crafted from a roof beam of a nearby dismantled barn.
Other reused and recycled building materials in the renovation include lanes from a local bowling alley that have been fashioned into counter and table tops, window shutters that have become closet doors, and table linens that have been repurposed as curtains, along with many items of vintage furniture.
