Fountain Elms, the Williams family house on Genesee Street
Helen Munson Williams and James Watson Williams built the Italianate house around 1850. It now holds Munson's decorative arts collection.
By Hannah Mohr
Fountain Elms stands on Genesee Street next to the Munson museum. It was built around 1850 by Helen Elizabeth Munson Williams and James Watson Williams, working with the Albany architect William Woollett.
Helen’s father, Alfred Munson, moved to Utica in 1823 and made his fortune in coal mining, manufacturing, canals, railroads and steamboats. Helen married James Watson Williams, a local lawyer, in 1846. She became known as a sharp investor who grew her inheritance tenfold and spent much of it on art.
The couple raised their daughters Grace, Rachel and Maria in the house. Grace died young, in 1854.
The original block, a cube with a center hall, was finished in 1852 in what was called the “Italian style.” The rear wing was remodeled in 1883 and a third two-story wing added. Another wing and a piazza came in 1908.
The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Today it holds Munson’s decorative arts collection.