High Falls

These photographs are from the "Country Seats Tour" (see last post). They were all taken yesterday in High Falls, NY - about 5 miles from here.

The bottom picture is The Jacob Hasbrouck House. Jacobus B. Hasbrouck, a descendant of one of the 12 French Huguenot patentees of New Paltz, built this house some time before 1797. Hasbrouck, who was from a wealthy family with large landholdings, owned and operated a grist mill on nearby Rondout Creek. Beginning as a two-room house, with a kitchen wing added later, the house has Georgian characteristics such as a center hall and plastered ceilings. Georgian features in Huguenot houses outside of New Paltz are not uncommon. Signs of a granary door still exist on the west gable end.

The middle picture is of The Elmendorf Barn. This traditional Dutch timber-framed barn was built in 1851 by James Henry Elmendorf on land owned and lived on by the Elmendorf family since at least the late 18th century. The barn’s framework of massive posts and beams leads the eye to the soaring rafters above, echoing the vaulted nave and side aisles of Gothic cathedrals. The anchor beam of the middle bent was recycled from an earlier Dutch American barn. Late Dutch timber-framed barns are rare and this example testifies to the persistence of the Dutch tradition well into the 19th century.

The top most photograph is of the proud owner inside the Van Wagenen House. The Van Wagenen House was built in the late 18th century, replacing a house that may have dated to 1682. It was likely built as one unit except for the kitchen addition on the south end gable wall. The enclosed staircase is original. With its symmetrical façade–a door in the center leading to a spacious central hall, it is a classic example of a Dutch house with a strong Georgian influence. The house has been meticulously restored.