Tag Archives: Hyde Park

Gothic Revival House at 3700 Albany Post Road, Hyde Park, NY

This beautiful gothic-style house is located on the east side of Route 9 at 3700 Albany Post Road in Hyde Park, NY (parcel #133200-6063-04-986483-0000).  The address was formerly known as 422 US Route 9.  When I photographed it in May 2018, the roof and house was mostly split in half.  Clearly the house had been unoccupied for some time.  The back lawn was littered with household debris, and the detached garage still contained many household items.  A wide and deep brick-lined hole in the ground was possibly an old water well. A previous owner must have had a green thumb, though, because some beautiful flowers, shrubs, and trees were located on the front and north sides of the house.

As far as the history of the house is concerned, the online property card claims the house was built in 1930 but, as described later, it was more likely built in the 1840s.  According to the paper copy of the property card, Howard & Alice Traver purchased the house in 1950 (deed book 745 page 393) from Ellen C. Roosevelt.  The deed indicates the property was a “portion of the premises of which John A. Roosevelt died seized [sic] on March 10, 1909, and which by the terms of his will he devisted [sic] to Grace W. R. Clark and Ellen C. Roosevelt”.  Gerald A. Traver purchased the house around April 29, 1997 (deed 1993-248).  The house was then owned by Dutchess County, when it was then sold to Munther Nishiewat (aka Munther Nesheiwat) around December 1, 2016 (deed 22016-08392).  On March 11, 2017, the property was sold to Four Seasons Deli & Groceries, Inc. as one of several disparate parcels in the sale.

In November 1986, the house was photographed and recorded as part of a Cultural Resource Survey Report of Route 9 prepared by SUNY at Albany, commissioned by NYSDOT in preparation of widening the road.  The house was in good condition at that time.  The house was determined to initially be constructed in the 1840s and show up on a map of Dutchess County from 1850.  It was described as “a largely unaltered gothic revival type residence, as evidenced by such elements as finials and pendants on the gables and dormers, and by the pointed hoods on the second floor windows.”  The area was described as “an area of open woodland except for a Hess gas station immediately to the south.”  Also, it was “one of a small handful of 19th century farm homesteads that typify the farming economy of this area during that period.”

When I passed the house in September 2018, I saw that the house had been demolished.  I guess I photographed it just in time.  The detached garage was still present.  I do not know the future of the property.

Location:  Google Maps (41.741946, -73.930529)

St. Andrews Novitiate Agricultural Property, Hyde Park, NY

An abandoned farmstead was hidden in the woods across from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY.  Logging activities in May 2015 revealed these ruins after approximately 30 years of abandonment.  Historic mapping seems to indicate the property was initially developed in the mid 1800s.  A stone tower on the property would have had a great view of the Hudson River when the property was cleared.

In 1987, the NYS Department of Transportation was planning some work on the adjacent Route 9 (PIN 8040.86), so the portion of this property closest to the road (identified as “Site E”) was surveyed for cultural/historic resources.  In that survey report, the portion closest to Route 9 is indicated to be a “gradually prospering farmstead” and orchard site from the nineteenth century into the twentieth century.  It was determined to be “possibly originally constructed before 1850, but certainly not before 1820… The site was definitely occupied into the twentieth century but the exact date and cause of abandonment is unknown”.

In the 1987 report, a pair of stone pillars in a fieldstone wall was located at the entrance to the site, across from the entrance to the Culinary Institute of America (CIA); see Map 8 and Photo 21 from the report.  (These pillars were likely destroyed when work was completed along Route 9.)  A dirt road lead from the pillars slightly northeast (188 feet north and 166 feet east) to the subsurface fieldstone foundation of a house (see Photo 22 of the report).  Investigation of the house foundation indicated that it was composed of three sections, each of which appeared to reflect a later addition.  The artifacts found in the additions show an increasing wealth of the residents of the property over time.

Behind the fieldstone house was “an extensive apple orchard and a large narrow cinderblock building”.  The cinderblock building (see Photo 23 of the report) was segmented into five “compartments each with its own fireplace and was probably housing for seasonal tenant workers”.  The cinderblock building was still present when I photographed the property in 2015.

Between 2005 and 2008, additional cultural resource surveys were performed on the site. More extensive historic research was performed for these surveys than the 1987 one. The site was identified as primarily farmland during the 18th and 19th centuries, part of several family farms (Stuyvestant, Osborne, Butler, Jones, and Webendorfer). The foundation remains of a 2-section house parallel to Route 9, presumed to have been constructed around 1783 and identified as the Walton Roosevelt House, were found on the site along Route 9. (I did not photograph these ruins.)  The foundation and cobble floor of a 19th century barn, once part of the Webendorfer family farm, was also identified. (I did not photograph this ruin either.)

Starting in the 1890s, the Jesuit Society purchased these family farms on the west and east sides of Albany Post Road (Route 9) for the training of priests, the St. Andrews Novitiate. The east side of Route 9 was redeveloped as farmland, orchards, and vineyards to support the Jesuit community, which included the construction of winery buildings, agricultural buildings, and roads. A 1950s map of the property (included in my gallery here) was included in the survey reports. The tile building I photographed was a piggery and the tall tower building was used as a water tower. The long, white “tenant building”, perpendicular to Route 9, is shown on the map, but not specifically identified as a certain use. By the late 20th century, the east side of Route 9 was no longer being used by the Jesuit community and it was sold in the 1960s.

1986 Historic Survey link: Click here

Map: Aerial view