Edward Harden Mansion
Encyclopedia
The Edward Harden Mansion, also known as Broad Oaks, is a historic home located on North Broadway (U.S. Route 9) in Sleepy Hollow
, New York, United States, on the boundary between it and neighboring Tarrytown
. It is a brick building in the Georgian Revival style
designed by Hunt & Hunt
in the early 20th century, one of the few mansions left of many that lined Broadway in the era it was built. Also on the property is a wood frame
carriage house
that predates it slightly. Both buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 2003.
Edward Harden had earned fame and fortune as the Chicago Tribune
reporter who broke the story of Admiral George Dewey
's victory in the Battle of Manila Bay. He later left journalism for finance, and after earning a seat on the New York Stock Exchange
commissioned the house. Shortly after it was built, he allowed part of the home to be used for a new kindergarten
that was the first Montessori school in the U.S. The Harden family later moved to nearby Scarborough
. It was used as a home for retired seamstresses and, in the middle of the century, sold to the local school district, which continues to use it as its main offices today.
, listed on the Register as the site where John André
was captured during the Revolutionary War
, exposing Benedict Arnold
's espionage for the British. On the east property line is the Old Croton Aqueduct, a National Historic Landmark
. The house straddles the municipal boundary between Sleepy Hollow and neighboring Tarrytown. It and the park are the transitional area between the densely developed downtown sections of the two communities, to the west, and residential areas to the east, marked by tall mature trees sheltering houses on large lots. Sleepy Hollow High School and the district's middle school are to the north and the elementary John Paulding School is to the south. A drive leads up from Broadway, curving south to a parking lot to the southwest. Another large parking lot is in the rear.
The main house itself is a brick-faced nine-by-five-bay
structure, two and a half stories tall with dormer windows and brick chimneys piercing its hip roof
. On the north and south end are two-story, three-bay flat-roofed wings faced in decorative woodwork. A one-story service wing is on the rear, and an open porch on a stonework foundation with an iron railing runs along the ground floor of the west (front) facade
, wrapping around both porches.
All windows on the seven bays of the main block's west facade are double-hung sash
, 20-over-1 on the first floor (except for modern, narrower one-over-one on the northwest corner) and 15-over-15 upstairs. Some have projecting window air conditioner units. They have marble sills and splayed brick lintels with marble keystone
s. Recessed panels are worked into the brick between the two stories; the corners are quoined
. At the roofline is a modillioned, dentilled cornice
. The small six-over-six double-hung sash in the five dormers are topped with pediment
ed gable
s.
From the center of the south facade the porch projects. It is a three-by-three-bay two-story wooden extension with a flat roof. Corner pilaster
s support a frieze
with molded
dentils. On the first story all windows are small six-over-six double-hung sash, replacing the original French windows. They are within semicircular arches supported by paneled pilasters. On the second floor the 12-over-12 double-hung sash form balconettes. Above it three more gabled dormers pierce the roof. The north porch is similar but smaller, recessed slightly into the corner. Both porches are flanked on the main block by windows with the same treatment as the corresponding windows on the west facade. On the northeast corner, the service wing has a flat roof, windows in a variety of configurations, and an entrance porch.
The east facade runs the full nine bays since it includes the rear of the north porch. Its windows are the same as the others on the house. In its center is a recessed three-bay two-story entrance porch, the house's original front entrance, creating three-bay flanking pavilions with two smooth columns on either side supported by sandstone
Composite
capitals
. In the center bay the entrance has its original stained
wooden single-panel door with narrow pilasters and leaded glass
sidelights and transom.
Similar columns flank the west entrance, which is topped by a single-bay pedimented segmental-arched porch. The door itself has been replaced with a modern one; its overhead transom has been filled in as well. It opens into a large entrance hall with a staircase reported to have been brought from a genuine Colonial house in Boston. The walls that once separated the dining room on the north and drawing room
on the south have been removed. Many original finishes remain, such as the plaster walls and ceilings; wood, plaster and marble fireplace mantel
s and black walnut
woodwork in other places. The bathrooms upstairs retain their white tile floors.
The carriage house is a one-and-a-half-story wood frame building at the northeast corner of the property. It has a clipped gable roof, bracketed
eaves and a small cupola
. Its windows are double-hung sash in a variety of configurations.
, was riding along on the USS Hugh McCulloch
, a revenue cutter
, when it was summoned to join the Asiatic Squadron
under the command of Commodore George Dewey
, as the Spanish–American War broke out. He was one of three reporters who witnessed Dewey's victory in the Battle of Manila Bay, the first by the U.S. Navy over a foreign fleet since the War of 1812
. From Hong Kong he was able to scoop
the other two by paying the telegraph operator with a bag of gold to expedite the dispatch to his paper. It reached the United States ahead of Dewey's official report, which had been sent first, and even President William McKinley
found out when the Tribune' s editor awoke him with the news.
Seven years later, after service as a special commissioner in the Philippines and editor of the Chicago Journal, he left journalism for finance and business. He was successful enough as a stock trader to earn a seat on the New York Stock Exchange
, and married Ruth Vanderlip, daughter of Frank Vanderlip, Treasury Secretary during the Spanish–American War and later president of National City Bank. The couple and their children were drawn to the Tarrytowns, where many other prominent wealthy families of the time lived.
They commissioned Hunt & Hunt, a firm run by the sons of Richard Morris Hunt
, to design the house in what was then known as North Tarrytown, in 1909. Harden bought four acres (4 acres (1.6 ha)), which included the carriage house, likely built for a predecessor house. The architects chose the new Georgian Revival style for the building, which was widely covered by New York and Chicago newspapers. Harden was aware of the Revolutionary-era history of the nearby land, and may have chosen an 18th-century revival style to reflect this. He collected memorabilia related to Col. André
, a collection held today by the Tarrytown Historical Society, and later bought the land for use as a public park.
Two years after the house was built, McClure's
magazine began running articles about Italian educator Maria Montessori
and her theories. Harden and others in his social set were intrigued by them, and later that year brought a teacher who been trained by Montessori in Rome to set up a kindergarten
in the second floor of the conservatory
on the south end. This was the first Montessori school in the United States
.
After two years at the mansion, the school was moved to the Vanderlips' property in nearby Briarcliff Manor
, where it became the Scarborough School. Among its later students were some of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's grandchildren. The Hardens, too, moved to Scarborough
in 1926, supposedly finding Broadway had become "too noisy". It was sold to the estate of Margaret Howard, an Irish immigrant
who had become a millionaire dressmaker in New York. She had directed in her will
that a large amount of money be used to purchase and maintain a home for retired seamstresses like those who had worked for her, an unusual idea at the time. Two years after the sale, in 1928, the Sisters of Mercy
managed the home as the first residents moved in.
The seamstresses kept busy, sewing uniforms for American troops during World War II
. Ten years after the war, in 1955, the house was sold to the Union Free School District of the Tarrytowns, which converted
it slightly. The mansion to the north had already been used as the basis for a private boys' school, the building that is now Sleepy Hollow High School. Later the southern mansion became John Paulding School, named for one of the local militiamen who had apprehended André nearby. The district has continued to use it as its administration building.
Sleepy Hollow, New York
Sleepy Hollow is a village in the town of Mount Pleasant in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, about north of midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by the Philipse Manor stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line.Originally...
, New York, United States, on the boundary between it and neighboring Tarrytown
Tarrytown, New York
Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, about north of midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line...
. It is a brick building in the Georgian Revival style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
designed by Hunt & Hunt
Richard Howland Hunt
Richard Howland Hunt was an American architect and member of the notable Hunt family of Vermont, who worked in partnership with his brother Joseph Howland Hunt in New York City, as Hunt & Hunt. The brothers were sons of the first American Beaux-Arts architect, Richard Morris Hunt...
in the early 20th century, one of the few mansions left of many that lined Broadway in the era it was built. Also on the property is a wood frame
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
carriage house
Carriage house
A carriage house, also called remise or coach house, is an outbuilding which was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and the related tack.In Great Britain the farm building was called a Cart Shed...
that predates it slightly. Both buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 2003.
Edward Harden had earned fame and fortune as the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
reporter who broke the story of Admiral George Dewey
George Dewey
George Dewey was an admiral of the United States Navy. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War...
's victory in the Battle of Manila Bay. He later left journalism for finance, and after earning a seat on the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
commissioned the house. Shortly after it was built, he allowed part of the home to be used for a new kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
that was the first Montessori school in the U.S. The Harden family later moved to nearby Scarborough
Scarborough Historic District
Scarborough Historic District is a national historic district located at Ossining, Westchester County, New York. The district contains 26 contributing buildings, two contributing sites, and one contributing structure. They are associated with three estates, a school complex, a cemetery, and two...
. It was used as a home for retired seamstresses and, in the middle of the century, sold to the local school district, which continues to use it as its main offices today.
Building
The mansion is located atop a small hill on the east side of Broadway, adjacent to Patriot's ParkPatriot's Park
Patriot's Park, originally Brookside Park, is located on U.S. Route 9 along the boundary between Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow, New York, United States. It is a four-acre parcel with a walkway and several monuments...
, listed on the Register as the site where John André
John André
John André was a British army officer hanged as a spy during the American War of Independence. This was due to an incident in which he attempted to assist Benedict Arnold's attempted surrender of the fort at West Point, New York to the British.-Early life:André was born on May 2, 1750 in London to...
was captured during the Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, exposing Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold
Benedict Arnold V was a general during the American Revolutionary War. He began the war in the Continental Army but later defected to the British Army. While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fort at West Point, New York, and plotted to surrender it to the British forces...
's espionage for the British. On the east property line is the Old Croton Aqueduct, a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
. The house straddles the municipal boundary between Sleepy Hollow and neighboring Tarrytown. It and the park are the transitional area between the densely developed downtown sections of the two communities, to the west, and residential areas to the east, marked by tall mature trees sheltering houses on large lots. Sleepy Hollow High School and the district's middle school are to the north and the elementary John Paulding School is to the south. A drive leads up from Broadway, curving south to a parking lot to the southwest. Another large parking lot is in the rear.
The main house itself is a brick-faced nine-by-five-bay
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
structure, two and a half stories tall with dormer windows and brick chimneys piercing its hip roof
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
. On the north and south end are two-story, three-bay flat-roofed wings faced in decorative woodwork. A one-story service wing is on the rear, and an open porch on a stonework foundation with an iron railing runs along the ground floor of the west (front) facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
, wrapping around both porches.
All windows on the seven bays of the main block's west facade are double-hung sash
Sash window
A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels or "sashes" that form a frame to hold panes of glass, which are often separated from other panes by narrow muntins...
, 20-over-1 on the first floor (except for modern, narrower one-over-one on the northwest corner) and 15-over-15 upstairs. Some have projecting window air conditioner units. They have marble sills and splayed brick lintels with marble keystone
Keystone (architecture)
A keystone is the wedge-shaped stone piece at the apex of a masonry vault or arch, which is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allowing the arch to bear weight. This makes a keystone very important structurally...
s. Recessed panels are worked into the brick between the two stories; the corners are quoined
Quoin (architecture)
Quoins are the cornerstones of brick or stone walls. Quoins may be either structural or decorative. Architects and builders use quoins to give the impression of strength and firmness to the outline of a building...
. At the roofline is a modillioned, dentilled cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
. The small six-over-six double-hung sash in the five dormers are topped with pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
ed gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
s.
From the center of the south facade the porch projects. It is a three-by-three-bay two-story wooden extension with a flat roof. Corner pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s support a frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
with molded
Molding (decorative)
Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...
dentils. On the first story all windows are small six-over-six double-hung sash, replacing the original French windows. They are within semicircular arches supported by paneled pilasters. On the second floor the 12-over-12 double-hung sash form balconettes. Above it three more gabled dormers pierce the roof. The north porch is similar but smaller, recessed slightly into the corner. Both porches are flanked on the main block by windows with the same treatment as the corresponding windows on the west facade. On the northeast corner, the service wing has a flat roof, windows in a variety of configurations, and an entrance porch.
The east facade runs the full nine bays since it includes the rear of the north porch. Its windows are the same as the others on the house. In its center is a recessed three-bay two-story entrance porch, the house's original front entrance, creating three-bay flanking pavilions with two smooth columns on either side supported by sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
Composite
Composite order
The composite order is a mixed order, combining the volutes of the Ionic order capital with the acanthus leaves of the Corinthian order. The composite order volutes are larger, however, and the composite order also has echinus molding with egg-and-dart ornamentation between the volutes...
capitals
Capital (architecture)
In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...
. In the center bay the entrance has its original stained
Wood stain
A wood stain consists of a colorant suspended or dissolved in a 'vehicle' or solvent. The suspension agent can be water, alcohol, petroleum distillate, or the actual finishing agent...
wooden single-panel door with narrow pilasters and leaded glass
Leaded glass
Leaded glass may refer to:*Lead glass, potassium silicate glass which has been impregnated with a small amount of lead oxide in its fabrication...
sidelights and transom.
Similar columns flank the west entrance, which is topped by a single-bay pedimented segmental-arched porch. The door itself has been replaced with a modern one; its overhead transom has been filled in as well. It opens into a large entrance hall with a staircase reported to have been brought from a genuine Colonial house in Boston. The walls that once separated the dining room on the north and drawing room
Drawing room
A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained. The name is derived from the sixteenth-century terms "withdrawing room" and "withdrawing chamber", which remained in use through the seventeenth century, and made its first written appearance in 1642...
on the south have been removed. Many original finishes remain, such as the plaster walls and ceilings; wood, plaster and marble fireplace mantel
Fireplace mantel
Fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a grate to catch the smoke. The term has evolved to include the decorative framework around the fireplace, and can include elaborate designs extending to the ceiling...
s and black walnut
Walnut
Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
woodwork in other places. The bathrooms upstairs retain their white tile floors.
The carriage house is a one-and-a-half-story wood frame building at the northeast corner of the property. It has a clipped gable roof, bracketed
Bracket (architecture)
A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf. Brackets are often in the form of scrolls, and can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be entirely...
eaves and a small cupola
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
. Its windows are double-hung sash in a variety of configurations.
History
In 1898 Edward Harden, then the 29-year-old business editor for the Chicago TribuneChicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, was riding along on the USS Hugh McCulloch
USS McCulloch (1897)
Built by William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, USS McCulloch commissioned 12 December 1897 as a cruising cutter of the Revenue Cutter Service, Capt. D. B. Hogsdon, RCS, in command....
, a revenue cutter
United States Revenue Cutter Service
The United States Revenue Cutter Service was established by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in 1790 as an armed maritime law enforcement service. Throughout its entire existence the Revenue Cutter Service operated under the authority of the United States Department of the Treasury...
, when it was summoned to join the Asiatic Squadron
Asiatic Squadron
The Asiatic Squadron was a squadron of United States Navy warships stationed in East Asia during the latter half of the 19th century, it was created in 1868 when the East India Squadron was disbanded...
under the command of Commodore George Dewey
George Dewey
George Dewey was an admiral of the United States Navy. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War...
, as the Spanish–American War broke out. He was one of three reporters who witnessed Dewey's victory in the Battle of Manila Bay, the first by the U.S. Navy over a foreign fleet since the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. From Hong Kong he was able to scoop
Scoop (term)
Scoop is an informal term used in journalism. The word connotes originality, importance, surprise or excitement, secrecy and exclusivity.Stories likely considered to be scoops are important news, likely to interest or concern many people. A scoop is typically a new story, or a new aspect to an...
the other two by paying the telegraph operator with a bag of gold to expedite the dispatch to his paper. It reached the United States ahead of Dewey's official report, which had been sent first, and even President William McKinley
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
found out when the Tribune
Seven years later, after service as a special commissioner in the Philippines and editor of the Chicago Journal, he left journalism for finance and business. He was successful enough as a stock trader to earn a seat on the New York Stock Exchange
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, USA. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at 13.39 trillion as of Dec 2010...
, and married Ruth Vanderlip, daughter of Frank Vanderlip, Treasury Secretary during the Spanish–American War and later president of National City Bank. The couple and their children were drawn to the Tarrytowns, where many other prominent wealthy families of the time lived.
They commissioned Hunt & Hunt, a firm run by the sons of Richard Morris Hunt
Richard Morris Hunt
Richard Morris Hunt was an American architect of the nineteenth century and a preeminent figure in the history of American architecture...
, to design the house in what was then known as North Tarrytown, in 1909. Harden bought four acres (4 acres (1.6 ha)), which included the carriage house, likely built for a predecessor house. The architects chose the new Georgian Revival style for the building, which was widely covered by New York and Chicago newspapers. Harden was aware of the Revolutionary-era history of the nearby land, and may have chosen an 18th-century revival style to reflect this. He collected memorabilia related to Col. André
John André
John André was a British army officer hanged as a spy during the American War of Independence. This was due to an incident in which he attempted to assist Benedict Arnold's attempted surrender of the fort at West Point, New York to the British.-Early life:André was born on May 2, 1750 in London to...
, a collection held today by the Tarrytown Historical Society, and later bought the land for use as a public park.
Two years after the house was built, McClure's
McClure's
McClure's or McClure's Magazine was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with creating muckraking journalism. Ida Tarbell's series in 1902 exposing the monopoly abuses of John D...
magazine began running articles about Italian educator Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori was an Italian physician and educator, a noted humanitarian and devout Catholic best known for the philosophy of education which bears her name...
and her theories. Harden and others in his social set were intrigued by them, and later that year brought a teacher who been trained by Montessori in Rome to set up a kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
in the second floor of the conservatory
Conservatory
Conservatory may refer to the following:*Conservatory , a large, highly detailed residential solarium or a greenhouse where plants are cultivated*Music school or a school devoted to other arts such as dance...
on the south end. This was the first Montessori school in the United States
Montessori in the United States
-History:After 1907, Dr. Maria Montessori's work spread quickly around the world, soon reaching the USA, where many well-regarded public figures, Alexander Graham Bell and his wife, Mabel, Thomas Edison, Woodrow Wilson et al., recognized the value of her work with children, and sought to encourage...
.
After two years at the mansion, the school was moved to the Vanderlips' property in nearby Briarcliff Manor
Briarcliff Manor, New York
Briarcliff Manor is a village in Westchester County in the state of New York. It is shared between the towns of Mount Pleasant and Ossining, and lies entirely within the ZIP code of 10510...
, where it became the Scarborough School. Among its later students were some of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's grandchildren. The Hardens, too, moved to Scarborough
Scarborough Historic District
Scarborough Historic District is a national historic district located at Ossining, Westchester County, New York. The district contains 26 contributing buildings, two contributing sites, and one contributing structure. They are associated with three estates, a school complex, a cemetery, and two...
in 1926, supposedly finding Broadway had become "too noisy". It was sold to the estate of Margaret Howard, an Irish immigrant
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
who had become a millionaire dressmaker in New York. She had directed in her will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
that a large amount of money be used to purchase and maintain a home for retired seamstresses like those who had worked for her, an unusual idea at the time. Two years after the sale, in 1928, the Sisters of Mercy
Sisters of Mercy
The Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy is an order of Catholic women founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. , the order has about 10,000 members worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations....
managed the home as the first residents moved in.
The seamstresses kept busy, sewing uniforms for American troops during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Ten years after the war, in 1955, the house was sold to the Union Free School District of the Tarrytowns, which converted
Adaptive reuse
Adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing an old site or building for a purpose other than which it was built or designed for. Along with brownfield reclamation, adaptive reuse is seen by many as a key factor in land conservation and the reduction of urban sprawl...
it slightly. The mansion to the north had already been used as the basis for a private boys' school, the building that is now Sleepy Hollow High School. Later the southern mansion became John Paulding School, named for one of the local militiamen who had apprehended André nearby. The district has continued to use it as its administration building.