Michael Salyer Stone House
Encyclopedia
The Michael Salyer Stone House is located on Blue Hill Road (Rockland County
Route 23) in Orangetown
, New York, United States. It was built in the late 18th century.
Unusually for Rockland County, its gambrel roof has clapboard
siding in the upper gable apexes, a feature normally found farther north, in Colonial stone houses in Ulster County
. It is possible that this may be due to Huguenot
influence. In 2002 it and its well were listed on the National Register of Historic Places
. Today it serves as a local historical museum.
. It occupies an 8.3 acres (3.4 ha) lot overlooking Lake Tappan
, a reservoir on the Hackensack River
shared by New York and New Jersey
, across the road. To the west and south is the Blue Hills Country Club golf course, buffered by woods. The land along Blue Hill to the north is also wooded, ending at some other residences along Sickletown.
From the west bound the land slopes down sharply, then gently, to the lake at the east. The house is on a small cleared section at the roadside with a lawn. A driveway to the south becomes a circular parking area. To the northwest is the old well and a frame shed.
The house itself is a one-and-a-half-story five-by-two-bay
structure of rough-cut rectangular sandstone
units on a rubblestone foundation
. A small one-story frame kitchen wing projects from the north end of the west (rear) elevation. The centrally located main entrance on the east has a small stone porch with wooden benches backed by simple square balustrades on either side. Two bulkhead doors on the north and south corners of that elevation provide exterior access to the basement.
The slate-shingled gambrel roof is pierced by brick chimneys at the ends and three shed dormer windows on either elevation. Its wide overhanging eaves on the east and west elevations flare outwards; on the north and south it is flush. Clapboard
is used in the gable apexes.
On the east (front) facade
the blocks are laid in a Flemish bond pattern. The two windows flanking the main entrance have paneled wooden shutters
; all and the doorway are topped with splayed brick lintels. On the sides the stonework reverts to a more random pattern. The north has two windows on either story; the south one on the first floor, with shutters, and two on top.
The main entrance is a recessed paneled wooden door with a radiating-muntin rectangular transom
on top. It opens into a central hall that runs the depth of the house to the rear entrance, a heavy planked Dutch door
with top light. Many original finishings remain, such as wall plaster, wide-plank flooring, moldings
and architrave
s.
On the north is a parlor, the largest room in the house, covering the full depth of the building. It has a fireplace with Federal style mantel
and built-in cupboard
. The south parlor has a similar fireplace, and the room to the west is now the bathroom.
Stairs lead from the north parlor to the second floor, which also has a central hall. Its western end was converted into another bathroom. There are two bedrooms on either side of the hall.
Gambrel roofs, originally used by English settlers in New England
, became popular with Dutch settlers
in the Hudson Valley
during the 1760s. They could span a house two rooms deep yet provide more space for an attic than a gable
d roof. The Michael Salyer House, with its wide upper and lower angles, is a regional variant more commonly found in the southern Hudson Valley, closer to New York City
. It is known as a "Flemish roof" despite the lack of an apparent antecedent in European building traditions
.
The house also has frame and clapboard infill in the gambrel apexes. This is rare for a Rockland County
Dutch stone house, and much more common in Ulster County
farther north on the west side of the Hudson Valley. It may be due to Jeremias Mabie, who like the early settlers of the New Paltz
area was not descended from Dutch settlers but rather of French
Huguenot
extraction.
Salyer died in 1810, willing the house to his wife. She in turn passed it to her daughter Mary and her husband David Bogert upon her death the following year. From them it passed through a variety of owners for most of the 19th and 20th centuries, including the Blauvelt family, until it became property of the United Water Company. In 1992 it was donated to the Town of Orangetown
, which uses it as a local history museum, curated by the Orangetown Historical Society.
After the donation, volunteers worked to restore
the house. It opened as a museum with permanent exhibits in 1996. In 2007 it closed for more renovations, including a new roof and French drain system
. The following year it reopened with three exhibits, one dedicated to Revolutionary War
-era British spy Maj. John André
.
Rockland County, New York
Rockland County is a suburban county 15 miles to the northwest of Manhattan and part of the New York City Metropolitan Area, in the U.S. state of New York. It is the southernmost county in New York west of the Hudson River, and the smallest county in New York outside of New York City. The...
Route 23) in Orangetown
Orangetown, New York
Orangetown is a town in Rockland County, New York, United States located in the southeast part of the county. It is northwest of New York City; north of New Jersey; east of the town of Ramapo; south of the town of Clarkstown; west of the Hudson River. The population was 47,711 at the 2000 census.-...
, New York, United States. It was built in the late 18th century.
Unusually for Rockland County, its gambrel roof has clapboard
Clapboard (architecture)
Clapboard, also known as bevel siding or lap siding or weather-board , is a board used typically for exterior horizontal siding that has one edge thicker than the other and where the board above laps over the one below...
siding in the upper gable apexes, a feature normally found farther north, in Colonial stone houses in Ulster County
Ulster County, New York
Ulster County is a county located in the state of New York, USA. It sits in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 182,493. Recent population estimates completed by the United States Census Bureau for the 12-month period ending July 1 are at...
. It is possible that this may be due to Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
influence. In 2002 it and its well 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...
. Today it serves as a local historical museum.
Buildings and grounds
The house is on the west side of Blue Hill, 800 feet (243.8 m) south of its intersection with Sickletown and Convent roads, east of the village of Pearl RiverPearl River, New York
Pearl River is a hamlet , in the Town of Orangetown Rockland County, New York, United States located east of Nauraushaun; north of the state of New Jersey; south of Nanuet and west of Blauvelt...
. It occupies an 8.3 acres (3.4 ha) lot overlooking Lake Tappan
Lake Tappan
Lake Tappan is a reservoir that was formed by the Tappan Dam placed on the Hackensack River in 1967. It straddles the border between River Vale and Old Tappan, New Jersey...
, a reservoir on the Hackensack River
Hackensack River
The Hackensack River is a river, approximately 45 miles long, in the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, emptying into Newark Bay, a back chamber of New York Harbor. The watershed of the river includes part of the suburban area outside New York City just west of the lower Hudson River,...
shared by New York and New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, across the road. To the west and south is the Blue Hills Country Club golf course, buffered by woods. The land along Blue Hill to the north is also wooded, ending at some other residences along Sickletown.
From the west bound the land slopes down sharply, then gently, to the lake at the east. The house is on a small cleared section at the roadside with a lawn. A driveway to the south becomes a circular parking area. To the northwest is the old well and a frame shed.
The house itself is a one-and-a-half-story five-by-two-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 of rough-cut rectangular 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,...
units on a rubblestone foundation
Foundation (architecture)
A foundation is the lowest and supporting layer of a structure. Foundations are generally divided into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.-Shallow foundations:...
. A small one-story frame kitchen wing projects from the north end of the west (rear) elevation. The centrally located main entrance on the east has a small stone porch with wooden benches backed by simple square balustrades on either side. Two bulkhead doors on the north and south corners of that elevation provide exterior access to the basement.
The slate-shingled gambrel roof is pierced by brick chimneys at the ends and three shed dormer windows on either elevation. Its wide overhanging eaves on the east and west elevations flare outwards; on the north and south it is flush. Clapboard
Clapboard (architecture)
Clapboard, also known as bevel siding or lap siding or weather-board , is a board used typically for exterior horizontal siding that has one edge thicker than the other and where the board above laps over the one below...
is used in the gable apexes.
On the east (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"....
the blocks are laid in a Flemish bond pattern. The two windows flanking the main entrance have paneled wooden shutters
Window shutter
A window shutter is a solid and stable window covering usually consisting of a frame of vertical stiles and horizontal rails...
; all and the doorway are topped with splayed brick lintels. On the sides the stonework reverts to a more random pattern. The north has two windows on either story; the south one on the first floor, with shutters, and two on top.
The main entrance is a recessed paneled wooden door with a radiating-muntin rectangular transom
Transom (architectural)
In architecture, a transom is the term given to a transverse beam or bar in a frame, or to the crosspiece separating a door or the like from a window or fanlight above it. Transom is also the customary U.S. word used for a transom light, the window over this crosspiece...
on top. It opens into a central hall that runs the depth of the house to the rear entrance, a heavy planked Dutch door
Dutch door
A Dutch door , or stable door , or half door , is a door divided horizontally in such a fashion that the bottom half may remain shut while the top half opens...
with top light. Many original finishings remain, such as wall plaster, wide-plank flooring, moldings
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...
and architrave
Architrave
An architrave is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of the columns. It is an architectural element in Classical architecture.-Classical architecture:...
s.
On the north is a parlor, the largest room in the house, covering the full depth of the building. It has a fireplace with Federal style 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...
and built-in cupboard
Cupboard
A cupboard or press is a type of cabinet, often made of wood, used indoors to store household objects such as food, crockery, textiles and liquor, and protect them from dust,vermin and dirt....
. The south parlor has a similar fireplace, and the room to the west is now the bathroom.
Stairs lead from the north parlor to the second floor, which also has a central hall. Its western end was converted into another bathroom. There are two bedrooms on either side of the hall.
History
In 1783 the 380 acres (153.8 ha) of the Kakiat Patent where the house now stands were owned by Jeremias Mabie. He had built a house on the property and raised four daughters. That year one of them, Elizabeth Mabie, married Michael Salyer. It is believed that the house was at least under construction at the time of the wedding, as a present.Gambrel roofs, originally used by English settlers in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, became popular with Dutch settlers
Dutch colonization of the Americas
Dutch trading posts and plantations in the Americas precede the much wider known colonization activities of the Dutch in Asia. Whereas the first Dutch fort in Asia was built in 1600 , the first forts and settlements on the Essequibo river in Guyana and on the Amazon date from the 1590s...
in the Hudson Valley
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...
during the 1760s. They could span a house two rooms deep yet provide more space for an attic than a 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...
d roof. The Michael Salyer House, with its wide upper and lower angles, is a regional variant more commonly found in the southern Hudson Valley, closer to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. It is known as a "Flemish roof" despite the lack of an apparent antecedent in European building traditions
Vernacular architecture
Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs and circumstances. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it...
.
The house also has frame and clapboard infill in the gambrel apexes. This is rare for a Rockland County
Rockland County, New York
Rockland County is a suburban county 15 miles to the northwest of Manhattan and part of the New York City Metropolitan Area, in the U.S. state of New York. It is the southernmost county in New York west of the Hudson River, and the smallest county in New York outside of New York City. The...
Dutch stone house, and much more common in Ulster County
Ulster County, New York
Ulster County is a county located in the state of New York, USA. It sits in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 182,493. Recent population estimates completed by the United States Census Bureau for the 12-month period ending July 1 are at...
farther north on the west side of the Hudson Valley. It may be due to Jeremias Mabie, who like the early settlers of the New Paltz
New Paltz (village), New York
New Paltz is a village in Ulster County in the U.S. state of New York. It is about north of New York City and south of Albany. The population was 6,818 at the 2010 census.The Village of New Paltz is located within the Town of New Paltz...
area was not descended from Dutch settlers but rather of French
French colonization of the Americas
The French colonization of the Americas began in the 16th century, and continued in the following centuries as France established a colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere. France founded colonies in much of eastern North America, on a number of Caribbean islands, and in South America...
Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
extraction.
Salyer died in 1810, willing the house to his wife. She in turn passed it to her daughter Mary and her husband David Bogert upon her death the following year. From them it passed through a variety of owners for most of the 19th and 20th centuries, including the Blauvelt family, until it became property of the United Water Company. In 1992 it was donated to the Town of Orangetown
Orangetown, New York
Orangetown is a town in Rockland County, New York, United States located in the southeast part of the county. It is northwest of New York City; north of New Jersey; east of the town of Ramapo; south of the town of Clarkstown; west of the Hudson River. The population was 47,711 at the 2000 census.-...
, which uses it as a local history museum, curated by the Orangetown Historical Society.
After the donation, volunteers worked to restore
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
the house. It opened as a museum with permanent exhibits in 1996. In 2007 it closed for more renovations, including a new roof and French drain system
French drain
A French drain, blind drain, rubble drain, rock drain, drain tile, perimeter drain, land drain or French ditch is a trench covered with gravel or rock that redirects surface and groundwater away from an area...
. The following year it reopened with three exhibits, one dedicated to 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...
-era British spy Maj. 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...
.