Stephen Miller House
Encyclopedia
The Stephen Miller House, also known as the Van Wyck-Miller House, is located along the NY 23
state highway
in Claverack
, New York, United States. It is a wooden farmhouse dating from the late 18th century.
It is representative of the type of house built by a successful businessman of that region and time period, combining the Federal style
with Dutch Colonial elements common in earlier houses in the region. It has remained relatively intact with some later additions. In 1997 it and five other buildings on the ashery
Miller ran were listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
to the National Register listing. The land is a mixture of woodlot
s and fields. The neighborhood, rural with large lots in the area around the farm, becomes residential again to the east. Two other Register-listed properties, the Van Rensselaer Lower Manor House
and Dr. Abram Jordan House
, are nearby on the opposite side of the road.
The house itself is a two-story, five-by-two-bay
frame
building on a stone foundation
with a bell gambrel roof pierced by two brick chimneys at either end. A dentilled cornice
marks the roofline on the north and south elevations. There is a one-story wing on the west. The ground at the north (front) elevation slopes westward, exposing the cellar on that side.
A shed-roofed porch supported by six pillars shelters the main entrance on the north (front) facade
. Two small windows flank it; the remaining first-story windows have paneled shutters
; eave windows echo them on the second story. In the wing on the west side, a door provides access to the cellar. The windows of that story are similarly treated to those on the first story.
The rear has a similar fenestration to the front but without the porch. On the east elevation is a small Dutch door
next to the chimney. It has a small shed-roofed porch as well.
Inside, the entrance, another Dutch door with four-light transom
, opens on a central hall. The front rooms are larger than the rear ones. All have fireplaces with early 19th-century mantels
. The one in the northwest room has an Arts and Crafts-style tile inlay. The second floor has a similar floor plan, while the basement is divided into several rooms including a modern family room
. The west room down there has an original fireplace and carved mantel. All rooms have their original plaster and lath
walls and wide planked flooring.
The largest of the outbuildings is the frame store to the east, contemporary to the house. Its gable
end and main entrance faces Van Wyck Lane, with a side entrance facing Route 23. It is a two-story frame building with a front porch, rear brick chimney and metal roof.
Behind the house is a brick smokehouse with gabled shingled roof partially built into the ground. Next to it is a frame privy
sided in clapboard
with a metal roof. Nearby are the largest outbuildings, two barns joined
into an L shape. They are frame buildings on stone foundations sided in clapboard with double doors at their main entrances facing the roads. The north gable end has a circular window with eight divided lights.
on the other side of Claverack is also listed on the Register. The younger man was among the first merchants in the community to set up shop on the east side, selling dry goods
and buying or accepting as barter
ash from recently cleared farmland to extract potash
from.
His house is not high in style, but does reflect Miller's commercial success in its large mass and predominantly Federal stylings. The gambrel roof and Dutch door
acknowledge the area's Dutch colonial
past.
The outbuildings are either contemporary with the house, such as the store building, or added later as the two barns were. The only significant changes to the house have been the addition of the west wing, probably some time later in the 19th century, and the changes to the basement floor plan made by owners in the late 20th century.
New York State Route 23
New York State Route 23 is an east–west state highway in the eastern portion New York in the United States. It extends for from an intersection with NY 26 in the Central New York town of Cincinnatus to the Massachusetts state line in the Berkshire Mountains, where it continues east as...
state highway
State highway
State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...
in Claverack
Claverack-Red Mills, New York
Claverack-Red Mills is a census-designated place in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 913 at the 2010 census....
, New York, United States. It is a wooden farmhouse dating from the late 18th century.
It is representative of the type of house built by a successful businessman of that region and time period, combining the Federal 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...
with Dutch Colonial elements common in earlier houses in the region. It has remained relatively intact with some later additions. In 1997 it and five other buildings on the ashery
Ashery
An ashery is a factory that converts hardwood ashes into lye, potash, or pearlash. Asheries were common in newly-settled areas of North America during the late 18th century and much of the 19th century, when excess wood was available as settlers cleared their land for farming...
Miller ran 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...
.
Property
The house is on a 23.4 acres (9.5 ha) parcel on the south side of Route 23, at the corner with Van Wyck Lane. There are five other buildings near it, all considered contributing resourcesContributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
to the National Register listing. The land is a mixture of woodlot
Woodlot
A woodlot is a term used in North America to refer to a segment of a woodland or forest capable of small-scale production of forest products such as wood fuel, sap for maple syrup, sawlogs, as well as recreational uses like bird watching, bushwalking, and wildflower appreciation...
s and fields. The neighborhood, rural with large lots in the area around the farm, becomes residential again to the east. Two other Register-listed properties, the Van Rensselaer Lower Manor House
Van Rensselaer Lower Manor House
The Van Rensselaer Lower Manor House, also called Klavarack, is located along the NY 23 state highway on the east side of Claverack, New York, United States. It is a combination of two 18th century houses, one stone and the other frame, later connected with a hyphen and then combined into one...
and Dr. Abram Jordan House
Dr. Abram Jordan House
The Dr. Abram Jordan House, also known as the Wedding Present House, is located along the NY 23 state highway in Claverack, New York, United States...
, are nearby on the opposite side of the road.
The house itself is a two-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:...
frame
Framing (construction)
Framing, in construction known as light-frame construction, is a building technique based around structural members, usually called studs, which provide a stable frame to which interior and exterior wall coverings are attached, and covered by a roof comprising horizontal ceiling joists and sloping...
building on a stone 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:...
with a bell gambrel roof pierced by two brick chimneys at either end. A 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...
marks the roofline on the north and south elevations. There is a one-story wing on the west. The ground at the north (front) elevation slopes westward, exposing the cellar on that side.
A shed-roofed porch supported by six pillars shelters the main entrance on the north (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"....
. Two small windows flank it; the remaining first-story windows have paneled shutters
Window shutter
A window shutter is a solid and stable window covering usually consisting of a frame of vertical stiles and horizontal rails...
; eave windows echo them on the second story. In the wing on the west side, a door provides access to the cellar. The windows of that story are similarly treated to those on the first story.
The rear has a similar fenestration to the front but without the porch. On the east elevation is a small 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...
next to the chimney. It has a small shed-roofed porch as well.
Inside, the entrance, another Dutch door with four-light 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...
, opens on a central hall. The front rooms are larger than the rear ones. All have fireplaces with early 19th-century mantels
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...
. The one in the northwest room has an Arts and Crafts-style tile inlay. The second floor has a similar floor plan, while the basement is divided into several rooms including a modern family room
Family room
A family room is an informal, all-purpose room in a house similar to a living room. The family room is designed to be a place where family and guests gather for group recreation like talking, reading, watching TV, and other family activities. Often, the family room is located adjacent to the...
. The west room down there has an original fireplace and carved mantel. All rooms have their original plaster and lath
Lath and plaster
Lath and plaster is a building process used mainly for interior walls in Canada and the United States until the late 1950s. After the 1950s, drywall began to replace the lath and plaster process in the United States. In the United Kingdom, lath and plaster was used for some interior partition...
walls and wide planked flooring.
The largest of the outbuildings is the frame store to the east, contemporary to the house. Its 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...
end and main entrance faces Van Wyck Lane, with a side entrance facing Route 23. It is a two-story frame building with a front porch, rear brick chimney and metal roof.
Behind the house is a brick smokehouse with gabled shingled roof partially built into the ground. Next to it is a frame privy
Outhouse
An outhouse is a small structure separate from a main building which often contained a simple toilet and may possibly also be used for housing animals and storage.- Terminology :...
sided in 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...
with a metal roof. Nearby are the largest outbuildings, two barns joined
Hyphen (architecture)
In architecture, a hyphen is a connecting link between two larger building elements. It is typically found in Georgian style architecture, where the hyphens form connections between a large central house and end pavilions in the Georgian five-part house, which was in turn derived from Palladian...
into an L shape. They are frame buildings on stone foundations sided in clapboard with double doors at their main entrances facing the roads. The north gable end has a circular window with eight divided lights.
History
The house was built around 1790 by Miller, son of Cornelius Muller, whose brick Dutch houseCornelius S. Muller House
The Cornelius S. Muller House is located along NY 23B in Claverack, New York, United States. It is a pre-Revolutionary brick house in a Dutch Colonial style with some English influences....
on the other side of Claverack is also listed on the Register. The younger man was among the first merchants in the community to set up shop on the east side, selling dry goods
Dry goods
Dry goods are products such as textiles, ready-to-wear clothing, and sundries. In U.S. retailing, a dry goods store carries consumer goods that are distinct from those carried by hardware stores and grocery stores, though "dry goods" as a term for textiles has been dated back to 1742 in England or...
and buying or accepting as barter
Barter
Barter is a method of exchange by which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. It is usually bilateral, but may be multilateral, and usually exists parallel to monetary systems in most developed countries, though to a...
ash from recently cleared farmland to extract potash
Potash
Potash is the common name for various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. In some rare cases, potash can be formed with traces of organic materials such as plant remains, and this was the major historical source for it before the industrial era...
from.
His house is not high in style, but does reflect Miller's commercial success in its large mass and predominantly Federal stylings. The gambrel roof and 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...
acknowledge the area's Dutch colonial
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...
past.
The outbuildings are either contemporary with the house, such as the store building, or added later as the two barns were. The only significant changes to the house have been the addition of the west wing, probably some time later in the 19th century, and the changes to the basement floor plan made by owners in the late 20th century.