Van Rensselaer Lower Manor House
Encyclopedia
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 building and sided in wood. One local historian called the result a "growth" that no longer had any architectural merit. It retains much of its original interior layout, finishes and fenestration
.
One of the houses was among the earliest built in the region. The structure continued to be expanded. As its name suggests it was used by the Van Rensselaer family to maintain a presence on the southern boundary of their family lands during the colonial era. In 1998 it and an associated barn were listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
on which the house is located is on the north side of Route 23 0.8 miles (1.3 km) east of its junction with routes 9H
and 23B
at the center of Claverack. The land slopes up gently to the house from the south and more steeply from the west. There is a barn to the north and a greenhouse
/shop to the southeast. An unpaved driveway runs along the east side, between the house and a low retaining wall
, to the barn.
The house itself is a two-story building, five bays
wide by six deep. Its front section has a metal roof that slopes up from a full-width front porch over the course of the two southernmost side bays to a crest pierced by a brick chimney, then drops slightly to remain flat all the way to the rear, where another chimney rises. It is sided in white clapboard
save a small portion on the rear of the first story where the original stonework is visible. The front section has a cellar
, accessible from the west side.
A one-story modern kitchen wing has been built on the west side near the south end. All windows have louver
ed shutters
. Small vents are located above the second story windows. In the middle of the east facade
on the first story an entrance is sheltered by a hipped-roofed
porch supported by chamfer
ed posts.
From the paneled double door on the centrally located main entrance under the front porch, there is a small vestibule
that opens into two parlors on either side. Both have a large fireplace and original mantel
. A finely molded
chair rail
runs around both rooms. In the kitchen wing there is some exposed brick from the original construction.
The main entrance of the connector section, at the east porch, has sidelights. It opens onto a hallway that leads from the front to the rear of the house. An old doorway (now closed) between the hyphen
and the original house in the rear has an old board-and-batten
door with a carved Greek key lintel. The oldest rooms here have the original hearth and bake oven. An iron kettle with firebox
is built into the chimney. The north room appears to have been used as a smokechamber due to its smudged plaster.
The barn, considered a contributing resource
to the National Register listing. is located just to the north of the house. It is a frame structure, now secured with vertical wood strips, with metal roof built into the western slope. It has a newer one-story shed-roofed addition. There is a root cellar
on the southwest corner. The greenhouse and flower shop, operated by the owners of the house, is close to Route 23 at the southeast corner of the lot. As it is of modern construction it is not considered contributing.
rights to the van Rensselaer family, rights they had originally exercised as patroon
s under Dutch colonial rule
. Later research suggests that date is thirty years too early and that the original house, whose stones still show at the rear, was built in 1715 by Samuel ten Broeck and his wife Catherine van Rensselaer, whose father had inherited the Claverack portion of the manor. It was used to collect rents and manage other tenant affairs. The family divided their time between Claverack and Albany
.
The family remained resident there for the rest of the century. Sometime after the Revolution
, as the semi-feudal
land ownership arrangements left over from the colonial era were giving way to relationships more compatible with democracy, it became the residence of members of another locally prominent family, the Mesicks. The patroonship abolished, they lived there as leaseholders until apparently purchasing the property in the 1810s. A Mesick descendant still owns the house.
In 1790 a frame house was built in the front. Its steeply pitched
roof still survives as the front facade. It is very similar to Flemish-style houses built further south in New York and New Jersey, lacking only the flaring of the roof over the porch. Around that time a hyphen
was built to connect the two.
The barn was built around 1825. In the early 20th century expansions to both the hyphen and the older house created the second story and put the house into its present form. As a result, one contemporary local historian disparaged the house as a "growth", with no remaining architectural unity.
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...
on the east side of 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 combination of two 18th century houses, one stone and the other 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...
, later connected with a hyphen
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...
and then combined into one building and sided in wood. One local historian called the result a "growth" that no longer had any architectural merit. It retains much of its original interior layout, finishes and fenestration
Window
A window is a transparent or translucent opening in a wall or door that allows the passage of light and, if not closed or sealed, air and sound. Windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent material like float glass. Windows are held in place by frames, which...
.
One of the houses was among the earliest built in the region. The structure continued to be expanded. As its name suggests it was used by the Van Rensselaer family to maintain a presence on the southern boundary of their family lands during the colonial era. In 1998 it and an associated barn 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 1.3 acre (0.5260918 ha) lotLot (real estate)
In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner. A lot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property in other countries...
on which the house is located is on the north side of Route 23 0.8 miles (1.3 km) east of its junction with routes 9H
New York State Route 9H
New York State Route 9H is a state highway located within Columbia County, New York, United States. It runs from US 9, NY 82, and NY 23 at its southern end in Bell Pond to its northern end in Valatie, also at US 9....
and 23B
New York State Route 23B
New York State Route 23B is an east–west state highway located in western Columbia County, New York, in the United States. The route is a former section of NY 23 that runs for from NY 9G southwest of Hudson to NY 9H in Claverack...
at the center of Claverack. The land slopes up gently to the house from the south and more steeply from the west. There is a barn to the north and a greenhouse
Greenhouse
A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...
/shop to the southeast. An unpaved driveway runs along the east side, between the house and a low retaining wall
Retaining wall
Retaining walls are built in order to hold back earth which would otherwise move downwards. Their purpose is to stabilize slopes and provide useful areas at different elevations, e.g...
, to the barn.
The house itself is a two-story building, five bays
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:...
wide by six deep. Its front section has a metal roof that slopes up from a full-width front porch over the course of the two southernmost side bays to a crest pierced by a brick chimney, then drops slightly to remain flat all the way to the rear, where another chimney rises. It is sided in white 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...
save a small portion on the rear of the first story where the original stonework is visible. The front section has a cellar
Basement
__FORCETOC__A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the ground floor. Basements are typically used as a utility space for a building where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car park, and air-conditioning system...
, accessible from the west side.
A one-story modern kitchen wing has been built on the west side near the south end. All windows have louver
Louver
A louver or louvre , from the French l'ouvert; "the open one") is a window, blind or shutter with horizontal slats that are angled to admit light and air, but to keep out rain, direct sunshine, and noise...
ed shutters
Window shutter
A window shutter is a solid and stable window covering usually consisting of a frame of vertical stiles and horizontal rails...
. Small vents are located above the second story windows. In the middle of the east 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"....
on the first story an entrance is sheltered by a hipped-roofed
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...
porch supported by chamfer
Chamfer
A chamfer is a beveled edge connecting two surfaces. If the surfaces are at right angles, the chamfer will typically be symmetrical at 45 degrees. A fillet is the rounding off of an interior corner. A rounding of an exterior corner is called a "round" or a "radius"."Chamfer" is a term commonly...
ed posts.
From the paneled double door on the centrally located main entrance under the front porch, there is a small vestibule
Vestibule (architecture)
A vestibule is a lobby, entrance hall, or passage between the entrance and the interior of a building.The same term can apply to structures in modern or ancient roman architecture. In modern architecture vestibule typically refers to a small room or hall between an entrance and the interior of...
that opens into two parlors on either side. Both have a large fireplace and original 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...
. A finely 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...
chair rail
Dado rail
A dado rail, also known as a chair rail, is a type of moulding fixed horizontally to the wall around the perimeter of a room.The dado rail is traditionally part of the dado and, although the purpose of the dado is mainly aesthetic in modern homes, the dado rail still provides the wall with...
runs around both rooms. In the kitchen wing there is some exposed brick from the original construction.
The main entrance of the connector section, at the east porch, has sidelights. It opens onto a hallway that leads from the front to the rear of the house. An old doorway (now closed) between the hyphen
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...
and the original house in the rear has an old board-and-batten
Batten
A batten is a thin strip of solid material, typically made from wood, plastic or metal. Battens are used in building construction and various other fields as both structural and purely cosmetic elements...
door with a carved Greek key lintel. The oldest rooms here have the original hearth and bake oven. An iron kettle with firebox
Firebox (architecture)
A firebox or firepit is the part of the fireplace where fuel is combusted, in distinction to the hearth, chimney, mantel, overdoor and flue elements of the total fireplace system. The firebox normally sits on a masonry base at the floor level of the room...
is built into the chimney. The north room appears to have been used as a smokechamber due to its smudged plaster.
The barn, considered a contributing resource
Contributing 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. is located just to the north of the house. It is a frame structure, now secured with vertical wood strips, with metal roof built into the western slope. It has a newer one-story shed-roofed addition. There is a root cellar
Root cellar
A root cellar is a structure built underground or partially underground and used to store vegetables, fruits, and nuts or other foods.-Construction:Common construction methods are:...
on the southwest corner. The greenhouse and flower shop, operated by the owners of the house, is close to Route 23 at the southeast corner of the lot. As it is of modern construction it is not considered contributing.
History
A late 19th-century account dated the construction of the first house on the site to 1685, when the English granted full manorialManorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
rights to the van Rensselaer family, rights they had originally exercised as patroon
Patroon
In the United States, a patroon was a landholder with manorial rights to large tracts of land in the 17th century Dutch colony of New Netherland in North America...
s under Dutch colonial rule
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...
. Later research suggests that date is thirty years too early and that the original house, whose stones still show at the rear, was built in 1715 by Samuel ten Broeck and his wife Catherine van Rensselaer, whose father had inherited the Claverack portion of the manor. It was used to collect rents and manage other tenant affairs. The family divided their time between Claverack and Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
.
The family remained resident there for the rest of the century. Sometime after the Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
, as the semi-feudal
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
land ownership arrangements left over from the colonial era were giving way to relationships more compatible with democracy, it became the residence of members of another locally prominent family, the Mesicks. The patroonship abolished, they lived there as leaseholders until apparently purchasing the property in the 1810s. A Mesick descendant still owns the house.
In 1790 a frame house was built in the front. Its steeply pitched
Roof pitch
In building construction, roof pitch is a numerical measure of the steepness of a roof, and a pitched roof is a roof that is steep.The roof's pitch is the measured vertical rise divided by the measured horizontal span, the same thing as what is called "slope" in geometry. Roof pitch is typically...
roof still survives as the front facade. It is very similar to Flemish-style houses built further south in New York and New Jersey, lacking only the flaring of the roof over the porch. Around that time a hyphen
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...
was built to connect the two.
The barn was built around 1825. In the early 20th century expansions to both the hyphen and the older house created the second story and put the house into its present form. As a result, one contemporary local historian disparaged the house as a "growth", with no remaining architectural unity.