William H. Rose House
Encyclopedia
The William H. Rose House is located on Tomkins Avenue in Stony Point
, New York, United States. It is an ornate Carpenter Gothic
-style
house from the mid-19th century, with similar outbuildings, built for a wealthy local businessman.
In order to preserve
it during the construction of a nearby senior citizens' home during the late 20th century, it was moved from its original site a short distance away and rotated. In 1999 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
a short distance east of Liberty Road (US 9W
/202
), at the corner of Tomkins and Roosevelt Place. The ground in the area slopes gently towards the Hudson River
to the east. The neighborhood is residential. A senior citizens' apartment complex, also called Roosevelt Place, is just to the north.
It is a two-and-a-half-story, five-by-three-bay
balloon frame house on a concrete foundation
topped by a steeply-pitched
cross-gable
d roof shingled
in slate, pierced by two brick chimneys at the sides. The south (front) facade
has a porch across the entire first story, with a projecting bay window
with scroll-sawn
vergeboard above it on the second story. The gable above it has a central arched window, with elaborate vergeboards and finial
s. A paneled frieze
and bracketed
cornice
adorn the roofline.
The two side elevations are identical, with a projecting bay window on the southernmost bay of the first story. The north (rear) elevation also matches the front facade, with the exception of an enclosure on the western third of the porch.
Inside, the original layout is almost intact. Much of the original trim remains, including the marble
fireplace mantel
in each room. One of the fireplaces has a coal stove attached. Many of the original light fixtures remain, hanging from plaster medallions in the ceilings.
In back is a carriage house
with lines similar to the main building. Its cross-gables have a similar Gothic-arched window, and the roof is topped by a square cupola
. Next to it is an unadorned outhouse
original to the property. Both are considered contributing resources
to the property's historic character.
, bought the portion inherited by John Waldron, whose farmhouse was on the Rose House's original site.
Brewster bequeathed it to his grandson Richard and his wife Rachel when he died in 1821. Maps and other records from the mid-19th century show the location of the Waldron House and suggest that the Brewsters did not live there, but rather at a house now in the center of town, at what is now the northwest corner of Routes 9W/202 and Main Street. The same records suggest the Waldron House was demolished
by a Paul Rose in 1862 to clear the way for a new house. It is possible that the house may have been a speculative venture by the Brewsters, since the market for housing near the river was strong at the time.
The design, by an unknown architect, shows the strong posthumous influence of the philosophies of Andrew Jackson Downing
and the cottage-type houses he promoted. The decorative vergeboards and steep cross-gabled are common elements in this type of early Gothic Revival house, often called Carpenter Gothic
today. When built, it originally occupied a 9.4 acres (3.8 ha) lot across the street from its present location, and faced north rather than south.
Rose, a local brickmaker who left that business to make carriages in New York City, probably bought the home to commute
to his business in the city, from which he moved his residence sometime before the Civil War
. He bought the house for $5,300 ($ in contemporary dollars), apparently without needing to take out a mortgage
.
In 1875 he is listed as the owner for the first time. Two years later, he sold it to Minoff Govan, a local physician, while holding the mortgage himself, and bought it back in 1882. The Govans continued to live there, until daughter Edith sold it a Ruth Martz for $1. She held onto the home until 1985, when she was herself living in a New Jersey nursing home. The Housing Development Fund Company, which bought it from her, sold it a month later
to a William Helmer.
When the Roosevelt House was built, a strong community effort was mounted to preserve the Rose House. Those led to it being sold to Roy Moskoff, once again for $1, on the condition that the house and outbuildings be moved 200 feet (61 m) across the street and rotated. This was done and the house remains a private residence.
Stony Point, New York
Stony Point is a triangle-shaped town in Rockland County, United States. Rockland County is part of the New York Metropolitan Area. The town is located north of the town of Haverstraw, east and south of Orange County, New York, and west of the Hudson River and Westchester County. The population...
, New York, United States. It is an ornate Carpenter Gothic
Carpenter Gothic
Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic, and Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massing applied to wooden structures built by house-carpenters...
-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...
house from the mid-19th century, with similar outbuildings, built for a wealthy local businessman.
In order to preserve
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
it during the construction of a nearby senior citizens' home during the late 20th century, it was moved from its original site a short distance away and rotated. In 1999 it was 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 located on an 0.4 acres (1,618.7 m²) 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...
a short distance east of Liberty Road (US 9W
U.S. Route 9W
U.S. Route 9W is a north–south U.S. Highway in the states of New Jersey and New York. It begins on Fletcher Avenue in Fort Lee, New Jersey as it crosses the US 1 & 9, US 46, and the Interstate 95 approaches to the George Washington Bridge, where it heads north up the west...
/202
U.S. Route 202 in New York
U.S. Route 202 is a part of the U.S. Highway System that runs from New Castle, Delaware, to Bangor, Maine. In the U.S. state of New York, US 202 extends from the New Jersey state line near Suffern to the Connecticut state line east of Brewster. While most of US 202 is signed...
), at the corner of Tomkins and Roosevelt Place. The ground in the area slopes gently towards the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
to the east. The neighborhood is residential. A senior citizens' apartment complex, also called Roosevelt Place, is just to the north.
It is a two-and-a-half-story, five-by-three-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:...
balloon frame house on a concrete 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:...
topped by a 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...
cross-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 shingled
Roof shingle
Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat rectangular shapes laid in rows from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive higher row overlapping the joints in the row below...
in slate, pierced by two brick chimneys at the sides. The south (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"....
has a porch across the entire first story, with a projecting bay window
Bay window
A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room, either square or polygonal in plan. The angles most commonly used on the inside corners of the bay are 90, 135 and 150 degrees. Bay windows are often associated with Victorian architecture...
with scroll-sawn
Scroll saw
A scroll saw is a small electric or pedal-operated saw that is useful for cutting intricate curves in cases where a jigsaw or coping saw is not appropriate. It is capable of creating curves with edges...
vergeboard above it on the second story. The gable above it has a central arched window, with elaborate vergeboards and finial
Finial
The finial is an architectural device, typically carved in stone and employed decoratively to emphasize the apex of a gable or any of various distinctive ornaments at the top, end, or corner of a building or structure. Smaller finials can be used as a decorative ornament on the ends of curtain rods...
s. A paneled 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...
and 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...
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...
adorn the roofline.
The two side elevations are identical, with a projecting bay window on the southernmost bay of the first story. The north (rear) elevation also matches the front facade, with the exception of an enclosure on the western third of the porch.
Inside, the original layout is almost intact. Much of the original trim remains, including the marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
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...
in each room. One of the fireplaces has a coal stove attached. Many of the original light fixtures remain, hanging from plaster medallions in the ceilings.
In back is a 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...
with lines similar to the main building. Its cross-gables have a similar Gothic-arched window, and the roof is topped by a square 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....
. Next to it is an unadorned outhouse
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 :...
original to the property. Both are considered contributing resources
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 property's historic character.
History
The land on which the house stands was originally part of a large tract purchased by Resolvert Waldron in 1751. Very little of the land around Stony Point was arable, and in the early 19th century brickmaking arose as the dominant industry, due to the abundant clay underground near the Hudson. Samuel Brewster, a wealthy iron mine owner and descendant of William BrewsterWilliam Brewster (Pilgrim)
Elder William Brewster was a Mayflower passenger and a Pilgrim colonist leader and preacher.-Origins:Brewster was probably born at Doncaster, Yorkshire, England, circa 1566/1567, although no birth records have been found, and died at Plymouth, Massachusetts on April 10, 1644 around 9- or 10pm...
, bought the portion inherited by John Waldron, whose farmhouse was on the Rose House's original site.
Brewster bequeathed it to his grandson Richard and his wife Rachel when he died in 1821. Maps and other records from the mid-19th century show the location of the Waldron House and suggest that the Brewsters did not live there, but rather at a house now in the center of town, at what is now the northwest corner of Routes 9W/202 and Main Street. The same records suggest the Waldron House was demolished
Demolition
Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures, the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use....
by a Paul Rose in 1862 to clear the way for a new house. It is possible that the house may have been a speculative venture by the Brewsters, since the market for housing near the river was strong at the time.
The design, by an unknown architect, shows the strong posthumous influence of the philosophies of Andrew Jackson Downing
Andrew Jackson Downing
Andrew Jackson Downing was an American landscape designer, horticulturalist, and writer, a prominent advocate of the Gothic Revival style in the United States, and editor of The Horticulturist magazine...
and the cottage-type houses he promoted. The decorative vergeboards and steep cross-gabled are common elements in this type of early Gothic Revival house, often called Carpenter Gothic
Carpenter Gothic
Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic, and Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massing applied to wooden structures built by house-carpenters...
today. When built, it originally occupied a 9.4 acres (3.8 ha) lot across the street from its present location, and faced north rather than south.
Rose, a local brickmaker who left that business to make carriages in New York City, probably bought the home to commute
Commuting
Commuting is regular travel between one's place of residence and place of work or full time study. It sometimes refers to any regular or often repeated traveling between locations when not work related.- History :...
to his business in the city, from which he moved his residence sometime before the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. He bought the house for $5,300 ($ in contemporary dollars), apparently without needing to take out a mortgage
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
.
In 1875 he is listed as the owner for the first time. Two years later, he sold it to Minoff Govan, a local physician, while holding the mortgage himself, and bought it back in 1882. The Govans continued to live there, until daughter Edith sold it a Ruth Martz for $1. She held onto the home until 1985, when she was herself living in a New Jersey nursing home. The Housing Development Fund Company, which bought it from her, sold it a month later
Flipping
Flipping is a term used primarily in the United States to describe purchasing a revenue-generating asset and quickly reselling it for profit...
to a William Helmer.
When the Roosevelt House was built, a strong community effort was mounted to preserve the Rose House. Those led to it being sold to Roy Moskoff, once again for $1, on the condition that the house and outbuildings be moved 200 feet (61 m) across the street and rotated. This was done and the house remains a private residence.
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Rockland County, New York