Lace House (Canaan, New York)

Last updated
Lace House
LACE HOUSE State Route 22 Canaan, New York 01.jpg
West elevation and north profile, 2008
USA New York location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location Canaan, NY
Nearest city Pittsfield, MA
Coordinates 42°22′36″N73°25′45″W / 42.37667°N 73.42917°W / 42.37667; -73.42917 Coordinates: 42°22′36″N73°25′45″W / 42.37667°N 73.42917°W / 42.37667; -73.42917
Area1.4 acres (5,700 m2) [1]
Built1806 [1]
ArchitectFuller Brothers
Architectural style Federal
NRHP reference No. 85000336 [2]
Added to NRHPFebruary 21, 1985

The Lace House, also known as the Uriah Edwards House, is located on state highway NY 22 in Canaan, New York, United States. It is a frame house built in the early 19th century.

Contents

It was designed by the Fuller Brothers in a more formal version of the Federal style brought from New England by settlers from that region at the time of its construction. The original kitchen wing was replaced in the early 20th century. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. [2]

Building

The house and a non-contributing garage are located on a 1.4-acre (5,700 m2) lot on the east side of Route 22, just across from Miller Road and a mile north of the New York State Thruway's Berkshire extension (Interstate 90). The cleared ground slopes up to the east, towards the Massachusetts state line 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the east, across the hill. A row of wooden fence posts runs along the roadside. The neighborhood, the small hamlet of Flatbrook, has some scattered commercial and residential buildings. [1]

The building itself is a two-story, five-bay structure sided in pine clapboard on a drywall stone foundation. A wing of similar height projects to the south. Brick chimneys rise from either end; a large television antenna is just south of the northern chimney piercing the shingled roof. [1]

A small set of steps on the west (front) facade rises to a single-bay portico sheltering the centrally located main entrance with a gabled roof supported by paired wooden fluted pillars. The pediment has a denticulated entablature. It is echoed by a less ornate portico over the rear entrance. [1]

Fluted pilasters rise to the frieze between the last bays on either end and the rest of the windows. The frieze, decorated with medallions and dentils, runs around all sides of the main block except the east (rear). All the windows have at least one louvered shutter. Many still have the original shutter hooks. The corners have pilasters as well; on the southwest is a small satellite dish. [1]

The south wing has a full-length porch across the front. Another chimney rises from its south end. Its roof is clad in metal. [1]

Another pair of fluted pilasters flanks the main doorway, which is topped by a large fanlight. It opens onto a center hall running the length of the house. The interior has much original trim, including plaster, carved moldings and mantels. The dining room's ceiling has been redone in tile. Some of the original wide-plank flooring remains. [1]

History

Uriah Edwards, a native of nearby Richmond, Massachusetts, moved across the state line in 1800 at the age of 31 to work as a clerk in Flatbrook. After a short return to Richmond, he returned in 1802 to open his own store. Two years later he wed a local woman, Betsy Olmsted, a descendant of one of the original settlers of Canaan who also owned vast tracts of land to the south and west of the current house. [1]

The house was built two years after their marriage. Unlike other contemporary Federal-style houses in Columbia County, it is extensively ornamented. It follows a unique regional pattern found in vernacular rural early Federal houses in New York communities near Connecticut and Massachusetts, such as the Tabor-Wing House in Dover Plains, of having most of that decoration lavished on the porch. Its overall decoration gave it the nickname "Lace House" shortly after its construction, and it has been locally known by that name ever since. [1]

Edwards would later sell some of his land to the new Albany and West Stockbridge Railroad, later the Hudson and Berkshire and then the Boston and Albany Railroad, the first to connect the two states. He opened a station known variously as Edwards park or Edwards Station until it was demolished in the mid-20th century. He was active in local politics, serving as town supervisor, town justice, and state assemblyman before he died in 1851. His wife survived him by 16 years. [1]

Upon her death, her sister-in-law Lucinda Edwards Woodworth inherited the house. She soon left it to her own daughter, who had married into another prominent local family, the Curtises. One of her descendants, Harriet Curtis, conveyed it to Rufus Woodworth, a neighbor. When she died, her executor brought suit to have the conveyance voided. The house stood vacant for several years, with the kitchen wing on the south deteriorating, until the litigation was settled in 1921. [1]

William Edwards sold the property soon after to a family named Rathbun, who demolished the original kitchen wing and replaced it with the current one. At this point they also moved the chimneys and replaced the original wood shingle roof with metal. They also dug a new well and had the house wired for electricity. [1]

After 60 years, their descendants sold it to another family, the Brusches. They proceeded to renovate the house in 1983. Most of their work upgraded the house, bringing its electricity and water connections to late 20th century standards, and refinishing the interior and exterior. Their major addition was the rear portico. After the work was done and the property listed on the Register, they operated it as a bed and breakfast. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

Cromwell Manor United States historic place

Cromwell Manor, also known as the David Cromwell House and Joseph Sutherland House, is located on Angola Road in Cornwall, New York, United States, just south of its intersection with US 9W. It consists of four properties, two of which are of note: the 1820 manor house, built in a Greek Revival style and added onto in 1840 and a 1779 cottage known as The Chimneys, the original home on the site.

Cannondale Historic District United States historic place

Cannondale Historic District is a historic district in the Cannondale section in the north-central area of the town of Wilton, Connecticut. The district includes 58 contributing buildings, one other contributing structure, one contributing site, and 3 contributing objects, over a 202 acres (82 ha). About half of the buildings are along Danbury Road and most of the rest are close to the Cannondale train station.

John Kane House United States historic place

The John Kane House, also one of several places known as Washington's Headquarters, is located on East Main Street in Pawling, New York, United States. Built in the mid-18th century, it was home during that time to two men who confronted the authorities and were punished for it. During the Revolutionary War, George Washington used the house as his headquarters when the Continental Army was garrisoned in the area.

Walter Hand House United States historic place

The Walter Hand House is located on Angola Road in Cornwall, New York, United States. It is the main building of a five-acre former farm, built around 1870, to serve as both a farmhouse and summer boardinghouse, in response to Cornwall's growing popularity as a summer resort town.

Samuel Brooks House (Cornwall, New York) United States historic place

The Samuel Brooks House is located on Pleasant Hill Road north of the hamlet of Mountainville in the Town of Cornwall, New York, United States. It is a cottage in a mix of Victorian architectural styles, most notably Carpenter Gothic and Stick Style, built around 1860.

Gerard Crane House United States historic place

The Gerard Crane House is a private home located on Somerstown Turnpike opposite Old Croton Falls Road in Somers, New York, United States. It is a stone house dating to the mid-19th century, built by an early circus entrepreneur in his later years.

John Shelp Cobblestone House United States historic place

The John Shelp Cobblestone House, also known as the Shelp–Beamer House, is located on West Shelby Road in West Shelby, New York, United States, just east of the Niagara–Orleans county line. It is an 1830s cobblestone house in the Greek Revival architectural style.

Tousley-Church House United States historic place

The Tousley-Church House is located on North Main Street in Albion, New York, United States. It is a brick house in the Greek Revival architectural style built in two different stages in the mid-19th century.

Woodruff House (Cornwall, New York) United States historic place

The Woodruff House is located on NY 32 in Cornwall, New York, United States, a short distance south of the hamlet of Vails Gate. It is a small stone building dating to the early 19th century.

Keeney House (Le Roy, New York) United States historic place

The Keeney House is located on Main Street in Le Roy, New York, United States. It is a two-story wood frame house dating to the mid-19th century. Inside it has elaborately detailed interiors. It is surrounded by a landscaped front and back yard.

Dr. Abram Jordan House United States historic place

The Dr. Abram Jordan House is located along the NY 23 state highway in Claverack-Red Mills, New York, United States. It is a brick Federal style house, with some Greek Revival decorative touches, built in the 1820s as a wedding present from a local landowner to his daughter and son-in-law.

Stephen Storm House United States historic place

The Stephen Storm House is located on the NY 217 state highway just east of Claverack, New York, United States. It is a Federal style brick house built in the early 19th century.

Jacob Hoornbeck Stone House United States historic place

The Jacob Hoornbeck Stone House is located at the junction of Boice Mill and Drum Farm roads in Kerhonkson, New York, United States, a hamlet of the Town of Rochester in Ulster County. It was erected in the early 19th century using the Georgian architectural style, incorporating an earlier house as its rear wing.

Bykenhulle United States historic place

Bykenhulle, originally known as Ivy Hall, is a historic house located on Bykenhulle Road near the hamlet of Hopewell Junction, New York, United States, in the Town of East Fishkill. It is a wooden house in the Greek Revival architectural style.

Newcomb–Brown Estate United States historic place

The Newcomb–Brown Estate is located at the junction of the US 44 highway and Brown Road in Pleasant Valley, New York, United States. It is a brick structure built in the 18th century just before the Revolution and modified slightly by later owners but generally intact. Its basic Georgian style shows some influences of the early Dutch settlers of the region.

Hiddenhurst United States historic place

Hiddenhurst is the former estate of businessman Thomas Hidden, on Sheffield Hill Road in the Town of North East, New York, United States, south of the village of Millerton. It is an elaborate frame house built at the beginning of the 20th century in the neo-Georgian architectural style.

North Main Street School United States historic place

The North Main Street School is located on that street in Spring Valley, New York, United States. It is a brick Colonial Revival building erected in the early 20th century in response to a rapidly increasing school population. Several times since then, it has been expanded. It remained in active use until the 1970s.

Maizefield Historic house in Red Hook, NY, USA

Maizefield, often locally called Maizeland, is a historic house on West Market Street in the village of Red Hook, New York, United States. It is a large plain brick building, in the Federal style, with clear English Georgian influences, built around the end of the 18th century. In 1973 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Benjamin Franklin Gates House United States historic place

The Benjamin Franklin Gates House is an historic home and farm complex located on Lee Road in Barre, New York, United States. It is centered on a Greek Revival house built in the 1830s using the unusual stacked-plank structural system. The accompanying barn and privy are also included in the listing.

Reuben Davis House United States national historic place

The Reuben Davis House, also known as Sunset Hill, is a U.S. national historic place located in Aberdeen, Mississippi. It is an impressive two-story antebellum mansion that was constructed between 1847 and 1853. Well known as the former residence of Reuben Davis, a prominent attorney, statesman, and author, the property has important historical connections for both the town of Aberdeen and Mississippi.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Larson, Neil (November 1984). "National Register of Historic Places nomination, Lace House". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012. Retrieved January 23, 2010.
  2. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  3. Sombke, Lawrence (29 September 1986). "Hail Columbia!". New York : 74–75.