Plumbush

Last updated
Plumbush
Plumbush.jpg
Front elevation in 2008
USA New York location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Plumbush
Interactive map showing the location of Plumbush
Location Cold Spring, NY
Nearest city Beacon, Peekskill
Coordinates 41°25′06″N73°56′35″W / 41.41833°N 73.94306°W / 41.41833; -73.94306
Area9 acres (4 ha)
Built1865 [1]
Architect George Edward Harney
Architectural style Gothic Revival
MPS Hudson Highlands MRA
NRHP reference No. 82005386
Added to NRHP1982

Plumbush is the former house and farm of Robert Parker Parrott, inventor of the Parrott gun. [1] [2] It is located at the junction of NY 9D and Peekskill Road south of Cold Spring, New York, United States.

Contents

The house was built for Parrott by local architect George Edward Harney in 1865, when he had taken over as superintendent of the nearby West Point Foundry. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1992, due to its association with Parrott and Harney's interpretation of patterns by Andrew Jackson Downing.

Buildings

The main Plumbush building is one of four located on a 9-acre (3.6 ha) parcel backed by Cold Spring Cemetery, the remnant of Parrott's original 65 acre (26 ha) farm, across Route 9D from the entrance to Fair Lawn, home of painter Thomas Prichard Rossiter. One of the other buildings, a wood house remodeled by Harney, has been further altered in the 21st century. [3]

Harney's house consists of three rectangular sections, which remain largely intact today. The two-story 23 by 33-foot (7 by 10 m) main block is topped with a hipped roof shingled in patterned slate. A veranda with rounded corner is wrapped around the south and west sides. The other original sections are the 15-foot (5 m) square east wing and a one-story wing with gabled roof. Two other wings, added when the house was converted into a restaurant, are concealed from view and designed so as not to detract from the house's overall character. [1]

Much of the original fenestration and ornamentation remains. Newer additions, such as a wrought-iron spiral staircase between the veranda and the second floor has, as with the additions, been designed to be sympathetic with what already exists. [1]

Outbuildings

Three other buildings share Plumbush's lot. One, the former wood house, remains true enough to its original design to be considered a contributing resource. Its roof comes to a cupola that itself has a flat roof. The interior has been substantially renovated so that it serves as a residence. [1]

The former carriage house, which now serves as a garage is probably original to the property but has undergone extensive renovation and no longer retains its original integrity. A larger house near the rear of the property was built in the mid-20th century. [1]

Aesthetic

George Edward Harney built the house along Picturesque lines, suggested by patterns in books by the influential Andrew Jackson Downing, who had lived in Newburgh, just up the river, until his death in an 1852 steamboat explosion. Downing's pattern books influenced many mid-19th century Gothic Revival and Carpenter Gothic cottages in the Hudson Valley and elsewhere.

Andrew Jackson Downing [4] advocated rural cottages that were harmonious with the local natural environment, a "local fitness and an intimate relationship with the soil it stands upon" [5] rather than challenging it as the blocky Federal and Greek Revival homes of earlier decades had. Harney carefully adapted the house to the site, in accordance with Downing's philosophies, putting the veranda next to a grove of trees and making sure the nearby Hudson River and the Hudson Highlands beyond could be seen from the upper windows. [1]

The house itself shows Downing's influence in the irregularity and asymmetry of its three main blocks. The varied rooflines, truncated and cross gables, large veranda and chimneys decorated with medieval crosses are also found in many of Downing's patterns.

In 1870 George Edward Harney published a book of his own, Barns, Outbuildings and Fences, with the original plans and sketches for Plumbush. [3] His designs show the clear influence of some of the patterns shown in Downing's The Architecture of Country Houses. [6]

History

Robert Parker Parrott, was one of the earliest settlers of Cold Spring and a graduate of the nearby United States Military Academy at West Point, served as the foundry's inspector general for the Army during the Civil War. After it ended, foundry owner Gouverneur Kemble persuaded him to resign from the Army and take over as superintendent of the foundry. [1]

In 1839 Parrott married Mary Kemble, niece of Gouverneur Kemble, founder of the ironworks, and moved into Plumbush. He died in 1877. In 1971 Plumbush was converted into a restaurant, and in 2014 the main Plumbush building and one of the outbuildings were extensively renovated and occupied by The Manitou School, a private elementary school. [7] [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manitou Springs, Colorado</span> City in Colorado, United States

Manitou Springs is a home rule municipality located at the foot of Pikes Peak in western El Paso County, Colorado, United States. The town was founded for its natural mineral springs. The downtown area continues to be of interest to travelers, particularly in the summer, with many shops and restaurants, as well as a creekside city park. The main road through the center of town was one of the direct paths to the base of Pikes Peak. Barr Trail, which winds its way up Pikes Peak, is accessible from town. The subdivision Crystal Hills was added to the municipality in the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cold Spring, New York</span> Village in New York, United States

Cold Spring is a village in the town of Philipstown in Putnam County, New York, United States. The population was 1,986 at the 2020 census. It borders the smaller village of Nelsonville and the hamlets of Garrison and North Highlands. The central area of the village is on the National Register of Historic Places as the Cold Spring Historic District due to its many well-preserved 19th-century buildings, constructed to accommodate workers at the nearby West Point Foundry. The town is the birthplace of General Gouverneur K. Warren, who was an important figure in the Union Army during the Civil War. The village, located in the Hudson Highlands, sits at the deepest point of the Hudson River, directly across from West Point. Cold Spring serves as a weekend getaway for many residents of New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gouverneur K. Warren</span> General in the U.S. Army during the American Civil War

Gouverneur Kemble Warren was an American civil engineer and United States Army general during the American Civil War. He is best remembered for arranging the last-minute defense of Little Round Top during the Battle of Gettysburg and is often referred to as the "Hero of Little Round Top". His subsequent service as a corps commander and his remaining military career were ruined during the Battle of Five Forks, when he was relieved of command of the V Corps by Philip Sheridan, who claimed that Warren had moved too slowly. A post-war court of inquiry found that Sheridan's relief of Warren was unjustified.

Robert Parker Parrott was an American soldier and inventor of military ordnance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Point Foundry</span> United States historic place

The West Point Foundry was a major American ironworking and machine shop site in Cold Spring, New York, operating from 1818 to about 1911. Initiated after the War of 1812, it became most famous for its production of Parrott rifle artillery and other munitions during the Civil War, although it also manufactured a variety of iron products for civilian use. The increase of steel making and decreasing demand for cast iron after the Civil War caused it to become bankrupt gradually and cease operations during the early 20th Century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gouverneur Kemble</span> American politician

Gouverneur Kemble was a two-term United States Congressman, diplomat and industrialist. He helped found the West Point Foundry, a major producer of artillery during the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clove Furnace Ruin</span> Building in Arden, NY

The Clove Furnace Ruin in Arden, New York, United States, was a longtime smelting site for iron ore mined from nearby veins in what is now Harriman State Park. It is located on Arden Station Road just east of the New York State Thruway, and can easily be seen from the highway. It was built in 1854 by Robert & Peter Parrott, who also owned and operated numerous mines in the area, known collectively as the Greenwood Iron Works. Together with the Greenwood Furnace (c.1810), located roughly one half mile east of Clove, these two furnaces produced iron which supplied the Parrott's West Point Foundry at Cold Spring, NY. The foundry produced the famous and highly effective Parrott Rifle (cannon) utilized by the Union army during the Civil War. The furnace shut down permanently, shortly after Robert Parrott's death in 1877.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montgomery Place</span> Historic house in New York, United States

Montgomery Place, now Bard College: The Montgomery Place Campus, near Barrytown, New York, United States, is an early 19th-century estate that has been designated a National Historic Landmark. It is also a contributing property to the Hudson River Historic District, itself a National Historic Landmark. It is a Federal-style house, with expansion designed by architect Alexander Jackson Davis. It reflects the tastes of a younger, post-Revolutionary generation of wealthy landowners in the Livingston family who were beginning to be influenced by French trends in home design, moving beyond the strictly English models exemplified by Clermont Manor a short distance up the Hudson River. It is the only Hudson Valley estate house from this era that survives intact, and Davis's only surviving neoclassical country house.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eustatia</span> Historic house in New York, United States

Eustatia is a brick house overlooking the Hudson River in Beacon, New York, United States. Located on Monell Place in the northwestern corner of the city, it is a rare survival in Beacon of a cottage in the High Victorian Gothic style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dodge-Greenleaf House</span> Historic house in New York, United States

The Dodge-Greenleaf House is on NY 211 in Otisville, New York, United States. It was built circa 1855 in the Gothic Revival style. The architect is unknown but it exemplifies contemporary trends in home design popularized by the writings and pattern books of Andrew Jackson Downing of nearby Newburgh, as articulated in the Picturesque mode.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Edward Harney</span> American architect (1839–1924)

George E. Harney was a late 19th-century American architect based in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodlawn Farm (Slate Hill, New York)</span> Historic house in New York, United States

Woodlawn Farm, sometimes known as the Wood Homestead, is located on Mount Orange Road, a short distance north of Slate Hill, New York, United States. It is centered by a three-section farmhouse whose materials date to the mid-18th century, making it one of the oldest buildings in the Town of Wawayanda. In 2008 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Birches (Garrison, New York)</span> Historic house in New York, United States

The Birches is a house at the southeast corner of the junction of NY 9D and 403 in the hamlet of Garrison, New York, United States. It was built for William H. Osborn, as part of his nearby Wing & Wing estate, by architect Ralph Adams Cram in the Gothic Revival architectural style. Osborn was a 19th-century railroad tycoon, who became one of the most prominent railroad leaders in the United States. In addition to Wing and Wing and the Birches, Osborn famously constructed Castle Rock, his great summer estate overlooking the Hudson River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dutchess Company Superintendent's House</span> Historic house in New York, United States

The Dutchess Company Superintendent's House is a home located on Market Street in the western corner of the village of Wappingers Falls, New York, United States. It is a large brick residence that was built as housing for the manager of the Dutchess Company, a large local printing works, shortly after the plant was built in 1848.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fair Lawn (Cold Spring, New York)</span> Historic house in New York, United States

Fair Lawn is a house located off NY 9D just south of Cold Spring, New York, United States. It was designed by the painter Thomas Prichard Rossiter, who moved into it for the last decade of his life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battery Kemble Park</span> Park in Washington, D.C., U.S.

Battery Kemble Park is a park in Northwest Washington D.C., administered by the National Park Service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maizefield</span> 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Grove (Cold Spring, New York)</span> Historic house in New York, United States

The Grove, also known as Loretto Rest, is a historic house located on Grove Court in Cold Spring, New York, United States. It was built as the estate of Frederick Lente, surgeon at the nearby West Point Foundry and later a founder of the American Academy of Medicine, in the mid-19th century. The Italian-villa design, popular at the time, was by the prominent architect Richard Upjohn. In 2008 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Austin House</span> Historic house in New York, United States

The Richard Austin House is located on Croton Avenue in the village of Ossining, New York, United States. It is a wood frame structure dating to the 1870s. In 1989 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel T. Headley House</span> Historic mansion in New York

The Joel T. Headley House is a historic mansion in New Windsor, New York, built for historian and writer Joel T. Headley (1813–1897), who later served as a New York State Assemblyman for Orange County and the New York Secretary of State (1856–1857). Headley commissioned the house and grounds from local architectural theorist and landscape designer Andrew Jackson Downing with assistance from his partner, English architect Calvert Vaux. Subsequent owners were unaware of the house's significance until the 1990s. The design, No. 14 "A Cottage in the Rhine style" featured in a later edition of his book Cottage Residences, also inspired the William G. DeLuc House in Minnesota, considered a rare example of Gothic-inspired architecture there.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "National Register of Historic Places nomination form, Plumbush".
  2. Growald Brooks, Nancy. "West Point in the Making of America, 1802–1918 Robert Parker Parrot (1785–1872)CLASS OF 1824". americanhistory.si.edu/. National Museum of American History.
  3. 1 2 Harney, George E. (1870). Stables, Outbuildings and Fences. New York, NY: George E. & F. W. Woodward.
  4. "Andrew Jackson Downing". tclf.org/. The Cultural Landscape Foundation.
  5. Downing, Andrew Jackson (1859). The Architecture of Country Houses. Univ of Michigan Library. ISBN   9781458501363.
  6. Downing, Andrew J (1850). Country Houses. Philadelphia, PA: D. Appleton & Company.
  7. Rooney, Alison. "Manitou School Opens in Cold Spring". Highlands Current. Gordon Stewart.
  8. "Manitou School Open House Draws 100". www.pcnr.com. Elizabeth Ailes.