Cornelius S. Muller House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Cornelius S. Muller House
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North elevation and east profile, 2008
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 Location in New York
Location in the United States
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| Location | Claverack, NY |
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| Nearest city | Hudson |
| Area | 5.5 acres (2.2 ha) |
| Built | 1767 |
| MPS | The Architectural and Historic Resources of the Hamlet of Claverack, Columbia County, New York |
| NRHP reference No. | 97000823 |
| Added to NRHP | 1997 |
The Cornelius S. Muller House is a historic home located in Claverack, New York. It was built way back in 1767, before the American Revolution even started! This house shows a cool mix of Dutch Colonial and English building styles.
During the Revolutionary War, this house was a really important spot. It was where the local Committee of Safety met to make important decisions. It was also used for special military trials, called courts martial. People who didn't follow the rules were sometimes held in the cellar. In 1840, the house got some updates, but it still looks a lot like it did when it was first built. Because of its history and unique style, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
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Exploring the Muller House Property
The Cornelius S. Muller House sits on the south side of Route 23B. It's on a 5.5-acre (2.2 ha) piece of land, which is what's left of a much larger old farm. The house is quite close to the road. The area around it is mostly homes, with lots of tall trees and other old houses built in the 1700s and 1800s. Right across the street is the former Trinity Episcopal Church, which is also listed on the National Register.
What Does the House Look Like?
The house is a 1½-story building. This means it has one full story and a half-story, usually in the attic. It has brick walls laid in a special pattern called an English cross bond. The house sits on a strong foundation made of stone and brick.
The roof is a gambrel roof, which has two different slopes on each side, making it look a bit like a barn roof. It's covered with wood shingles. You'll see two small dormer windows sticking out from the roof on the ends, with brick chimneys above them. At the back of the house, there's a one-story addition made of clapboard siding, which runs the whole length of the house.
A Closer Look at the Outside
On the front of the house, which faces north, the main entrance is a gray and red Dutch door. This type of door can open in two halves, top and bottom. It's located in the second section from the west side. A small stoop, or porch, with stone steps leads up to the door.
All the windows have special wooden frames, painted red, and gray and red shutters that match the door. If you look closely between the sections of the house, you'll see metal anchors shaped like the numbers "1767". This shows the year the house was built! Below the westernmost window, there's a cellar door, and a small barred window below the eastern window. The sides of the house (east and west) only have two windows each, both on the attic level.
A Peek Inside the House
When you step through the main entrance, you enter the eastern of the two rooms on the first floor. In the southeast corner of this room, there's a hidden staircase. The fireplace in this room is surrounded by fancy raised wooden panels. The eastern room has exposed ceiling beams, which means you can see the wooden supports that hold up the floor above. It also has a fireplace that's partly built into the wall. Some of the original red clay floor tiles are still in the hearth, which is the area in front of the fireplace.
The attic space has been changed a bit over the years. But it still has its original wide plank wood flooring and the original lath and plaster walls.
The Outbuilding
Behind the main house, there's a smaller, 1½-story building. It's built with heavy timber on a stone foundation and has clapboard siding with a metal roof. This building was likely used for farming when the property was a farm. Because it's connected to the original use of the land, it's considered an important part of the house's historical value.
The History of the Muller House
Many members of the Muller family lived in Claverack in the 1800s. This family came from both Dutch and German settlers in the area. Old maps show that this specific piece of land belonged to Cornelius S. Muller. Unlike many of his neighbors, Cornelius Muller supported the American Revolution. He was a member of the local Committee of Safety, a group that helped organize and protect the community during the war.
The Muller House was where these important meetings took place. It was also used for military trials, called courts martial. People who were found guilty and didn't pay their fines were sometimes held in the cellar of the house.
How the House Shows History
The house is a great example of how building styles changed in the Hudson Valley during the late 1700s. It shows how English influences started to mix with traditional Dutch building styles. Earlier Dutch houses in the area were often made of rough stone and had very steep, pointed roofs, like the Bronck House across the Hudson River.
Cornelius Muller's House, however, uses an English gambrel roof. It also uses more brick, which was becoming easier to get at that time. But it still keeps some Dutch features, like the main entrance not being perfectly in the middle and the house being narrow. Inside, the house is divided into two rooms, which was also a sign of English influence. Older Dutch houses often had one big open space inside.
The Muller family lived in this house for many generations. Around 1840, the smaller outbuilding behind the house was built. Later, in the late 1900s, a new owner carefully restored the house. They used original materials and even studied an exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum to make sure things like the shutters looked just like they did originally.
