Isaac Young House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Isaac Young House
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East profile and north (front) elevation, 2009
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 Location in New York
Location in the United States
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| Location | New Castle, NY |
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| Nearest city | White Plains |
| Area | 5.8 acres (2.3 ha) |
| Built | ca. 1872. |
| Architectural style | Second Empire |
| NRHP reference No. | 04000876 |
| Added to NRHP | August 20, 2004 |
The Isaac Young House is an old wooden house on Pinesbridge Road in New Castle, New York, United States. It was built around 1872. The house is designed in the Second Empire style, which was popular back then.
Isaac Young, the first owner, came from a family who were early settlers in the area. He chose this fancy style, which was more common in cities, to show off his success. The house might even include parts of an older farmhouse from the 1700s. From its spot on a small hill, the house once had amazing views of the Hudson River and even the New York City skyline.
The Isaac Young House is the only Second Empire style house from its time in New Castle. It has been changed a bit over the years. For example, its original central tower was removed. The current owners have worked hard to restore it. In 2004, the house and its barn were added to the National Register of Historic Places, which means it's a special historic site.
Contents
The House's Story
How It All Started
The land where the Isaac Young House stands was first owned by Henry and Mary Slason. They sold 140 acres (57 ha) to Gilbert Strang in 1795. Over time, the land was divided into smaller pieces. Eventually, it became part of the Chadeayne family's property. They owned many large areas in the region.
Isaac Young was born in Putnam County, north of New Castle. He moved to New Castle about ten years after his father passed away in 1846. Isaac worked on a farm belonging to the Vail family, who were neighbors of the Chadeaynes. There, he met Mary Vail, and they got married in 1858.
After 1860, Isaac and Mary decided to find their own land to farm. In 1868, they bought two pieces of land, totaling 36 acres (15 ha). The property was actually bought by Elizabeth Young, who was Isaac's wife.
The Young Family's Home
For the rest of the 1800s, the Young family lived in the house and farmed the land. Mary died in 1902. Her son inherited the property, but Isaac could still live there until he died in 1914. Even though records from 1900 said Isaac and his son John were "retired," later information suggests they were still actively farming. An old photo shows the house surrounded by rows of trees, probably an apple orchard.
In the 1920s, the Young family started selling off much of their land. Cars were becoming popular, which led to more suburbanization in Westchester County. This change, which railroads had started earlier, was now reaching the northern, more rural parts like New Castle. Farms like the Youngs' were being divided into the large home lots we see today. When John Young died in 1939, the property was only 17 acres (6.9 ha). The house was described as "obsolete" for the real estate market in Westchester County.
After World War II, John's wife Lottie and their son, James, sold even more land. By 1952, the property was its current size of 5.8-acre (2.3 ha). In 1955, they took out a mortgage on the house. James's job showed how much the area had changed. He was a farmer's grandson, but he traveled from the farm to Manhattan to work as a commercial artist for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.
Lottie Young died the same year they got the mortgage. James inherited the property, but it was in bad shape. In 1961, he sold it to the current owners, the Clarks.
Recent Changes
Over the years, small changes were made to the house. Plumbing was added, and a breakfast room was created by closing off part of the front porch. A small bathroom was also added in the kitchen area. It's likely that a small dome-like structure called a cupola was removed from the roof. The trees around the house grew taller, blocking the view of the Hudson River. However, in winter, you can still see the skyscrapers of New York City.
The current owners have also made their own changes. They opened up a closet on the second floor to create a playroom. On the third floor, they added a bedroom closet.
Most of their work has been to bring back the house's original fancy look. Inside, they added decorative molding to the plaster ceilings. They also fixed the molding in the dining room. Outside, they replaced the railings on the front porch and the columns on the back porch. They tried to make these new parts look just like the originals. More recently, the main staircase's railings and posts were replaced.
House Features
The Isaac Young House sits on a 5.8-acre (2.3 ha) piece of land. It's on the east side of Pinesbridge Road. Other houses nearby are also on large, wooded lots. The house is on top of a small hill, about 640 feet (200 m) high. A circular driveway leads up to the house. In the back, hidden by trees, are old stone walls and foundations from earlier times.
The House Itself
We don't know who designed or built the house. They were probably local builders who used popular design books of the time. The Second Empire style was common in the 1870s, but mostly in cities. The Young family also made money by buying and selling land, so they would have seen these city houses. By choosing this fancy style for their country home, they might have been showing off their wealth.
The house, when first built, had many features that showed this wealth. The inside, especially the first floor, was very detailed and fancy. A cupola on the roof would have offered wide views of the property, which had fewer trees back then, and the Hudson River. It's a bit of a mystery why so many bedrooms were built, as it seems only the Youngs and their son, John, lived there.
It's likely that the house was built by adding to and changing an older farmhouse from the 1700s. Many "odd" things about the house suggest this:
- The second staircase on the first floor looks like it would have been the main staircase of an older, smaller house.
- The rough, hand-cut wooden beams in the basement, some with bark still on them, seem to be from an earlier time. The foundation is only under two of the first floor's four rooms. This suggests the original house was smaller.
- The kitchen part of the house has different windows and a different roof shape. This suggests it was once attached to a house that looked similar to itself.
- Many windows and doors seem to fit in their spaces just barely. This suggests builders worked carefully to make the new house fit with the old one.
An old book about Westchester County, written about 30 years later, supports this idea. It says Isaac Young was "constantly having made improvements and added to the beauty and value of his country home."
Outside the House
The house is a three-story, four-section wood frame building. It sits on a stone and brick foundation. The outside walls are covered with clapboard siding. The roof is a mansard roof, covered with hexagonal slate tiles that look like fish scales. There are two porches that wrap around parts of the house. A brick chimney goes up the south side of the house. The house's design, with its doors and windows, is not perfectly balanced.
On the front (west) side, there's a door and two windows on the first floor, with three windows above. The main door is on the left. The windows on both floors have decorative tops and are flanked by wooden shutters. They are two-over-two sash windows. A porch runs across the front and continues along the south side. It has a flat roof supported by eight square columns. Above each column, under the roof's edge, are pairs of wooden brackets. Along the porch floor is a railing with decorative wooden posts.
At the roofline, more paired brackets support a decorative edge. On each side, the mansard roof has two dormer windows. These windows have gentle arches and side brackets. Between the windows, the slate tiles form a pattern of one red tile surrounded by yellow ones.
On the back (east) side, there's a one-and-a-half-story kitchen wing with a pointed roof. A brick chimney goes through its roof. The main part of the house here is narrower than the front. Its entrance is further north than the main front door. The clapboard siding here is wider than on the rest of the house. The kitchen wing also has a wraparound porch with square columns.
The south side of the house has two bay windows, one smaller than the other. Both have five sides with six windows each. At the corners are decorative columns. The roof edges have the same double brackets as the main roof.
The north side is the plainest. Both floors have three windows, just like the west and south sides. The window furthest east on both floors is placed a bit unevenly. A pair of double doors in the foundation lead to the cellar.
Inside the House
A large stone path leads to the three front steps. The main entrance doors are set back slightly. They have a decorative top panel and a square lower panel.
First Floor
In the front hall, a lamp hangs from a round decoration on the plaster ceiling. The main stairs are against the north wall. They have decorative posts and railings.
Double doors lead into the parlor, which is the largest room. It has decorative molding around the bottom of the walls. The windows have decorative panels below them. The ceiling has fancy molding and two decorative bands, with a sunflower design in the center.
The main decoration in the parlor is the black stone mantelpiece (fireplace surround). It has an arched opening. Double doors lead into the living room, which also has decorative molding and a fancy plaster ceiling. A plaster archway leads into the bay window area. French doors with 14-pane windows open into the breakfast room. The living room's mantelpiece is made of wood with carved decorations.
Another set of double doors leads to the dining room in the northeast corner. It also has molding and a decorative ceiling. A doorway to the kitchen has a pointed arch. Molded doors lead to a china closet, a larger closet under the stairs, and the cellar. The dining room's mantelpiece is simpler, made of wood with a rectangular top.
The kitchen is in the back wing. Its walls and ceiling are covered with wooden panels. A door on the east opens to the porch. There's a small bathroom and a closet on the west side.
Between the main rooms on the first floor is a back hallway. All its doors fit very tightly. A small staircase leads from this hall to the second floor.
Second Floor
The second floor is mostly bedrooms. The part in the kitchen wing was once a sleeping area but is now a playroom for kids. The back hall is the main way to get to most rooms.
At the top of the back stairs, there's a similar decorative post and railing. Most doors are paneled and have decorative frames.
Through an old closet, an oval door leads to the playroom. You have to step down, and the ceiling is only 180 cm high. You can see the outside siding on the west wall.
The master bedroom, with the upper bay window, is on the south side. It has decorative panels below the windows. The ceiling has decorative molding.
In the northeast corner is another bedroom. Its windows start almost at floor level. It also has molding, but its main decoration is the mantelpiece. It's a simple Greek Revival design. A closed doorway that would have led to another bedroom is wider than other doorways in the house.
That other bedroom is the simplest. It only has molding at the bottom of the walls. The guest bedroom, in the southwest corner, has panels below the windows. It has molding but no ceiling decoration.
The bathroom has molding. The lower part of its two-over-two window is larger than the upper part. The wall between it and a hallway closet is curved.
Third Floor
Upstairs, the decorations are simpler. The walls are slanted because of the mansard roof. There are three bedrooms, one closet, and stairs leading to the roof.
The southeast bedroom has a closet with only the lower half of the door. The outside of the hallway door is paneled, but the inside is wooden. There's a similar door in the northeast bedroom, which has a curved wall and an exposed chimney. The parlor chimney comes up through the southwest bedroom.
A closet with a similar two-sided door is near the top of the stairs. The hallway's molding is fancier than in the rooms. Between the northeast and southeast bedrooms, a door opens to the stairs that go to the roof.
Cellar
The cellar is under the living and dining rooms. The floor is cement. Some wooden beams supporting the ceiling are rough, hand-cut trees, and one still has bark on it. Other beams have been replaced with steel. The stone and brick of the foundation are visible on the walls. A cistern (a tank for collecting water) on the north side has been filled in. A stone column might have supported a fireplace that no longer exists. The original pipe for a coal furnace is still on the west side. The inside of the cellar door has old-fashioned strap hinges.
