John Thompson House (Highland, New York) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids John Thompson House |
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House in 1998, Eastern-facing side
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | Victorian Italianate |
| Location | Highland, New York |
| Coordinates | 41°43′5″N 73°57′24″W / 41.71806°N 73.95667°W |
| Completed | 1851 |
The John Thompson House is a beautiful old home in Highland, New York. It's a great example of the Victorian Italianate style. This style was popular a long time ago. The house is close to the Hudson River.
A man named John Thompson (1800–1891) built this house for his wife, Electa Ferris (1807–1902). They built it between 1854 and 1858. It was their country home in the Hudson Valley. John Thompson was a very successful banker. He started the First National Bank of the City of New York. Later, with his sons, he helped start the Chase National Bank. This bank is now known as Chase Manhattan Bank. The Thompson family lived mostly in New York City. They called their summer home in Highland "The Anchorage."
John Thompson also gave a house across the street to his niece as a wedding gift. That house is also in the Italianate style.
Contents
Exploring the Design of The Anchorage
The Anchorage is built in the Victorian Italianate villa style. This style is also called Tuscan Villa Revival. It was inspired by Andrew Jackson Downing, a famous American designer. He lived nearby in Newburgh, New York. Downing's designs were popular with wealthy families. They loved his grand country homes with fancy interiors. The John Thompson House still looks much like it did when it was built. It has been updated with modern things like electricity.
Cool Features of the House's Outside
A special part of the house is its Belvedere tower. This tower has tall windows on three sides. From here, you can see Poughkeepsie, NY across the Hudson River. In winter, when the trees lose their leaves, the river view is clear. The house also has wide porches that wrap around it. These porches look out over many gardens. A wrap-around porch was likely added in 1904.
Inside the John Thompson House
The house has sixteen rooms. There are five rooms on the first floor, eight on the second, and three on the third. The first-floor rooms are almost twelve feet high! Seven of the ten fireplaces are made of fancy Italian marble. These fireplaces kept the house warm in spring and fall. The thick, double-brick walls helped keep it cool in summer.
The rooms have beautiful plaster designs. Large plaster medallions surround the chandeliers. The big doors are painted to look like wood grain. This was a popular style in fancy homes back then. The entry-way has a large marble floor. It also has rounded staircases with pretty scroll work. A special arched space in the stairwell was made for art.
In the living room, there is a huge four-tier brass chandelier. It was originally a gas light, but now it uses electricity. This chandelier is decorated with grape clusters and figures of women. It looks a lot like one in a famous house in Maine.
The house has tall, eight-foot windows. These windows help the house look even taller. The first-floor windows have special wooden shutters inside. These shutters fold into pockets in the walls. This was new for the Victorian era. It let people keep rooms dark when they wanted to.
Other Buildings on the Property
The property originally had a wooden gate house and a stone barn. It also had a stone carriage house. The carriage house had a pit to fix carriages. The Thompson family's gardener lived in an apartment above the garage.
Today, the land has been divided. The main house sits on about 4.5 acres. It still has the garage and gardener's apartment. The barn and gate house are now separate homes.
The Beautiful Grounds of The Anchorage
The land around the house was very large. This was common for Italianate villas. In 1975, over twenty-five types of trees grew there. This included a 40-foot Larch tree. That tree was later hit by lightning. Many original trees are still there. New trees have been added, like pear, cherry, peach, and apple trees. You can also find blueberry, gooseberry, raspberry, and currant bushes for picking fruit.
One of the many gardens was used to grow vegetables. People praised the farming skills of Maud Adams, a resident in the early 1900s. She grew many vegetables, including huge pumpkins and squashes. She even had corn stalks that were 12 feet tall!
Thompson Grove: A Community Spot
Thompson Grove is the area between the house and the pool. It was used for town gatherings. On August 1, 1888, people celebrated the 100th birthday of the U.S. Constitution there. John Thompson gave a speech at this event.
Several springs on the property feed into a 40-foot round stone pool. This pool still provides a cool place to swim on hot summer days.
Who Lived in the John Thompson House?
From 1851 to 1957, five generations of the Thompson family lived or summered at the house. That's over 100 years!
- (1) John and Electa Thompson, with their children Eudora, Samuel, and Frederick.
- (2) Frederick and Eudora (Thompson) Adams, with their children Frederick and Elinor.
- (3) Frederick T. and Maud Adams (later Patrick and Maud (Adams) O'Rourke), with their daughter Mollie.
- (4) Mollie O'Rourke, with her daughter Patricia.
- (5) Patricia O'Rourke Welch.
The Thompson Family's Legacy
John and Electa Thompson built the house on land Electa received from her father, Solomon Ferris. Electa's parents were from Highland. John met Electa at a meeting at Thompson Grove. They married in 1829. They had a daughter, Eudora, and two sons, Samuel and Frederick. Electa helped John start his first bank.
John and Electa were very generous to the Highland area. In 1872, Electa gave money to build Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. Before living on Maple Avenue, John and Electa lived on a farm north of Highland. Electa actually gave the name to West Park, NY.
Samuel Thompson became the first president of Chase National Bank. He also held important roles in other companies.
Frederick Thompson took over as president of Chase National Bank after his father. He was a trustee at Williams College and Vassar College. At Vassar, he was known as "Uncle Fred." He gave money to build The Thompson Library there, which is still the main library. Frederick built his own larger summer home, Sonnenberg, in 1892. He married Mary Clark, whose father was a New York State Governor. They did not have children.
Eudora Thompson married Francis G. Adams. They had two children, Frederick T. Adams and Elinor Adams.
Frederick Adams married Maud Witherbee. They spent their summers at the John Thompson House. Maud Adams helped start the Highland Free Library. She also supported women's right to vote and new ways of teaching children.
After Frederick's death, Maud married Patrick O'Rourke in 1920. They moved to California in 1923. Maud continued her good work in San Diego. She helped create a special institute for children's education and an entrance center for the San Diego Zoo. They owned the house until Maud's death in 1937.
Later Residents of the House
After 1937, other families lived in the John Thompson House:
- 1938-1950: Mollie O'Rourke
- 1951-1957: Patricia O'Rourke Welch
- 1958 - 1971 L. Stephen and Beth (Salisbury) Juillerat
- 1971-2011: Loyd E. and Cynthia H. Lee
- 2011-: Berry DeJuan Stroud and Debra Stroud
