Masten-Quinn House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Masten--Quinn House
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East (front) elevation and south profile
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 Location in New York
Location in the United States
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| Location | 59 First St., Wurtsboro, New York |
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| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1820-1850 |
| NRHP reference No. | 03000046 |
| Added to NRHP | February 13, 2003 |
The Masten-Quinn House is a historic home located on First Street in the village of Wurtsboro, New York, United States. It's a wooden house built in the Greek Revival style. This style was popular in the 1800s and looks like ancient Greek temples.
The house was built in two parts, starting in the 1820s. It was once the center of a large farm. This farm kept working until the mid-1900s. Today, the Masten-Quinn House is one of the few buildings left from Wurtsboro's past as a busy canal town.
The first owner, Lawrence Masten, was lucky. The Delaware and Hudson Canal was built right through his property. This canal helped him transport goods easily. In 2003, the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It is the first and only property in Wurtsboro village to be listed there.
Contents
What the House Looks Like
The Masten-Quinn House sits on a half-acre (about 2,000 square meters) piece of land. This land is what's left of the much bigger original farm. It's located at a curve in First Street.
A small stream called Willsey Brook runs along its south side. The old canal bed, which is now dry and covered with plants, is a short distance to the east. Tall trees surround the house. One of these is a very old shagbark hickory tree. This tree is about 175 years old and helped experts figure out when the house was built.
Building Structure and Materials
The house is one and a half stories tall. It has five sections across the front and two sections deep. The outside walls are covered with clapboard siding. The roof has a gable shape, meaning it slopes down on two sides.
A large chimney made of fieldstone and brick sticks out from the roof. The roof is covered with asphalt shingles. The house has a wide, decorative strip called a frieze and a molded cornice at the roofline. The whole building is held up by strong wooden posts and beams. These are partly supported by a foundation made of fieldstone.
Porches and Wings
A long veranda (a covered porch) wraps around the front (east) and north sides of the house. It has a shed roof supported by simple wooden pillars. The floor of the porch is made of concrete.
Two small, shed-style sections stick out from the first floor on the south side. The upper floor on the east side has special "eyebrow windows." These are small, low windows that look like half-circles.
Inside the House
The large chimney divides the inside of the house into two main areas. There is a big kitchen in the northern part. This was made by taking down one wall. But other than that, the house's original layout is still the same.
The floors are also original, made of wide wooden planks. However, very few of the original furniture pieces are still there.
Outbuildings
There is one other building on the property. It's a one-story building with a gable roof. It was originally used as a chicken coop. This building was moved to the property when the farm was divided into smaller lots. It was moved to save it and is considered an important part of the historic listing.
History of the Masten-Quinn House
The Masten family has a long history in the Wurtsboro area. Lawrence Masten's grandfather, Johannes, was an early Dutch settler. He lived in the narrow Basha Kill valley. This valley is located between the Shawangunk Ridge and the Catskill Plateau.
In the late 1700s, Johannes Masten's farm was very productive. It grew hundreds of bushels of wheat each year. He owned many slaves who helped with the farm work. He was said to own more slaves than anyone else in what became Sullivan County.
Family Ownership and Expansion
As Johannes Masten got older, he divided his land among his sons. Lawrence's father, Jacob Masten, received some land in the early 1800s. He got more land in 1830. Jacob then gave more land to his son Lawrence in the 1830s. This included the land where Lawrence had already built his house. This brought the farm to a total of 100 acres (about 40 hectares).
Lawrence Masten and his wife Maria probably built the first part of their home after they got married in 1821. This was the southern section, which was about 25 feet by 17 feet (7.6 by 5.2 meters). At that time, the chimney was on the outside north wall of the house. Soon after, the northern section was built, making the house twice as big. The porch and roof decorations were added at this time.
The Canal's Impact
A few years later, in 1825, the new Delaware and Hudson Canal Company started digging the canal nearby. They got permission from the Mastens to build on their land. When the canal opened in 1828, it was a big deal for the Mastens.
The canal allowed Lawrence Masten to easily get goods and sell his dairy products. He could reach markets far from his town of Mamakating. He could send products to places like Kingston to the north. He could also reach communities along the Delaware River in western Sullivan County.
Later Owners and Preservation
In 1848, Masten built a barn on the property. He didn't make many other changes to the house. He passed it down to his son Hiram in 1876. The house stayed in the Masten family for another two decades, until 1895.
After that, several different people owned the house. In 1909, John and Kate Linton bought it. They owned it until John's death in 1948. His wife had passed away before him. The house then went to his wife's nephew, Joseph Quinn. It's interesting to know that the house didn't have an indoor toilet until after John Linton died. He thought they were unsanitary! The Lintons were buried in Sylvan cemetery.
Mr. Quinn never farmed the property. He lived there alone until he died in 1981. Then it went to his brother James. The barn was torn down in the 1970s.
In 1995, James Quinn and his wife Gloria sold the house and about 7 acres (2.8 hectares) of land to a developer. The developer then separated the half-acre where the house sits. He sold it to Michael Roosa. Michael Roosa is given credit for saving the house from being torn down. After a lot of work to fix it up, the house was listed on the National Historic Register.
In 2008, Michael and his wife Monika built a two-car garage on the property. They designed it to look like the old house. In January 2018, Michael and Amanda Spanakos bought the home.
