Newcomb–Brown Estate facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
|
|
Newcomb-Brown Estate
|
|
South elevation of main house, 2008
|
|
 Location in New York
Location in the United States
|
|
| Location | Pleasant Valley, NY |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Poughkeepsie |
| Area | 33.7 acres (13.6 ha) |
| Built | 1770 |
| Architectural style | Georgian, Dutch Colonial, Colonial Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 88001704 |
| Added to NRHP | October 7, 1988 |
The Newcomb–Brown Estate is a historic house in Pleasant Valley, New York, United States. It's a brick house built way back in the 1700s, right before the American Revolutionary War. Even though it's been changed a little over time, it still looks mostly like it did when it was new.
Its design mixes two styles: Georgian, which was popular in England, and touches of Dutch Colonial style, from the early Dutch settlers in the area. The first owner was Zaccheus Newcomb, a farmer who owned a lot of land around Pleasant Valley.
Over the years, much of his land was sold off, and the house changed hands many times. But in the early 1900s, one of Newcomb's family members bought it back! She turned it from a working farm into a country home. In 1988, the house and several old farm buildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places. This means they are important historical sites.
Contents
Exploring the Estate's Land and Buildings
The Newcomb–Brown Estate covers about 33.7 acres (13.6 hectares) of land. It's located on the east side of US 44 and is split into two parts by Brown Road. The area around it is mostly rural, with newer homes on large pieces of land. Most of the estate is still wooded, except for the cleared areas around the house.
The land is mostly flat, but it rises slightly at the north end. This matches the general slope of the land in the region, which goes up from the Hudson River towards the Taconic Mountains.
The Estate's Unique Features
Between the main house and the highway, there's a small pond. People say this pond was created when clay was dug out to make the bricks for the house! A large lawn sits between the house and Brown Road, marked by one of the many stone walls on the property.
You'll find many old, tall trees around the house. Some are common types like maple and shagbark hickory. Others are more unusual, like horse chestnut and ginkgo. Behind the house, there's a big group of lilac bushes. The land gently rises behind the house and is covered in second-growth woods. There's even an old apple orchard to the east.
Most of the other buildings on the estate are located northeast of the main house. On the south side of Brown Road, the property is mostly natural. It has a hay field, woods, and a shallow pond. This pond is fed by a small stream. The only other old building on this side is a wagon shed in the northeast corner.
The Main House: A Look Inside and Out
The main house is a two-and-a-half-story brick building. It has a special gambrel roof covered in cedar shingles, with wide brick chimneys at each end. On its east side, there's a one-and-a-half-story kitchen wing made of wood shingles. On the west, there's an open porch with a flat roof.
The front of the house, facing south, has six sections with windows and doors. The bricks are laid in a pattern called Flemish bond. The other sides use a simpler brick pattern. The main front door is wide, almost four feet across, and has a small window above it. A small wooden portico (a covered entrance) protects the door, with three stone steps leading down to the driveway.
The windows on the first floor have wooden tops painted dark red that look like brick arches. At the roofline, the gambrel roof flares out slightly, creating space for a decorative cornice.
On the west side of the house, you can see iron anchors that hold the roof rafters. These anchors are shaped like the letters "Z" and "N," which stand for Zaccheus Newcomb, the first owner! French doors on both levels lead to the porch and its balcony. All the doors and windows on this side have brick arches above them.
The east wall has "S"-shaped anchors, which are more common. The attic windows on this side have been bricked in. The back of the house looks similar to the front but has fewer windows. It also has a similar porch and door.
Inside the Historic Home
When you step inside, you enter an 8-foot-wide central hallway. The rooms on the west side are a double parlor (a living room). On the east side, you'll find the dining room and library. Most of these rooms still have their original decorations, like baseboards, cornices, and molded chair rails.
Each room has a fireplace in the corner that shares a chimney with the room next to it. Paneled doors connect all the spaces. The floors are made of wide pine boards. All the first-floor rooms and the hallway have 9-foot-high ceilings. The windows have wooden shutters that slide into the thick walls, and there are window seats below them.
The fireplace in the front parlor (southwest corner) is surrounded by special Bristol tiles. The other fireplaces have carved wooden mantels. The dining room fireplace has a hidden cupboard. Another corner in the dining room has a cupboard with fancy carvings and its original glass.
An open staircase goes from the front to the back on the east side of the central hall. It has square balusters (the small posts holding the handrail). Upstairs, there are four bedrooms with 8½-foot ceilings. These rooms have window seats but no shutters. The two front bedrooms also have corner fireplaces. A hidden staircase leads to the attic, which has a pine floor but is otherwise unfinished.
The kitchen wing has been updated for modern use. Its first floor has a laundry room, kitchen, and a half bathroom. Stairs lead up to the second story, which has two small bedrooms and bathrooms.
Old Farm Buildings and Structures
Seven other buildings on the property are still standing from when the estate was a large working farm. These are considered important historical parts of the property. Most of them are located to the east and northeast of the main house.
The biggest one is a wooden carriage shed, which is now used as a barn. It has stalls for animals. A smaller, two-story barn nearby is built into a hillside, so you can enter it from ground level on both floors. Between these two barns, you can still see the foundation of an even older barn.
Other buildings in this area include two chicken coops, a small shed, and a wooden toolhouse. This toolhouse is believed to have been a milkhouse originally. Across Brown Road, on the southern part of the property, is the last important old building: a wooden wagon shed. South of that, you can see the stone foundation of a former smokehouse.
A Glimpse into the Estate's Past
Zaccheus Newcomb was born in Lebanon, Connecticut, in the 1720s. He moved west with his father, Thomas, to what is now Pleasant Valley in 1746. His father bought a huge piece of land, about 3,000 acres. Five years later, Thomas gave Zaccheus 200 acres around where the house now stands. Zaccheus was a farmer, but he was also active in politics. During the Revolutionary War, he fought in the Continental Army, and later he became a judge.
Some old family records suggest that Zaccheus's wife, Sarah, built the house while he was away at war. However, it's more likely the house was built around 1770, before the war. This is because a Baptist church group that Newcomb allowed to meet in his home was founded that same year. We don't know who the architect was.
The house's basic design shows the Newcomb family's New England roots. Its Georgian style, gambrel roof, and decorative cornice were common for large houses in Connecticut, where the family came from. But some parts of the design, like the flared roof and the general solid look, are more typical of houses built by Dutch settlers in the Hudson Valley. It's not clear how much these Dutch traditions influenced the house's design.
Zaccheus Newcomb passed away in 1790. He left parts of his land, including some "Wild Lands" in the Adirondack town now called Newcomb, to his nine children. Three more generations of Newcombs lived on the farm until 1859. Then, it was sold out of the family to James Allen, who later sold it to Homer Briggs.
During the late 1800s, many of the farm buildings you see today were built. The original front porch of the house was replaced with a wider Victorian porch in the 1880s. In 1912, the house returned to the Newcomb family when Flora Newcomb-Brown bought it. She stopped using it as a working farm and turned it into her country home, just like many other wealthy people were doing with old farms in Dutchess County.
Flora Newcomb-Brown restored the original front porch, building a new one in the popular Colonial Revival style. After her, the house went to her brother-in-law, John Spraker, and then to his daughter, Dorothy Spraker Francke. In 1960, Dorothy divided the property, creating the current parcel around the house. She sold it to James and Jane Neighbors. They updated the kitchen wing inside but made very few other changes to the house or the other buildings.
