Richard Austin House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Richard Austin House
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East profile and north elevation, 2009
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 Location in New York
Location in the United States
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| Location | Ossining, NY |
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| Nearest city | White Plains |
| Area | 0.5 acres (2,000 m2) |
| Built | 1878 |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 88001527 |
| Added to NRHP | September 20, 1988 |
The Richard Austin House is a historic home in Ossining, New York. It was built in the 1870s using a wood frame. In 1989, this special house was added to the National Register of Historic Places. This means it's recognized as an important part of history.
When the house was built, Ossining was changing from a quiet country town. It was becoming a place where people lived and traveled to work in New York City. The Austin House is one of the few buildings from that time that still looks almost exactly as it did. It has had two small additions in the 1900s. Today, the house is home to the Ossining Historical Society. They run a museum inside the building, where you can learn about the area's past.
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What Does the Richard Austin House Look Like?
The Richard Austin House sits on a half-acre piece of land. It is at the corner of Croton Avenue and Bradshaw Drive in eastern Ossining. Near the house, you'll find Roosevelt School, which is a public elementary school. Across the street is a church. Most of the other houses nearby were built in the 1900s. The area around the house is mostly flat, with small hills to the east and west.
Large, old trees surround the property along Croton Avenue. A driveway leads to a small parking area behind the house. In the front yard, there's a flagpole. You can also see an old farm wagon and a mile marker from the historic Albany Post Road. These items are interesting, but they are not part of the house's original historic value. However, there is an old well in the backyard. It is covered by a large stone slab. This well is believed to be from when the house was first built. It is the only other original feature listed with the house's historic status.
Outside the House
The main part of the house has two and a half stories. It is a rectangular building with a pointed roof. It is made of wood and sits on a foundation of brick and stone. A similar addition is attached to one side, making the house look like an "L" shape. There is also a separate garage with a pointed roof.
The outside walls are covered with wooden boards called clapboard. A wooden porch, called a veranda, runs along the front of the house on the first floor. It has decorative wooden posts and a flat roof. Stone steps and a ramp lead up to this porch. There is a similar porch at the back of the house.
The windows on both floors have two panes of glass in the top and two in the bottom. They have decorative wooden frames above them and wooden shutters on the sides. The attic windows are smaller and rounded at the top. Below the roof, there's a simple wooden trim. The roof itself is covered with slate shingles. Three brick chimneys with stone tops stick out from the roof.
The garage addition has a brick foundation. It has small windows in the basement and large double doors with six glass panes.
Inside the House
The main entrance has a fancy wooden frame around it. The double doors have decorated panels and windows. When you step inside, you enter a central hallway. A staircase leads to the upper floors. To the east, there's a living room. Across from it is the dining room, with the kitchen behind it. Doors at the back of the house lead to the rear porch.
The living room's main feature is its original fireplace. It has a stone base and black bricks. The wooden frame around the fireplace has decorative carvings and a mantelpiece with a flower design.
Both the living and dining rooms have decorative baseboards and ceilings. The dining room's fireplace is now covered. A special archway with decorative brackets leads into a small bay window area. The kitchen has low wooden panels on the walls. It also has a space where an old dumbwaiter (a small elevator for food) used to be. A door in the kitchen leads to a part of the garage that has been turned into living space.
A beautiful staircase with carved wooden posts and railings leads to the second floor. From there, it continues to the attic stairs. On the second floor, there are four bedrooms. This floor has simpler baseboards than the first floor. The main bedroom has its own bathroom and a closet with built-in drawers. A door in the hallway leads to stairs down to the kitchen. Another door opens onto the roof of the back porch.
The attic is mostly unfinished, except for one room. The basement has a concrete floor and wooden supports. Wooden stairs lead from the basement up to the kitchen.
The garage addition's first floor has been changed a lot to create living space. Some original features like stucco walls and tin ceilings can still be seen.
A Look Back: The History of the Richard Austin House
Ossining was first known as Sing Sing. For many years, it was a busy port on the Hudson River. Farmers from inland areas would bring their crops here to ship them to markets in New York City. They traveled along the Croton Turnpike (now Route 133) or the Albany Post Road (now U.S. Route 9). Ossining became the first official village in Westchester County in 1813.
Over the next few decades, Ossining grew a lot. The Post Road was moved, creating the central crossroads of the village today. Later, a prison was built. In 1837, the Old Croton Aqueduct was built through downtown. This aqueduct, which is now a National Historic Landmark, brought water to New York City. This period of growth ended with the building of the Hudson River Railroad in 1849.
With the railroad, Ossining was only an hour away from New York City by train. This made it possible for people to work in the city but live in the quieter countryside. The number of people living in Ossining nearly doubled in the first six years after the railroad opened. The American Civil War in the early 1860s slowed this growth, but it didn't stop it. By 1880, the population had grown by more than 50% compared to 1850.
During this time, Richard Austin, a local lawyer, saw how much the area was growing. His family had lived in the area since 1820. He and his family bought empty pieces of land and sold them to people who wanted to build homes. Over 70 years, Richard Austin, his father, and his grandfather were involved in 58 land deals.
In 1878, Richard Austin lived downtown near his work. He decided to build a new family home on two acres of land. This land was just outside the village limits. It was an area where farms were slowly being replaced by homes for middle-class families. There were already more than 20 houses within half a mile of the site.
Austin chose to build his house in the Gothic Revival style. This style became popular in the 1830s because of the writings of Andrew Jackson Downing. He lived further up the Hudson River in Newburgh. Downing wrote books that praised the simple, natural look of cottage designs. He felt they fit better with the surrounding landscape than the popular Greek Revival style.
Even though the Austin House was built a bit later than the peak of this style, it still has the features Downing liked. It has a balanced shape with pointed gables and a wide front porch. Decorations are used, but only on the main parts of the house, like the porch brackets and the front door panels. The decorations are simple, which was another quality Downing valued.
The Austin family lived in the house for 15 years. By then, Ossining had fully become a suburb. After they sold the house in 1893, it had other private owners. One owner added the two-and-a-half-story back addition in 1911. In 1920, a barn on the property was moved and turned into a home. By 1930, the garage addition had been built.
No other major changes have been made to the house since then. In 1970, the Ossining Historical Society bought the house. They moved their offices and museum there from another historic building called Washington School. The society uses the house for its offices and as a museum, which you can visit by appointment.
See also
