Williams–DuBois House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Williams–DuBois House
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East profile and south (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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| Area | 3 acres (1.2 ha) |
| Built | 1780 |
| Architect | Arthur Williams |
| Architectural style | Colonial |
| NRHP reference No. | 89000463 |
| Added to NRHP | May 25, 1989 |
The Williams–DuBois House is a historic home in New Castle, United States. It was built a long time ago, during the Revolutionary War, by one of the first people to settle in the area. In 1989, it became a special landmark when it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
This house was first built in a style called American Colonial, which was popular back then. It also has some fancy details from the later Federal style. One cool thing about the house is its unique gambrel roof, which looks like a barn roof. It's the only house from that time in New Castle that still has this type of roof! Even though it's very old, people still live in it today.
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Exploring the Williams–DuBois House
The Williams–DuBois House sits on a three-acre piece of land. It's located at a three-way intersection, not far from the village of Ossining. The area around the house has other homes, but they are much newer. The property is still surrounded by lots of trees. There's even a golf course nearby. Some of the trees on the property are quite special. They are rare in this area and originally came from the Far East.
The land around the house is gently hilly. The house itself is on higher ground between two swampy areas. This means the land slopes down towards a pond called Oliver Pond.
What the House Looks Like Outside
The house is made of wood and has a strong stone foundation. Most of its sides are covered with wooden boards called clapboard. The roof is a special gambrel roof covered with wood shingles. There are brick chimneys on both ends of the house.
On the front of the house, the main door is in the middle. It has a modern cover over it. The windows on the first floor have simple frames. They are "six-over-six" windows, meaning they have six small glass panes on the top and six on the bottom. They also have wooden shutters with cool iron decorations.
The second floor has five unique, half-circle windows called lunette windows. They have simple designs inside them. Above these windows, there's a small decorative ledge and copper rain gutters.
The back of the house looks a bit different. It's covered in wood shingles instead of clapboards. The back door is a Dutch door, which means the top half can open separately from the bottom half. There are also different kinds of windows on this side, including some long, narrow ones.
The sides of the house also have various windows. The east side has regular windows on the first and second floors. It also has two small windows in the attic part of the roof. The west side has a mix of windows, including a long row of small ones. This side also has an entrance and a window for the basement.
Stepping Inside the House
To enter the main door, you step onto a large, round millstone. The door itself has eight panels and fancy glass panels on the sides. When you walk in, you enter a central hallway.
Most of the inside of the house still looks like it did when it was first built. It has a classic "four-on-four" layout, meaning there are four rooms on each side of the central hall. You can see the big wooden beams that support the house. The floors are made of wide wooden boards. Many of the fireplaces still work. The woodwork inside is also very old and special, especially the fireplace in the front room on the east side. It has decorative columns and a fancy design above it.
A simple staircase with square wooden posts leads from the main hall to the second floor. The second floor also has many of its original features. A hidden door in the hallway leads to a short staircase up to the attic. The attic also looks much like it did when the house was built. Some modern metal rods have been added to help support the ceiling.
In the basement, you can see large, hand-cut wooden columns. These columns support the main parts of the house and the chimneys. The basement floor is made of concrete.
A Glimpse into the Past
In the 1700s, most of northern Westchester County was made up of large farms. The southern part of the county had more towns and people. The Williams–DuBois House was part of a big, one-hundred-acre farm. We don't have records of when the land was bought, but later papers show that Arthur Williams lived here for a long time. He was a local tax assessor and highway master. His family had been in the area since the 1600s, so it's very likely he built the house.
The house's design shows the popular styles from the mid-1700s through the American independence. People moving from New England brought with them a style of house that was one-and-a-half stories, made of local materials, and had a gambrel roof. Inside, the Georgian style was popular, with a central hallway and a balanced layout. Many houses like the Williams house were built until the 1820s.
In the early 1800s, Arthur's son, William, took over the property. William was a sea captain and traveled a lot. He brought back special trees from the Far East and planted them around the house. He also worked as a school inspector when he was home. After he died on one of his trips in 1826, his daughter Georgianna inherited the farm.
Around that time, the house got its first updates. The Federal style was becoming popular, and people wanted to add new, fancy details to their homes. The half-circle lunette windows on the second floor were added then. This change might have been inspired by a hotel in Ossining that had similar windows.
Georgianna Williams married Lawrence DuBois. His family were French Protestants who had settled in the valley. Lawrence mostly farmed the land. He also served as a highway master, just like his wife's grandfather. They had two children.
Their son, William, inherited the house next. In 1864, he married Sarah Washburn, whose family was well-known in the Ossining area. During their time, a back porch was added to the house. A front porch was also installed.
William and Sarah had eight children. However, after Sarah died in 1926, none of their children inherited the farm. Instead, William sold the property to a local land developer. By this time, trains and new roads were bringing more people to northern Westchester. Big farms like the Williams–DuBois farm were slowly being divided into smaller lots for homes, which is how the area looks today.
The house has had several owners since then. Some have made changes. In 1940, the porches were removed. A patio was added in the back, and the millstone was placed at the front door. A large opening was also made between the two rooms on the east side of the first floor. Later owners have tried to keep the house special because of its history.
Images for kids
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East profile and south (front) elevation, 2009
