Captain Moses W. Collyer House
Coordinates: 41 ° 33 ′ 5 " N , 73 ° 58 ′ 14" W.
The Captain Moses W. Collyer House , also known as Driftwood , is a residential building on River Road South in Chelsea in Dutchess County in the US state of New York . It was inscribed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
The previous owner of the house, Moses Collyer, was a river captain on the Hudson River ; he lived there from 1899 until his death on September 22, 1942. A few years after he moved into the house, Collyer was a co-author of The Sloops of the Hudson , a narrative of shipping in the days when sailing ships were the most common craft on the river. Thanks to Collyer's professional and personal background, the book is now a comprehensive story of that time and its ships.
The house itself was built just before the beginning of the 20th century and is an eclectic mix of late Victorian styles, reflecting Collyer's travel experience on the river and in its port towns. The house is a private residence and cannot be viewed.
estate
The house overlooks the Hudson River across River Road and the railroad tracks now used by the Metro-North Hudson Line . The building is a two-story wooden frame construction. on a foundation also bricks with gambrel roof. On the south side, a stone with the inscription "MW COLLYER / 1899" is embedded between the bricks. The front of the house, facing west, extends over four bays on the ground floor and three on the upper floor. The yokes protruding laterally at the rear have smaller gambrel roofs.
The house is clapboard . Up to the eaves there are horizontal, wide boards, then these are replaced by shingles in the area of the gambrel roofs. In the Gambrel area there is a window, of which the Palladian window on the west side is the most elaborate.
The pillars of the veranda are carpentry - they taper to a point, are turned and are connected by a simple balustrade . Much of the interior is also original, including the oak staircase in the entrance hall and the fireplace area in the salon . The upper floor and attic have been expanded and originally served as bedrooms and quarters for the servants.
There are several outbuildings, all of which are believed to add to the historical character of the property. A large verschindeltere shed with gable constant cross gable was built simultaneously with the house and essentially used its design and decoration; the same applies to the nearby toilet block. The garage was built around 1932 and was a wedding present for Collyer's daughter, as evidenced by a wooden plaque .
history
Collyer was born around 1850 in Red Hook (Village) , just upstream in Dutchess County. His father had started sailing the Hudson River from his hometown, then called Sing Sing, in the 1830s. He later became a captain and ship owner and sailed the river commercially until his death in 1889. The Uncle Collyers were involved in shipbuilding and also grew wealthy.
Moses Collyer started out as a cabin boy on one of his father's sloops in the 1860s . He stayed in the family business until 1877 and then hired a foreign schooner . The following year he became captain and owner of the schooner Henry B. Fidderman . After two years he switched to a steamboat. The Henrietta Collyer was used to transport iron and limestone on the river .
The Collyer family had lived in Chelsea since 1868, but nothing is known about their home at the time. Collyer built the house in 1899, when the New York Central Railroad along the river had largely supplanted shipping in the Hudson Valley . Detailed records from the construction period, including photographs, illustrate the various phases of construction and delivery notes for construction materials have been preserved to the present day and provide valuable information on construction practices at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
A few years later, Collyer and William Verplanck, the ancestor of a wealthy family in the region and shipowners themselves, worked together on the book The Sloops of the Hudson . This is the story of the sailing ships on the river. Collyer's detailed memories of the ships and people he had met over the years, he processed in the second half of the book, which he wrote; this is the most comprehensive record on the subject.
With the exception of the added garage, there have been few changes to the house. The porch steps have been rebuilt and a handrail added. The porch itself has been converted from an open to a closed one.
aesthetics
The house represents a mix of styles in a way that was common in the late 19th century. The irregular but compact main wing and the use of different materials are typical of the Queen Anne Style , which was in its final phase at that time. In contrast, the gambrel roof and Palladian window are features of the emerging colonial revival that spread widely in the early decades of the 20th century. Overall, the style of the house shows various architectural trends outside of their original context and demonstrates the integration of Chelsea into the economy.
The house also reflects the changing tastes inside. The rooms are less spacious than most Victorian homes, suggesting that the home was designed for living rather than entertainment. The more open layout of the kitchen and other ancillary rooms suggest a more egalitarian attitude than a strictly Victorian house would. The contrast between the values of Queen Anne Style and the Colonial Revival is also represented by the marble fireplace surround in contrast to the unpainted oak steps.
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Neil Larson: National Register of Historic Places nomination, Capt. Moses W. Collyer House ( English ) New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation . May 1987. Archived from the original on April 20, 2012. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved April 25, 2012.
- ↑ Moses Collyer, Verplanck, William: The Sloops of the Hudson . GP Putnam's Sons , London 1908. Archived from the original on September 23, 2008 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
