Vassar Home for Aged Men
The former Vassar Home for Aged Men is a former retirement home for men located at the intersection of Main Street and Vassar Street in Poughkeepsie , New York in the United States . It is directly opposite the architecturally similar Vassar Institute .
It was founded in the 1880s by the nephews of Matthew Vassar , founder of Vassar College , as a residence for male seniors, but was not fully utilized until 1903. The property was used as a retirement home for most of the 20th century and was one of the first buildings to be entered on the National Register of Historic Places in the City of Poughkeepsie on April 13, 1972 . It became the Contributing Property of Mill Street-North Clover Street Historic District , which was later also added to the National Register. Today, like the building of the Vassar Institute, it belongs to a local artists' association that rents part of the space in the building to non-profit organizations .
building
The house is a three-story building with nine bays on the west side - the front of the house - the base of the house is free. The facade consists of bricks in a stretcher bond with decorative rows of granite stones . It hides the half-timbered construction of the house. The tin roof sits above a wide cornice with large, vertically stretched corbels at the corners and smaller ones in between.
A pavilion with five bays juts out on the east side , the full length of which is a veranda with a balustrade that also leads down the stairs. It is supported by free-standing columns on the front and tied on the side of the house. There are similar but smaller verandas on the other sides of the house.
Inside the building, the rear staircase has a large carved stair post. The two salons have neoclassical black chimney surrounds that come from an older building. Two similar fireplace surrounds in the reception room were created later. This room is furnished with a carved Spanish wall in the Louis-seize style, supported by four Corinthian columns.
history
The house was built by Vassar's nephew on the site of his old house and took advantage of part of the original interior, such as the black marble fireplace surrounds. The construction costs were 45,000 (adjusted for inflation 1,159,000) US dollars, the construction was completed in 1880. The dormitory was officially opened the following year.
The building, designed to accommodate 50 men, was initially home to six people who met the conditions - a minimum age of 65, Protestant faith, and a resident of New York State. The dormitory was not fully used until 1903. Only the death of Matthew Vassar's widow made sufficient funds available.
For most of the 20th century the house remained a retirement home. In the 1970s, it was acquired by the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center, which used the first floor as an art gallery and venue for public and private events. The upper floors were rented to other non-profit organizations as office space.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Stephanie Mauri: Vassar Home for Aged Men ( English ) In: National Register of Historic Places nomination . New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation . May 1971. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
- ^ "9 Vassar" ( English ) Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center. 2008. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
Web links
Coordinates: 41 ° 42 '18 " N , 73 ° 55' 51" W.