Upstate NY

Church of the Holy Transfiguration // 1891

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Highlighted by the establishment of the Catskill Mountain House in the 1820s, and furthered by the construction of subsequent resorts and boarding houses, the Catskill Mountains enjoyed a lively seasonal tourist industry that continued largely unabated throughout most of the nineteenth century. Mead’s Mountain House was representative of the smaller, less ostentatious boarding houses that sprang up in the region to serve a more middle-class clientele of tourists. This church, the Church of the Holy Transfiguration was originally constructed in 1891 in association with Mead’s Mountain House as a modest place of worship for guests of the Mead family’s boarding house and those of the nearby Overlook Mountain House. The chapel was constructed in 1891 and modestly built, constructed with a wood balloon frame above a fieldstone foundation with detailing reminiscent of the rustic aesthetic, popular in the Adirondacks to the north. In the 1960s, Father Francis, the much-beloved “hippie priest”, here welcomed hippies who had congregated in town during those years that culminated in the famous art and music festival. Fr. Francis began the practice of this lesser known branch of Catholicism, which acknowledges the Pope as an earthly spiritual leader but, unlike classical Roman Catholicism, does not consider the Pope to be supreme or infallible. The small chapel remains as a quirky and important piece of local history.

The Colony Hotel // 1929

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As Woodstock New York surged in popularity as a retreat for American and European artists, savvy businessmen from Manhattan could not help themselves but to envision ways to make a little extra money. Morris Newgold and his son, Gabriel of New York City who purchased the Overlook Mountain House in 1917, sought to expand their upstate lodging empire and built a secondary establishment in the village of Woodstock, the Colony Hotel. The Colony Hotel serve as a more modest establishment to the grand Overlook Mountain House atop Overlook Mountain and would be a staging area and a stopover point for guests coming up the Hudson River by boat or train. Guests would spend the night at the Colony and eat at its fine restaurant before making the arduous trip up the mountain to the Overlook Mountain House the next day. The Colony Hotel appears to have been Gabriel’s idea who prided himself on the new building being “pretentious” as it was much more substantial than the more modest, vernacular buildings around the village. Gerald Betz of nearby Kingston was the architect for the Colony Hotel. Construction began for the Colony Hotel in 1927, and it opened to guests the summer of 1929. Morris died in 1940 and Gabriel continued to manage the Colony until his son took over from 1945 until the 1960 but as event space for arts and antiques fairs. It became known as the Colony Arts Center. The Colony’s website goes on to state that the building sat empty almost entirely through the next forty years. It was recently restored by artists Alexia and Neil Howard who converted it to a music venue and beer garden, it is pretty amazing and a must-see for history buffs visiting Woodstock.

Overlook Mountain House Ruins // 1923-

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One of the most intriguing and historical hikes around is at Overlook Mountain in Woodstock, there is just something so mesmerising and enchanting about abandoned places. Overlook Mountain has long been a significant location in New York. In the boom years of New York City after the Civil War, more than 90 quarries in the Town of Woodstock (many around Mount Overlook) produced bluestone for sidewalks in Manhattan. By the end of the 19th century, the mountain and surrounding area became a tourist location for New Yorkers escaping the woes of city living, looking to breathe in the fresh mountain air up the Hudson. The current ruins Overlook Mountain House was actually the third hotel on the site. The first Overlook Mountain House was built in 1871 and accommodated 300 guests, before it was destroyed by fire in 1875. It was rebuilt in 1878 by the Kiersted Brothers of Saugerties. Overlook was used irregularly between 1887 and 1917, when Morris Newgold of Manhattan purchased the hotel. In 1921, it was the site of a secret organizational meeting of what was to become the Communist Labor Party of America. The second incarnation of the Overlook Mountain House was destroyed by fire in 1923. And Morris Newgold sought to rebuild with fireproof construction.

His architect used concrete to rebuild the hotel, which likely would have been covered with stucco. They also broke ground for a chapel, stables, and a standalone lodge for private housing for his family. Newgold’s shaky finances paired with the Great Depression made for slow progress, and portions of the resort were still “under construction” as late as 1939 (and the main hotel never being finished from what I could find). Morris Newgold died in 1940 and the property was either sold by his son or acquired via eminent domain by the New York State Conservation Department and made part of the Catskill Forest Preserve. You can now explore the old ruins of the Overlook Mountain House between views of the Catskill Mountains.

1928 House

Woodstock Artists Association & Museum // 1919

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By 1919, artists from all over the United States and Europe were living and creating art in Woodstock, NY. As a thriving and expanding group of diverse individuals, the need for a welcoming and open-minded gallery space was quickly recognized. To facilitate this, a group of five painters established two complimentary organizations: The Woodstock Art Association (later changed to Woodstock Artists Association in 1933) who would maintain the exhibition space and set its artistic principles, and the Artists Realty Company who would finance the construction and maintenance of the physical space. The five painters being: Carl Eric Lindin (1869-1942), John F. Carlson (1874-1945), Frank Swift Chase (1886-1942), Henry Lee McFee (1886-1953) and Andrew Dasburg (1887-1979). New York City architect William A. Boring was commissioned to design the new museum and art space for the group. Boring (whos career was anything but boring) briefly worked for McKim, Mead and White for a year before starting his own practice with Edward Tilton in 1891. His most noted work is his 1897 Immigration Station on Ellis Island for which he and Tilton won the design competition as relative unknowns. The refined Colonial Revival building for the Woodstock Artists Association sits right in the middle of the village and its symmetrical façade is defined by a central double door entrance with transom and pedimented enframement. Of particular interest is the row of four elliptical windows above the double-hung windows.

Trippy Tower House // 2002

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One of the most unique buildings I have ever stumbled across is located in the mountain town of Woodstock, NY. Often referred to as the Trippy Tower House, the house was built over the course of 15 years by artist John Kahn, who designed sets for the Muppets and “Fraggle Rock”. The Tower House is crafted from repurposed materials such as slate, copper, aircraft grade aluminum and redwood with the property being considered his largest “sculpture” and his life’s work. The 3,518 square foot home has three bedrooms and four bathrooms across its five floors The cylindrical house was completed in 2002 and sold five years later when Kahn moved to Easter Island. Kahn sold the house to Rhoney Gissen Stanley, who was former secretary to the Grateful Dead and wife of Owsley Stanley, the Dead’s sound man and the alleged first mass producer of LSD. It was listed for sale again in 2017 for $1.2 Million.

Woodstock Reformed Church // 1844

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When Dutch and German colonists began to settle along the Hudson River Valley, they brought with them their own religious beliefs and desire for community in a new home. In the Village of Woodstock in Ulster County in 1799, the Dutch settlers began meeting in homes to worship establishing a church. By 1805, they petitioned the denomination for an organized church and purchased land, which is now known as the Village Green. In the heart of Woodstock, they built the first church structure. In 1844, that building was torn down for a new, Greek Revival place of worship on the outskirts of the Green. Architecturally, the church exhibits a prominent temple front with pedimented gable and Doric portico capped by an octagonal steeple. Inside, the sanctuary is lined on the walls and ceiling with decorative, pressed tin, which is apparently from the mid-19th century. The church remains very active in local and current events.

Tannery Brook House – Old Forge House // c.1780

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One of the oldest extant buildings in Woodstock Village is the old Tannery Brook House. The building (or a part of it) was originally an old grist mill developed by Isaac Davis and it was later turned into a saw mill. Around the end of the Civil War, the structure was home to the village blacksmith operated by John Wigram Davis, then it was enlarged as a barn for wagons and carriages. Later, owner Peter Longendyke operated a boarding house from the building. Around 1904, the New York Art Students League is believed to have had their first summer art class in the upstairs rooms of the building. In 1935, owner Lamonte Simpkins remodeled it as “The Art Shop”. Upstairs Mr. Simpkins sold clothes, shoes and drygoods, while downstairs The Art Shop and Tannery Brook Garden Flourished. The building was rebranded as the Old Forge House, as a nod to its historic use. It remains a vernacular, and important piece of Woodstock’s rich history from sleepy industrial village to vibrant artist community.

James Nelson Lasher House // 1884

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The James Nelson Lasher House in Woodstock, NY was built by James Nelson Lasher (1829-1906) in about 1884. “Nelson” Lasher, a farmer from Bearsville, acquired 45 acres on the outskirts of the village of Woodstock and established an undertaking business on the property, in 1879. Over the next two decades, he farmed the property with his son Franklin “Frank”, who by 1890, also began to manage the undertaking business. Frank Lasher (1864-1912) may have added the Queen Anne porches and tower to the house around this time. In the early 1900s, the Lasher household consisted of Nelson and wife Elizabeth, and Frank and his wife and three children. Nelson died in 1906 and Frank died six years later, leaving the property to his son, Victor, who continued the family undertaking/funeral home business. The property was sold out of the Lasher family in 1960, but operated as a funeral home until 2019. The property has recently been eyed as a hotel and for town offices, I wonder what its future holds!

Krack House // 1870

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One of the largest buildings in the charming village of Woodstock, NY, is the former Krack House… I know what you are thinking, and no it was not due to illegal activity! The Krack House was developed in 1870 by Charles H. Krack (1824-1893), as a response to the success of other summer hotels built nearby as the area saw a boom in tourism. Charles Krack was born in Germany and after serving in the military there, he arrived to America in the mid-1800s. Here, he served as an overseer of a Georgia plantation, and moved to New York City after the Civil War, operating a hotel in Manhattan. He later became the owner of a floating bathhouse on New York City’s East River anchored near Grand Street, and made great money, investing it up the Hudson in Woodstock. In Ulster County, he got involved in politics. The Krack House was a summer lodging facility with food service and all the best amenities in the village. After Charles’ death in 1893, the property was eventually purchased by Stanley Brinckerhoff Longyear, who rebranded the hotel in his name, The Longyear. The building appears to now contain apartments above commercial spaces.

St. George’s Church // 1759

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Schenectady’s oldest extant religious building, St. George’s Church, sits in the center of the Stockade Historic District in Schenectady, New York. As Schenectady was settled and dominated by Dutch settlers, English settlers began moving to the riverfront town, due to its rich fur trade and opportunity. With the growth of English residents, a church where the services were conducted in the English language became necessary. The blossoming congregation hired architect Samuel Fuller, who arrived to Schenectady from Boston in 1758, at the height of the French and Indian War. Ground was broken on the stunning Gothic church in 1759 and it was finally completed in 1763, delayed due to fighting nearby. The church was originally more modest for the smaller congregation, but underwent a large building campaign in the mid 1800s thanks to Reverend William Payne. He oversaw the construction of a new parish house, a new rectory, as well as two successive expansions of the church and the addition of a stone tower and spire to the west front of the church, giving it the appearance we see today. The congregation is still highly active and maintains the building beautifully to this day.

First Reformed Church, Schenectady // 1863

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The First Reformed Church of Schenectady is the oldest congregation in the city. Founded by Dutch settlers, Schenectady’s first colonists, the first church lasted over a decade until it burned in the Schenectady Massacre in 1690, when a party of more than 200 French and allied Mohawk warriors attacked the unguarded community of Schenectady, destroying most of the homes, and killing or capturing most of its inhabitants. Sixty residents were killed, including 11 enslaved Africans. An expanding congregation after, outgrew its second and third buildings, replacing them with larger structures. The fourth was lost in Schenectady’s Great Fire of 1861, causing yet another building campaign. The present church building, an architectural landmark in Gothic design, was completed by the highly regarded Victorian-gothic architect Edward Tuckerman Potter in 1863. Potter is also known for his designs of the Nott Memorial Building (previously featured), in Schenectady, and Mark Twain’s home in Hartford, CT. A fire in the church gutted it in 1948, but the community at large banded together to fund the restoration efforts of the amazing architectural landmark.

Teneyck-Yates House // 1760

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Tobias H. Ten Eyck was born in 1717 to a wealthy family from Albany, New York. He lived in Schenectady as a child and met his wife, Rachel De Peyster. The year he married Ms. De Peyster, he had this brick Georgian mansion built, which at the time, had a gambrel roof. Tobias was counted among Schenectady’s wealthiest businessmen, dealing in trade here until his death in 1774. The house was purchased next by James Ellice, who lived in the home with his wife Ann. While on a business trip to Montreal as an “Indian fur trader”, Ellice died at the young age of 33. His widow Ann remarried Joseph C. Yates, a lawyer. The couple occupied this home and Joseph built the one story law office to the side of the building to run his firm out of. He also had this home “modernized in the early 1800s, boxing off the third story and adding the Federal period detailing. He served as the mayor of Schenectady (beginning in 1798), being appointed successively to twelve one-year terms. In 1805 he was elected as a state senator, in 1808 as a State Supreme Court justice, and in 1823, as the seventh governor of New York (1823–1824).

David Forrest House // c.1857

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This home in Schenectady’s Stockade Historic District appears to have been built in the mid-19th century, and is an excellent example of a modestly sized Gothic Revival cottage. The house was occupied around 1860 by David P. Forrest, who served one term as Mayor of Schenectady in 1859, later becoming an Inspector of State Prisons from 1860 to 1862. The amazing Gothic bargeboard and other trimmings have remained and add so much intrigue to the home’s design. And that lancet window in the gable end! Swoon.

Dr. Charles P. Steinmetz House // c.1850

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Welcome to the Stockade Historic District in Schenectady, NY! The National Park Service has described it as “the highest concentration of historic period homes in the country,” from this, the Stockade became New York State’s first local historic district, protecting it from demolitions and unfettered development. The neighborhood began in 1661, when a group of Dutch settlers, mostly merchants and fur traders looking to do business with Native Americans, settled the banks of the Mohawk River. This group of settlers built twelve houses surrounded by a wooden stockade (wooden defensive walls), to protect them from invasions, the neighborhood was named after this feature. The neighborhood developed over the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, providing an amazing layered neighborhood that showcases the best of designs throughout history! This home is no different. It was built around 1850 as an early example of Italianate architecture. It was most notably occupied by the famed Dr. Charles Proteus Steinmetz, a German-born scientist who beat the (then) impossible odds of succeeding with from dwarfism, hunchback, and hip dysplasia. Born Karl August Rudolph Steinmetz, he emigrated to the United States in the 1880s He changed his first name to “Charles” in order to sound more American, and chose the middle name “Proteus“, a wise hunchbacked character from the Odyssey. He got a job with General Electric in Lynn, MA, and was later transferred to Schenectady where he lived out his days. He settled in this quaint home between 1893-97, running a laboratory out of the first floor rooms. He went on to bigger homes, and never married or fostered children. I highly recommend that you all read more about him, he was a truly fascinating person!

Daniel Campbell House // 1762

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Daniel Campbell (1730-1802) emigrated to Schenectady, New York from Ireland, in 1754 at just 24. When he arrived to New York, he became involved in the fur trade, buying furs of animals from native people in the undeveloped lands of upstate, and selling the furs back to Europe. He began to purchase valuable land in the river town of Schenectady and nearby Albany, solidifying his position in those cities. In 1760, he married Engeltie Bradt, daughter of the Schenectady branch of a prominent New-Netherland era family. Soon after his marriage, he hired architect Samuel Fuller to design a spacious new Georgian mansion. The couple split their time between Schenectady and Albany until Daniel’s death in 1802. His widow resided at this home until her death ten years later. As State Street (where this mansion sits) turned more industrial, this home was modified with storefronts and later alterations in the mid 19th century.