c. 1840 Greek Revival – Hudson, NY
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Added to OHD on 10/10/16 - Last OHD Update: 10/14/19 -
27 Comments
Hudson, NY 12534
$150,000- 4 Bed
- 1 Bath
- 2240 Sq Ft
- 5.4 Ac.
Handsome Greek Revival house, on a dead-end road, is surrounded by five acres of open and wooded land. The exterior of the house has an outstanding two-story porch and striking pediment with fan which is remarkably unchanged; the interior of the house still retains a faux marble fireplace mantle, attractive staircase, and original layout; however, most walls have been covered with wallpaper or 1970s paneling, and floors are covered with carpet. Prominent Claverack resident, William Shaw owned this grand home in the late 1800s and the neighboring Shaw Bridge was named after him. The now famous Shaw Bridge is slated to be restored in the next few years as a pedestrian bridge while the William Shaw house awaits complete restoration by an adventurous renovator. The house is elegible to be on the National Register of Historic Places and NYS Residential Rehabilitation Tax Credits.
Links, Photos & Additional Info
State: New York | Region: Northeast (Middle Atlantic) | Associated Styles or Type: Greek Revival
Period & Associated Styles: Greek Revival (1825-1860), Romantic Era | Misc: Extreme Fixer, Fixer-Uppers
Period & Associated Styles: Greek Revival (1825-1860), Romantic Era | Misc: Extreme Fixer, Fixer-Uppers
27 Comments on c. 1840 Greek Revival – Hudson, NY
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Click here to read the comment rules, updated 1/12/20.
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Chestatee, GA
Thanks Matthew Z. for sharing!
Oh no, the 70’s got in! What a great house and the old photo is fantastic! Looks like there was a bit more fancy trip on the balcony and the roof line. So cool!
That was my reaction. “Oh you poor house with the gold carpet and paneling!”
Too funny… DANG those 70’s!!
70’s? *Shrug* If rest of the house is no worse than what appears to have been done in the above photos, this would be a relatively easy return to period. Hopefully the hardwoods hiding out under that carpet are in good shape. 🙂
Not enough pictures, but from what is seen it seems to have potential. Rare to find a house this age that hasn’t changed much on the exterior since the mid-1800’s.
What a cool house! Is the chimney enclosed on the old pic, and external on the new? Never seen that before.
No a new chimney was added externally at some point. Pic 1 shows the two chimneys side by side.
Fabulous old dame! Love the porches, especially, and as someone else commented, if gold carpet is all that’s been done, it will come back to life quickly! Hope someone gets it who will love it for itself!
Hudson is a magnificent village: artists, galleries, terrific restaurants, Malcolm Gladwell’s
hometown :-).
If I had no responsibilities: I’d pack everything up and make it home.
My reaction to the interior was omg what the f did they do!!! Lol pretty house hope it gets to be a home soon!
The addition of the external chimney is curious, I’d love to see the time line of that. I’m guessing perhaps it connects to the newer looking brick fireplace with the paneling? It also seems that the second chimney (from the historic photo) in the center of the house has been closed off. I wonder what it would take to restore those both back. Probably hard to guess without getting inside and seeing what’s up with the original chimneys. I hope there are still two original fireplace surrounds there, because that one is so beautiful.
I do love that they show the historic photo and current photo at the same angle. So helpful! I would LOVE to see all those beautiful external details restored – the narrower siding, the fabulous cresting on the roof, the ornamentation – and putting back the bottom railing – on the porch… so many lovely things going on with that house.
And inside, goodness, that 70s carpet, lol. Well we were warned. But nothing seems too horrible in there, just some elbow grease for cosmetic updates. Hopefully the floors are still in good shape under those carpets. I wish we had gotten some photos of the kitchens and baths.
Also, my lord. That front door. I am beyond in love with that front door. I would definitely be getting rid of the screen door (or finding something much more attractive) to let that stunning wood door really show off. (Actually, looking at it again, it seems that there is a different, glass panel door behind the screen door on what I assume is the front door. So where is that wood panel door located on the house??)
You have a great eye for detail!
So VERY happy to have the old b&w pic; that’s going to be so helpful in getting this old lady grand again:) I completely agree that the carpet, can we say flashback?, needs to go and the floors underneath given the love they’re probably going to need at this point. Would have loved some pics of the bathrooms and kitchen, wonder if they’re as 70s as the carpet and paneling? Kinda like that look in my bathroom personally
I was also confused by the inset door image in the photo that the same door does not appear to be in? Seems to me a lot(relatively speaking compared to some homes) has changed on the outside since the 1800’s. It looks like wide aluminum siding where there once was more formal, more narrow clapboard siding and also the aluminum folks tyipcally hack off the edges of the window sills to install the siding and storm windows. I’d question whether the extra trimwork, the detail at the roof peak, etc. in the old photos is original or later Victorian era add-ons. Greek Revivals usually look best in white, but I would like to see this house in a stronger color scheme like the old photo suggests.
The Bird’s Eye view gives a sense of the location of the house on what was, for most of its history, the Post Road, or main road between New York and Albany. The 1870 Shaw Bridge, an engineering marvel when built, replaced another bridge which connected the house to the center of Claverack just up the road. To the left, just north of the creek, is the Jacob P. Mesick house and farm from the same era as this house, and on the National Register.
Claverack was the market town around here for 100 years, and the county seat, before the founding of the City of Hudson on the river. President Martin Van Buren began his career as a lawyer in Claverack before moving on to Hudson, Albany and the White House.
https://binged.it/2dNYe2R
The house was part of a 68 acre purchased by John Sharp for $2900 in 1833, and likely the house is his tenure. Sharp was a descendant of one of the many Germans who came to the area in the early and mid 1700’s. His mother and wife were both from families that had been here since the 1600’s, with a mixture of Dutch, German and English blood. He married Bathia Leggett in 1825 at the Claverack Dutch Church, built in 1767 and still in use every Sunday. John and Bathia raised 2 daughters here, but after her death and without sons to carry on the farm, John sold it in 1861 for $8000.
William Shaw, who purchased the farm in 1875, had rebuilt the old Claverack Hotel across the bridge, which became known as Shaw’s Bridge, although he had nothing to do with its construction. He appears to have made few changes to the house. The biggest change later was the 20th C. realignment of the road, which left the house on a quiet dead-end lane.
Hudson has become a destination in recent years for foodies and hipsters, taking on a Brooklynesque atmosphere on weekends and in the summer. The quieter and less expensive small towns in the area have become very desirable for second homes, most 2 to 5 times the price of this. Unless there’s a major problem with this house beyond the obvious cosmetic issues, I’d be surprised if it stayed on the market long at this price.
Isn’t this lising actually the Jacob P Mesick house and farm?
http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/2132214
A number of really nice homes in the area. This house is charming and has a good lot for the price. I’d say it’s more of a naive or country carpenter Greek Revival(not much in the way of classical order here).
Mark, the Jacob P. Mesick House is a larger, more altered house north of the creek at 68 Van Wyck Lane, upper left behind the trees in the bird’s eye link. The Wikipedia entry confuses the two houses (and has bogus NRHP citations), but the real NRHP nomination makes it quite clear:
http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=1529
The Mesick House also was owned by the family from its construction until the 1990’s at least, not by William Shaw or others.
ME
How I love the iron work that they used to put on roofs. It’s just so beautiful. I really like this house and like even more that you have a picture from the past to guide you along in it’s renovation. Being someone that has late stage Lyme disease I could not live in Hudson area knowing the tick problems but this charmer will be perfect for someone that does not have my fear.
I think this could be easily restored to former beauty. The door inset shows what the orignal front door looked like. The front door definitely needs to be changed, carpet ripped out and wallpaper removed. No pics of kitchen, baths, most rooms. Needs more pics.
Comparing the recent exterior photos against the old one, it looks as though the house is closer to the ground. I’m looking at the distance between the first-floor porch and the ground, and also the two front windows and the ground. Could it have sunk? Or is there a simpler explanation?
Bethster,
I’d say the two most similar photos are slightly different angles. The orignal siding is a narrow clapboard which makes it look like there is a lot more siding compared to the wide aluminum(?) siding currently. Also, there are two steps to the porch floor in both the old and current photo. The landscape level could have changed a somewhat over the years from being back filled from various garden beds etc. It does look slightly different at the right porch corner but it’s hard to say since the old photo shows foundation plantings.
Thanks, Mark. I did take the siding into consideration. I was considering relative distances from one point to another. I think the landscape level probably has changed somewhat.
The current siding looks like good ol’ asbestos tile siding from the 1930’s or 40’s. The first “permanent” siding. I suspect the original clapboard siding is underneath.
Yes, I agree, the siding is asbestos shingles and the clapboards are probably underneath. I bet many are cracked, split, etc. and that many will need to be replaced when the house is restored!
are those clapboards fairly easily available on the market, in case a good deal would need replacement?
Chestatee, GA
Updated and now for rent! They did a great job with cleaning it up!
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/24-Van-Wyck-Ln-Hudson-NY-12534/30004156_zpid/?fullpage=true