Captain Moses W. Collyer House
Encyclopedia
The Captain Moses W. Collyer House, also Driftwood, is located on River Road South in Chelsea
, New York
, United States
. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1987.
It was the home of Collyer, a riverboat captain on the nearby Hudson
, from 1899 until his death on September 22, 1942 as noted by New York Times. A few years after moving in, he cowrote The Sloop
s of the Hudson, a memoir and history of the years when sailboat
s were the primary means of getting up and down the river. A exhaustive and complete work that drew on Collyer's background in a riverfaring family, it is today considered the definitive history of that era and its boats.
The house itself, built just before the turn of the 20th century, is an eclectic mixture of Late Victorian
styles
reflecting Collyer's experience traveling the river and its port communities. It is still a private residence, and not open to the public.
across River Road and the railroad tracks today used by Metro-North's Hudson Line
. It is a two-story frame
home on a brick
foundation
topped by a gambrel roof. On the south side, in the brick, is a datestone
reading "M.W. COLLYER/1899". The west (front) facade
has four bays
on the first floor behind a wraparound veranda and three on the second. Projecting bays at the rear of either side have smaller gambrel roofs.
It is sided
in clapboard
to the roofline, then in shingles
within the gambrels, except in the rear where the clapboard continues to the top. All the gambrels contain one window, with the west facade's Palladian-style one being the most elaborate.
The porch columns are the original woodwork, tapered and turned; a simple balustrade connects them. Much of the interior is also original, including the oak staircase in the entrance hall and a marbleized mantelpiece in the parlor. The upper floor and attic
are finished, and were used as bedroom
s and servants' quarters originally.
There are several outbuildings, all considered contributing resources
to the historic character of the property. A large clapboard garden shed
with frontal cross-gable was built along with the house and follows its general design and decoration, as does a nearby wooden privy
. The garage was built around 1932 by Collyer as a wedding present to his daughter, and has a wooden plaque
noting this event.
, further upriver in Dutchess County
. His father had started out on the river from his native Ossining
(then known as Sing Sing) in the 1830s, later became a captain and boat owner and continued sailing commercially in some capacity until his death in 1889. Collyer's uncles went into the shipbuilding
business and also grew wealthy.
Moses Collyer started out as a cabin boy
in the 1860s on one of his father's sloops. He continued to work in the family business until leaving for another schooner
in 1877; the following year he became the captain
and owner of the Henry B. Fidderman, another schooner. Two years later he switched to steamers
as captain of the Henrietta Collyer, which worked the river's iron
and limestone
trade.
Members of the Collyer family, including Moses, had lived in Chelsea since 1868, although it is not known where. In 1899, nearing retirement
as the New York Central Railroad
's lines up the river had supplanted
navigation
in the Hudson Valley
, Collyer built the house. Detailed records kept during its construction, including photos at different stages of the process and receipt
s for construction materials, survive to this day and are a useful record of turn-of-the-century building practices.
A few years later, Collyer and William Verplanck, the scion
of a wealthy family in the area and a boat owner himself, collaborated on The Sloops of the Hudson, a history of the sail era on the river. Collyer's detailed recollections of the ships and people he had known over the years made the book's second half, which he wrote, the essential resource on the subject as there is no other record so comprehensive.
Other than the construction of the garage, there have been few other alterations to the house. The porch steps have been rebuilt and a handrail added. The porch itself has been enclosed.
, then reaching its final stages. In contrast, the gambrel roof and Palladian window show the emergence of the Colonial Revival
, a style that would become widespread in the first decades of the new century. Its overall generic style demonstrates architectural trends moving out of their original contexts and the integration of Chelsea with the larger economy.
Inside, the house reflects changing tastes as well. The interior's rooms are less grand than most earlier Victorian homes, suggesting a space meant for living as opposed to entertaining, and the more open placement of the kitchen
and other backrooms suggest a more egalitarian
attitude than a strictly Victorian home would. The contrast between the values of the Queen Anne style and the Colonial Revival is also represented by the marbleized mantelpiece and unpainted oak stair respectively.
Chelsea, Dutchess County, New York
Chelsea is an unincorporated hamlet of the Town of Wappinger in Dutchess County, New York, United States. It is located on the Hudson River in the southwestern corner of the town. It takes the ZIP Code 12512 and is in the 845 telephone area code, and has its own fire district.It is a small...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1987.
It was the home of Collyer, a riverboat captain on the nearby Hudson
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
, from 1899 until his death on September 22, 1942 as noted by New York Times. A few years after moving in, he cowrote The Sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
s of the Hudson, a memoir and history of the years when sailboat
Sailboat
A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails. The term covers a variety of boats, larger than small vessels such as sailboards and smaller than sailing ships, but distinctions in the size are not strictly defined and what constitutes a sailing ship, sailboat, or a...
s were the primary means of getting up and down the river. A exhaustive and complete work that drew on Collyer's background in a riverfaring family, it is today considered the definitive history of that era and its boats.
The house itself, built just before the turn of the 20th century, is an eclectic mixture of Late Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
styles
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
reflecting Collyer's experience traveling the river and its port communities. It is still a private residence, and not open to the public.
Property
The house overlooks the Hudson RiverHudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
across River Road and the railroad tracks today used by Metro-North's Hudson Line
Hudson Line (Metro-North)
Metro-North Railroad's Hudson Line is a commuter rail line running north from New York City along the east shore of the Hudson River. Metro-North service ends at Poughkeepsie, with Amtrak's Empire Corridor trains continuing north to and beyond Albany...
. It is a two-story frame
Framing (construction)
Framing, in construction known as light-frame construction, is a building technique based around structural members, usually called studs, which provide a stable frame to which interior and exterior wall coverings are attached, and covered by a roof comprising horizontal ceiling joists and sloping...
home on a brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
foundation
Foundation (architecture)
A foundation is the lowest and supporting layer of a structure. Foundations are generally divided into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.-Shallow foundations:...
topped by a gambrel roof. On the south side, in the brick, is a datestone
Datestone
A datestone is typically an embedded stone with the date of engraving and other information carved into it. They are not considered a very reliable source for dating a house, as instances of old houses being destroyed and rebuilt have been reported.Specific locations have often been chosen for...
reading "M.W. COLLYER/1899". The west (front) facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
has four bays
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
on the first floor behind a wraparound veranda and three on the second. Projecting bays at the rear of either side have smaller gambrel roofs.
It is sided
Siding
Siding is the outer covering or cladding of a house meant to shed water and protect from the effects of weather. On a building that uses siding, it may act as a key element in the aesthetic beauty of the structure and directly influence its property value....
in clapboard
Clapboard (architecture)
Clapboard, also known as bevel siding or lap siding or weather-board , is a board used typically for exterior horizontal siding that has one edge thicker than the other and where the board above laps over the one below...
to the roofline, then in shingles
Roof shingle
Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat rectangular shapes laid in rows from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive higher row overlapping the joints in the row below...
within the gambrels, except in the rear where the clapboard continues to the top. All the gambrels contain one window, with the west facade's Palladian-style one being the most elaborate.
The porch columns are the original woodwork, tapered and turned; a simple balustrade connects them. Much of the interior is also original, including the oak staircase in the entrance hall and a marbleized mantelpiece in the parlor. The upper floor and attic
Attic
An attic is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building . Attic is generally the American/Canadian reference to it...
are finished, and were used as bedroom
Bedroom
A bedroom is a private room where people usually sleep for the night or relax during the day.About one third of our lives are spent sleeping and most of the time we are asleep, we are sleeping in a bedroom. To be considered a bedroom the room needs to have bed. Bedrooms can range from really simple...
s and servants' quarters originally.
There are several outbuildings, all considered contributing resources
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
to the historic character of the property. A large clapboard garden shed
Shed
A shed is typically a simple, single-storey structure in a back garden or on an allotment that is used for storage, hobbies, or as a workshop....
with frontal cross-gable was built along with the house and follows its general design and decoration, as does a nearby wooden privy
Outhouse
An outhouse is a small structure separate from a main building which often contained a simple toilet and may possibly also be used for housing animals and storage.- Terminology :...
. The garage was built around 1932 by Collyer as a wedding present to his daughter, and has a wooden plaque
Commemorative plaque
A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other vertical surface, and bearing text in memory of an important figure or event...
noting this event.
History
Collyer was born around 1850 in Red HookRed Hook, New York
Red Hook is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was reported to be 11,319 during the 2010 census. The name is supposedly derived from the red foliage on trees on a small strip of land on the Hudson River. The town contains two villages; the village of Red Hook and the...
, further upriver in Dutchess County
Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. The 2010 census lists the population as 297,488...
. His father had started out on the river from his native Ossining
Ossining (village), New York
Ossining is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 25,060 at the 2010 census. As a village, it is located in the Town of Ossining.-Geography:Ossining borders the eastern shores of the widest part of the Hudson River....
(then known as Sing Sing) in the 1830s, later became a captain and boat owner and continued sailing commercially in some capacity until his death in 1889. Collyer's uncles went into the shipbuilding
Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
business and also grew wealthy.
Moses Collyer started out as a cabin boy
Cabin boy
A Cabin boy or ship's boy is a boy who waits on the officers and passengers of a ship, especially running errands for the captain....
in the 1860s on one of his father's sloops. He continued to work in the family business until leaving for another schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
in 1877; the following year he became the captain
Captain (nautical)
A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...
and owner of the Henry B. Fidderman, another schooner. Two years later he switched to steamers
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
as captain of the Henrietta Collyer, which worked the river's iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
and limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
trade.
Members of the Collyer family, including Moses, had lived in Chelsea since 1868, although it is not known where. In 1899, nearing retirement
Retirement
Retirement is the point where a person stops employment completely. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours.Many people choose to retire when they are eligible for private or public pension benefits, although some are forced to retire when physical conditions don't allow the person to...
as the New York Central Railroad
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...
's lines up the river had supplanted
Disruptive technology
A disruptive technology or disruptive innovation is an innovation that helps create a new market and value network, and eventually goes on to disrupt an existing market and value network , displacing an earlier technology there...
navigation
Navigation
Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...
in the Hudson Valley
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...
, Collyer built the house. Detailed records kept during its construction, including photos at different stages of the process and receipt
Receipt
A receipt is a written acknowledgment that a specified article or sum of money has been received as an exchange for goods or services. The receipt is evidence of purchase of the property or service obtained in the exchange.-Printed:...
s for construction materials, survive to this day and are a useful record of turn-of-the-century building practices.
A few years later, Collyer and William Verplanck, the scion
Kinship
Kinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. And descent groups, lineages, etc. are treated in their own subsections....
of a wealthy family in the area and a boat owner himself, collaborated on The Sloops of the Hudson, a history of the sail era on the river. Collyer's detailed recollections of the ships and people he had known over the years made the book's second half, which he wrote, the essential resource on the subject as there is no other record so comprehensive.
Other than the construction of the garage, there have been few other alterations to the house. The porch steps have been rebuilt and a handrail added. The porch itself has been enclosed.
Aesthetics
The house represents a mix of styles, waxing and waning, in a fashion popular during the last years of the 19th century. The irregular, yet compact, massing of the main forms and mixture of materials are characteristic of the Queen Anne styleQueen Anne Style architecture
The Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...
, then reaching its final stages. In contrast, the gambrel roof and Palladian window show the emergence of the Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
, a style that would become widespread in the first decades of the new century. Its overall generic style demonstrates architectural trends moving out of their original contexts and the integration of Chelsea with the larger economy.
Inside, the house reflects changing tastes as well. The interior's rooms are less grand than most earlier Victorian homes, suggesting a space meant for living as opposed to entertaining, and the more open placement of the kitchen
Kitchen
A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation.In the West, a modern residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a refrigerator and kitchen cabinets arranged according to a modular design. Many households have a...
and other backrooms suggest a more egalitarian
Egalitarianism
Egalitarianism is a trend of thought that favors equality of some sort among moral agents, whether persons or animals. Emphasis is placed upon the fact that equality contains the idea of equity of quality...
attitude than a strictly Victorian home would. The contrast between the values of the Queen Anne style and the Colonial Revival is also represented by the marbleized mantelpiece and unpainted oak stair respectively.