North Grove Street Historic District
Encyclopedia
The North Grove Street Historic District is located along the north end of that street in Tarrytown
, New York, United States. It consists of five mid-19th century residences, on both sides of the street, and a carriage barn
. In 1979 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
The houses were built by wealthy residents in the middle of the 19th century, in the Second Empire, Gothic Revival
, and Italianate
architectural style
s, when the area offered a view of the Hudson River
to the west. Three were built by Jacob Odell, Tarrytown's first village president, and his descendants. They share some common architectural elements, and have survived relatively intact. Today three remain as private residences while the other two are home to the Tarrytown Historical Society.
. The neighborhood is residential, with most houses built during the 20th century. A large park is across Neperan north of the intersection. The district's terrain terrain is level, with a steep hill rising to the immediate east.
The boundaries of the district are formed by the lot lines of the five houses within it. It encloses a 1.5 acres (6,070.3 m²) area. The houses and the carriage barn are all considered contributing properties
; a garage behind 1 North Grove is not.
is to the south of 8.
brick house with a flat roof pierced in its rear by a brick chimney. In the middle of the east (front) facade
is a three-story tower, and a two-bay two-story projection with wraparound porch extends west from the rear. There is a decorative wrought iron
fence along the sidewalk in front of the house, and a detached one-story garage is in the rear.
Fenestration
consists of single and double one-over-one double-hung sash window
s with vertical-board shutters
and stone lintels and sills. The porch on the west wing has a wooden guardrail, and on the south side of the wing's second story is a small wooden shed-roofed addition. Just below the roofline are short eyebrow windows; the broad overhanging eave is supported by simple wooden brackets
.
The main entrance and the window above it on the tower have wooden hoods. The tower itself is topped by a slate-shingled mansard roof
pierced on all sides by round-arched dormers. Inside the house retains many of its original finishes, including marble fireplaces.
All windows on 15 are also one-over-one double-hung sash, but with segmental-arched lintels. Some are on the three-sided bay window
s that project from both the north and south profiles. The roofline is supported by decorative wooden brackets.
The tower is square, joined to the rear at a 45-degree angle. It has several double segmental-arched windows and a flat roof supported by brackets. On the interior are the original spiral staircase and door and window surrounds.
roof pierced by two chimneys with gauged decorative brickwork
. An intricately detailed wooden porch runs the length of its west (rear) facade.
Windows are one-over-one double-hung sash with round-arched transoms, set singly or doubly. The flanking windows on the second story have small wrought iron balconies. In the center of the first floor is the main entrance, located in a projecting vestibule
with a similar round-arched entrance and tiled hipped roof
supported by brackets. Different brackets also support the overhanging eave.
The tower also has a gabled roof with brackets. Inside are many original finishes, including marble fireplaces and wooden door and window surrounds. It, too, retains the original spiral stair.
three-by-two-bay house sided in clapboard
. Atop is a slate-shingled mansard roof is pierced by three hooded round-arched dormers on the west and a brick chimney on the south end. A railed porch with flat roof runs the length of the west (front) facade. A later two-story kitchen wing extends from the east.
The windows are paired one-over-one double-hung sash on the west, single two-over-two on the side profiles and single one-over-one on the kitchen wing. On the north face of the kitchen is a bay window. The broad overhanging eaves of the porch and main roofs are supported by carved modillions. Original interior features include marble fireplaces and simple wooden door and window surrounds.
To the southwest, along the sidewalk, is the carriage barn, subsequently converted into an automoble garage. It is a wood frame two-story structure sided in clapboard and topped with a mansard roof shingled in asphalt, pierced by two gabled round-arched dormers set with two-over-two double-hung sash. The other windows are six-over-six. A garage door has been installed as the main entrance. Above it is a second-story loft door set in a larger gabled dormer.
The main block has a gable roof shingled in asphalt, complementing the tower's hipped roof with carved brackets. Shutter-flanked double and single round-arched one-over-one sash on some of its faces echoes the fenestration of 19 North Grove Street. Other windows, particularly on the main block's west facade, are rectangular with recessed round-arched panels in their entablature
s. A small porch with flat roof supported by two wooden pillars shelters the main entrance, a single door with transom. The interior has heavy molded
window and door surrounds.
Town Supervisor
. Eight years later the next house, 19 North Grove Street, was built on land formerly part of a large local estate.
In 1860, Odell built 15 North Grove Street as a wedding gift for his daughter. The same year Marcus Raymond, a local newspaper editor, built 2 North Grove Street. The last of the houses to be built was 8 North Grove Street, home to three generations of local physicians. The ground floor was used as their office.
The houses display a range of the architectural style
s popular at the time, from the Italianate mode popular before the Civil War
, combined with some elements of the Gothic Revival, to the Second Empire that flourished after the war. They have remained largely unaltered today. Most are still private residences; the Odell House at 1 North Grove is operated by the Historical Society of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow as a historic house museum.
Tarrytown, New York
Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, about north of midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line...
, New York, United States. It consists of five mid-19th century residences, on both sides of the street, and a carriage barn
Carriage house
A carriage house, also called remise or coach house, is an outbuilding which was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and the related tack.In Great Britain the farm building was called a Cart Shed...
. In 1979 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...
.
The houses were built by wealthy residents in the middle of the 19th century, in the Second Empire, Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
, and Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
architectural style
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...
s, when the area offered a view of the Hudson River
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...
to the west. Three were built by Jacob Odell, Tarrytown's first village president, and his descendants. They share some common architectural elements, and have survived relatively intact. Today three remain as private residences while the other two are home to the Tarrytown Historical Society.
Geography
The district is located at the north end of North Grove Street, immediately south of Neperan Road, two blocks east the commercial buildings of South Broadway (U.S. Route 9), Tarrytown's main artery. To its immediate west is the walkway along the Old Croton Aqueduct, a National Historic LandmarkNational Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
. The neighborhood is residential, with most houses built during the 20th century. A large park is across Neperan north of the intersection. The district's terrain terrain is level, with a steep hill rising to the immediate east.
The boundaries of the district are formed by the lot lines of the five houses within it. It encloses a 1.5 acres (6,070.3 m²) area. The houses and the carriage barn are all considered contributing properties
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...
; a garage behind 1 North Grove is not.
Buildings
1, 15 and 19, all brick, are located on the west side of the street; 2 and 8, both of wood, are opposite. The carriage barnCarriage house
A carriage house, also called remise or coach house, is an outbuilding which was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and the related tack.In Great Britain the farm building was called a Cart Shed...
is to the south of 8.
1 North Grove Street
1 North Grove Street, at the southwest corner of the Neperan intersection, is a two-story, two-by-three-bayBay (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:...
brick house with a flat roof pierced in its rear by a brick chimney. In the middle of the east (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"....
is a three-story tower, and a two-bay two-story projection with wraparound porch extends west from the rear. There is a decorative wrought iron
Wrought iron
thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
fence along the sidewalk in front of the house, and a detached one-story garage is in the rear.
Fenestration
Building envelope
The building envelope is the physical separator between the interior and the exterior environments of a building. Another emerging term is "Building Enclosure". It serves as the outer shell to help maintain the indoor environment and facilitate its climate control...
consists of single and double one-over-one double-hung sash window
Sash window
A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels or "sashes" that form a frame to hold panes of glass, which are often separated from other panes by narrow muntins...
s with vertical-board shutters
Window shutter
A window shutter is a solid and stable window covering usually consisting of a frame of vertical stiles and horizontal rails...
and stone lintels and sills. The porch on the west wing has a wooden guardrail, and on the south side of the wing's second story is a small wooden shed-roofed addition. Just below the roofline are short eyebrow windows; the broad overhanging eave is supported by simple wooden brackets
Bracket (architecture)
A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf. Brackets are often in the form of scrolls, and can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be entirely...
.
The main entrance and the window above it on the tower have wooden hoods. The tower itself is topped by a slate-shingled mansard roof
Mansard roof
A mansard or mansard roof is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper that is punctured by dormer windows. The roof creates an additional floor of habitable space, such as a garret...
pierced on all sides by round-arched dormers. Inside the house retains many of its original finishes, including marble fireplaces.
15 North Grove Street
Two short driveways are located in the open space between 1 and 15 North Grove Street to the south. It, too, is a two-story brick house with flat roof, pierced by a single chimney, and attached tower (albeit on the west elevation). A two-story north wing is faced in simple shingles and a railed porch runs along the east facade, supporting a small deck above it.All windows on 15 are also one-over-one double-hung sash, but with segmental-arched lintels. Some are on the three-sided bay window
Bay window
A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room, either square or polygonal in plan. The angles most commonly used on the inside corners of the bay are 90, 135 and 150 degrees. Bay windows are often associated with Victorian architecture...
s that project from both the north and south profiles. The roofline is supported by decorative wooden brackets.
The tower is square, joined to the rear at a 45-degree angle. It has several double segmental-arched windows and a flat roof supported by brackets. On the interior are the original spiral staircase and door and window surrounds.
19 North Grove Street
Rounding out the west side of the street is 19 North Grove Street, also a two-story brick house with attached rear tower. It is distinguished from the other house by its three-by-two-bay configuration and low-pitched gableGable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
roof pierced by two chimneys with gauged decorative brickwork
Brickwork
Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar to build up brick structures such as walls. Brickwork is also used to finish corners, door, and window openings, etc...
. An intricately detailed wooden porch runs the length of its west (rear) facade.
Windows are one-over-one double-hung sash with round-arched transoms, set singly or doubly. The flanking windows on the second story have small wrought iron balconies. In the center of the first floor is the main entrance, located in a projecting vestibule
Vestibule (architecture)
A vestibule is a lobby, entrance hall, or passage between the entrance and the interior of a building.The same term can apply to structures in modern or ancient roman architecture. In modern architecture vestibule typically refers to a small room or hall between an entrance and the interior of...
with a similar round-arched entrance and tiled hipped roof
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
supported by brackets. Different brackets also support the overhanging eave.
The tower also has a gabled roof with brackets. Inside are many original finishes, including marble fireplaces and wooden door and window surrounds. It, too, retains the original spiral stair.
8 North Grove Street
Across from 15 is the carriage barn and 8 North Grove Street. It is a wood frameTimber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
three-by-two-bay house sided 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...
. Atop is a slate-shingled mansard roof is pierced by three hooded round-arched dormers on the west and a brick chimney on the south end. A railed porch with flat roof runs the length of the west (front) facade. A later two-story kitchen wing extends from the east.
The windows are paired one-over-one double-hung sash on the west, single two-over-two on the side profiles and single one-over-one on the kitchen wing. On the north face of the kitchen is a bay window. The broad overhanging eaves of the porch and main roofs are supported by carved modillions. Original interior features include marble fireplaces and simple wooden door and window surrounds.
To the southwest, along the sidewalk, is the carriage barn, subsequently converted into an automoble garage. It is a wood frame two-story structure sided in clapboard and topped with a mansard roof shingled in asphalt, pierced by two gabled round-arched dormers set with two-over-two double-hung sash. The other windows are six-over-six. A garage door has been installed as the main entrance. Above it is a second-story loft door set in a larger gabled dormer.
2 North Grove Street
A row of mature trees on the north property line separates 8 from 2 North Grove Street, on the southeast corner of the Neperan Road intersection. Like its southern neighbor, it is a two-story three-bay wood frame house sided in clapboard. Like the brick houses on the other side of the street, it has an attached tower that rises an extra story.The main block has a gable roof shingled in asphalt, complementing the tower's hipped roof with carved brackets. Shutter-flanked double and single round-arched one-over-one sash on some of its faces echoes the fenestration of 19 North Grove Street. Other windows, particularly on the main block's west facade, are rectangular with recessed round-arched panels in their entablature
Entablature
An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
s. A small porch with flat roof supported by two wooden pillars shelters the main entrance, a single door with transom. The interior has heavy molded
Molding (decorative)
Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...
window and door surrounds.
History
The oldest of the houses, 1 North Grove Street, was built by Jacob Odell, a successful local merchant who served as Tarrytown's first village president (a precursor to mayor), in 1848. He would later also serve as GreenburghGreenburgh, New York
Greenburgh is a town in the western part of Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 88,400 at the 2010 census. Paul J. Feiner has been the Town Supervisor since 1991.-History:...
Town Supervisor
Town supervisor
Town Supervisor is an elective legislative position in New York towns. Supervisors sit on the town board, where they preside over town board meetings and vote on all matters with no more legal weight than that of any other board member .Towns may adopt local laws that allow them to provide for an...
. Eight years later the next house, 19 North Grove Street, was built on land formerly part of a large local estate.
In 1860, Odell built 15 North Grove Street as a wedding gift for his daughter. The same year Marcus Raymond, a local newspaper editor, built 2 North Grove Street. The last of the houses to be built was 8 North Grove Street, home to three generations of local physicians. The ground floor was used as their office.
The houses display a range of the architectural style
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...
s popular at the time, from the Italianate mode popular before the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, combined with some elements of the Gothic Revival, to the Second Empire that flourished after the war. They have remained largely unaltered today. Most are still private residences; the Odell House at 1 North Grove is operated by the Historical Society of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow as a historic house museum.