GABRIELE / MAHAR HOUSE (late 1770s)
This private residence is not open for interior tour.
Originally constructed in the late 1700s, the north wing was added in 1840 for use as a store, and in 1870 the south wing was added to the rear living area. In 1986 the entire brick surface was restored.
The earliest owner was Sylvester Nichols, who made large purchases of real estate in Athens for later resale. Subsequent owners maintained a general store in the upper village building, supplying the needs not only of the residents but also of the ship hands whose boats plied the Hudson River. In addition to food items, the store carried coal and livestock feed.
From 1926 until 1960, Rosario and Teresina Gabriele continued to operate the store. In 1973 the property passed to their son and his wife, Frank M. and Catherine Gabriele, and then in 1986 to Kathleen Gabriele Maher and her husband, William J. Maher. The bakery “Cakes by Kay” formerly occupied the first floor under the second-story porch.
If you are walking through Athens today, the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church is a few hundred feet south at 102 North Washington St. Two blocks south is the Albertus Van Loon House – built, in 1724, by the son of the original patent-holder of this region – at 85 North Washington St.
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