Decker House (c 1868)
This private residence is not open for interior tour.
This Italianate-style house, with buttresses supporting the roof, was built circa 1868. The current wooden siding replicates the original wood siding. An original barn was torn down through necessity and replaced by the carriage house, constructed in a manner compatible with the main house. Restoration took place between 1984 and 1995 under the ownership of Thomas and Hope Lanahan, who placed it on the Greene County Historical Register.
Although the Decker family lived for many years in this house, the early occupancy is a bit uncertain. Three families, Sweeney, Waggoner, and Decker, were involved with ownership of the property during the years 1860 through 1872.
In 1860, four adjoining lots were sold by Israel Porter to John Sweeney of New York City. A court action was initiated against Sweeney, and the four lots were sold at public auction. Eunice Waggoner attended the December 23, 1872, auction held at the Wormer House located on Washington Street. As the highest bidder, she took immediate ownership of the four lots.
That same day, Eunice sold the two southernmost lots to Sephronia Decker, wife of Jacob Decker. Sephronia assumed one half of the existing mortgage. Eunice kept ownership of the two northern lots until 1881. In 1884, the northern lots were purchased by Sephronia’s son, Jacob H. Decker, Jr., bringing the four lots into single-family ownership once again.
The Decker family resided in this house just two blocks from the Hudson River for more than 80 years. Jacob Decker was a lifelong river boatman and pilot. Unlike his father, Jacob Jr. took a different career path; clerk and then buyer in a grocery, manager in a hardware store, bookkeeper and director of Athens National Bank.
After his parent’s deaths, Jacob Jr. and other family members continued to live in the family homestead. Jacob died February 19, 1928, leaving no wife or children. He willed the five-room, two-story frame residence, valued at $3,000, to his sister Mable Decker-Reynolds. Mable retained ownership until her death in 1958. Her executors put the homestead up for sale, ending the Decker heritage.
If you are walking through Athens today, the First Reformed Church is adjacent at 18 North Church St.