Author: Friends ofAthens

Black Rock Farm (c 1820) and Black Rock Site

This private residence is not open for interior tour.

Originally a tenant farmhouse, built circa 1820 with unusual barns, this house was part of the properties owned by General Samuel Haight. In 1812 Haight built a Federal-style mansion (see Haight/Gantley/ Van Loan House, page 21). At a later date, a carriage house, Black Rock Farm, and barns were constructed.

After the ownership had passed to Daniel W. Gantley, in 1913 Thomas Van Loan, the grandfather of the present owner, bought the property for his retirement from a thriving coffee, tea, and spice import business in New York City.

Upon Van Loan’s death in 1930, the property was divided between his sons: Eugene, who inherited the mansion and carriage house; and Schuyler, who inherited Black Rock, Black Rock Farm, and the barns. When Schuyler died in 1981 his niece, Jane Van Loan Erickson, the present owner, inherited his property.

Black Rock Site (1688)

Black Rock was a part of the Loonenburg Patent of May 25, 1667, and deeded in part to Jan Van Loon in 1688. The landmark mentioned in the Indian deed as Machawamick was called by the Dutch settlers “Vlught Hock,” or “Flying Corner”. It is now known as Black Rock; it projects into the river at the southern end of the Village of Athens. When Route 385 was straightened, the “new” – prior to I948 – road separated Black Rock from the rest of the properties owned by Schuyler Van Loan, the uncle of the present owner.

This was the site of a large Indian encampment in prehistoric times. The soil around this camp is black for 10 to 12 acres, caused by campfires burned there for a number of years. The site is believed to have been occupied first by Delaware Indians, and in later years by the Mohicans. Nearly all the relics, broken pottery, arrow heads, and other stone implements that have been found are of Mohican manufacture.

An original Indian deed shows five Indian names: Keesie Wey, Sachemoes, Papeuna, Masseha, and Mawinata – alias Schermerhorn – granting area lands.

EICHORN HOUSE (1880)

This private residence is not open for interior tour.

This house was originally built in 1880 as a rectangular Italianate house, and a large Queen Anne turret was added at the turn of the 20th century. The front porch was deepened at the same time. This house could be described as an “in-law” house, one of those structures built by the upper-middle class that, in scope and comfort, is one step below houses built by the most prominent members of a community. Such “in-law” houses are often associated with sisters or daughters who are given a boost by their affluent families to ensure that once married, they can live in appropriate style and comfort.

In this instance, Charles Eichorn had married Leonora Dernell, the sister of Herman Dernell, the man who had established a major ice-tool manufactory in Athens. Mr. Eichorn worked in the Dernell plant. After the death of Mr. Eichorn’s wife his daughter, Laura, and son-in-law, Ben Hoff, moved into the house to care for Mr. Eichorn.

After a succession of owners, the house deteriorated. The back porch was removed, aluminum siding was used, and, at one point, the house was divided into a two-family structure. Recent owners have carefully restored both the exterior and interior. The Queen Anne turret and front porch have been painted using a turn-of-the-century original decorative scheme.

If you are walking through Athens today, the Bedell-Nichols House is across the street at 26 South Franklin St.

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.

HAIGHT-GANTLEY-VAN LOAN HOUSE (1815)

This private residence is not open for interior tour.

The Haight/Gantley/Van Loan house is the best known house in Athens. It is referenced in several publications as a particularly fine example of Federal architecture, designed by the architect Barnabas Waterman.

General Samuel Haight, soldier and merchant, chose the site for its panoramic view of the Hudson River. Before the house was completed, General Haight was called into active service in 1812. His wife, the former Jane Van Loon, a descendant of the first Van Loon patentee, was a woman of great social ambition and desired an oval ballroom like those in fashionable New York City mansions. When General Haight returned from the War of 1812, he found that the rectangular house now included an oval ballroom at the rear! On November 1, 1817, a Grand Open House was held. Etched into a pane of glass looking out on the verandah are the names of Samuel Haight, William Haight (his son), and Lydia Haight, William’s wife.

Daniel W. Gantley, the “owner” from 1848 to 1905, was a wealthy merchant who, with his wife, Maria Hosmer, and family in tow, made the move from New York City to Athens in 1848. In his youth he had been the youngest passenger in Robert Fulton’s steamboat The Clermont, and according to Van Loan family lore, he had spied this house from the river and decided he would like to live in it someday. Daniel Gantley was loved and revered by several generations in his lifetime. He lived to the ripe old age of 94, and died at his home on March 8, 1881.

In 1905 Thomas Van Loan of Brooklyn, a coffee and spice import and wholesale merchant—and a descendant of Jan Van Loon—bought the property from the Gantley heirs. In 1912, Thomas persuaded his son, Eugene Van Loan, and Helene, Eugene’s wife, to take up residency on the Athens property. Thomas’ extensive collection of paintings and objets d’art was moved to Athens. Paintings by European and American artists such as Church, Kensett, and Cropsey, among others, hung in tiers on every wall space of the ballroom, the halls, and the bedrooms, Thomas also built an addition for a new kitchen wing to replace the outmoded 19th-century area beneath the ballroom.

Eugene Van Loan’s children, Mary Helene, Eugene, Jr., and Jane, grew up in this house. Being community-minded, Mrs. Eugene Van Loan opened her home to various civic groups for meetings and for special occasions. The young people of Athens in the 1930s and 1940s remember that the highlights of their Christmas holidays were the dances held in the oval ballroom.

In 1968 a Coxsackie merchant, Francis Hallenbeck, and his wife, Catherine, purchased the part of the property belonging to Eugene Van Loan, Jr., exclusive of the small Jan Van Loan house (to the east). In 2006 the property, including the mansion, the carriage house, and “the necessary” —the privy —were purchased by Ashton Hawkins and Johnnie Moore who restored this home with care and sensitivity. The current owners continue this project.

If you are walking through Athens today, the Matthias Van Loon House is a block north at 30 South Franklin St. The Jan Van Loon House – one of the oldest residences in New York State – is just east along Route 385 at 5 Fifth St.

BEDELL / NICHOLS HOUSE (1873)

This private residence is not open for interior tour.

In 1872, 57-year-old George S. Nichols, custom house officer in New York City sold to Abram Bedell four and a half lots in the village of Athens described as “up to 4th street running 274 feet westerly from Franklin Street.” The following year, Abram Bedell built this Second Empire Victorian house. The mansard roof with its dormer windows is typical of the period.

When the house was built, 54-year-old Abram Bedell was already retired from the Athens firm Van Schaack & Bedell Glue Manufacturers. When he passed away during 1890, Adam bequeathed to his wife, Sarah W. Sanderson-Bedell, “my present place of residence, consisting of house and lands situated on the westerly side of Franklin Street in the Village of Athens, also household furniture, wearing apparel, silverware and plated ware, watch and jewelry, books, works of art, fuel and provisions and all other consumable stores, chattels and effects belonging to me.” While Sarah also received a bequest of $25,000, the remainder of Abram’s personal estate was divided among his children, Bradbury, Minnie (Mary), and Margaret. Sarah, her two unmarried daughters, and their servant remained in the house into the early 20th century.

The three Bedell women purchased a house on William Street during 1902 and named it Bradbury after their recently deceased son and brother. Sarah died in 1910, followed by her daughter Mary in 1917. Margaret lived in the house on William Street until her death in 1932 at age 71. She was buried in the family plot with her parents and sister in Athens Rural Cemetery.

In 1904 this house and adjoining land were sold to John Nichols, a relative of George S. Nichols, who had sold the land to Adam Bedell. It appears that the Bedell and Nichols families may have had a shared family connection, or a long friendship. Their relationship certainly started as young men prior to the transfers of this house. Documentation comes from the 1855 census, which lists Abram and George, along with their families, living in a duplex brick dwelling in the Village of Athens.

The Nichols family came to this country from England and some of the individuals settled in Athens as early as 1800. Being honorable members of the community, they were active in the civic affairs of both the town and village. They were a wealthy family who owned tugboats and engaged in shipping on the Hudson River. At the time John purchased this house, he was earning wages as the superintendent of a steamboat company, perhaps in the family business.

At the death of John Nichols, his daughter, Edna Nichols Van Deusen, inherited the property. Edna, in turn, passed it on to her daughter, Barbara Van Deusen Euiler. Seventy-seven years of ownership by the Nichols/Van Deusen/Euiler families ended when the house was sold in 1981.

The current owners have undertaken extensive renovation to house and property while maintaining the slate roof, original boards, Victorian moldings and marble fireplaces.

If you are walking through Athens today, the Eichorn House is across the street at 27 South Franklin St. Two houses south is the Matthias Van Loon House at 30 South Franklin St.