New-York tribune., 1901-10-20
\ WEST SIDE LANDMARKS.
THE VAN DEN HUEVEL HOUSE AND IT'S
REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY-LIkELY
SOON TO BE DEMOLISHED.

erected on the site Of old buildings and
ground which had always been vacant lots"
The demand for similar buildings is still great
and small houses in the apartment house dis
trct looked upon doomed, even if the day
of execution is not set. For that many
people believe that the old stone house at West
End and Seventy-ninth-st., owned by the
Astor estate, will go the way of most old
houses in New York. 1t is now the home OF
Marshall Clarke whose greenhouses occupy
large part of the block between Seventy eighth
ard Seventy-ninth SITS. and Broadway and West
End-ave. The house is probably the oldest in
that part of the city. having been built about
1859 by Governor Van Den Huevel, who came
from Demerara. The yellow fever raging
in the South American colony at the time. and
he intended to remain in New-York only a little
while and return to his home but he was
charmed with the country. bought property and.
built the mansion, much Of the material having
been brought from France and Holland
The house was two stories high with steep
gable roof and the walls were of solid stone.
The first floor rests great beams of black
oak made from tree trunks from which only the
bark had been removed. To make them uniform
in thickness the whole length and to overcome
the natural taper of the tree the small ends
were built up with a series of wedges which are
still in a perfect state of preservation. All the
la his used in the house are OF the split va
ri ty. sawed, and the nails and hinges were
all hand made. There were fine freplaces and
handsomely carved mantols in many of the
rooms, and remnants of them are still to be seen
behind modern carved marble and hot water
radiators. But the heavy window sashes. the
SOLID inside shutters. window seats and carved
cornices and mouldings remain as evidences Of
antiquity and solidity. The main floor had q
broad arched central hall. with drawing room
cda loft diuir ito
The hall evidently looked upon as a need |
less luxury by some tenant who succeeded the
general, the greater part OF it was converted
into room, giving only glimpse of the hand |
some arch from the entrance. The upper floor
has four large rooms. and over these In the
gable, the sleeping apartments. About
fifty years ago fire destroyed the third gable
floor, and when it rebuilt il was carried |
straight up and the house now has two stories
Of stone and of wood. 1t has become mod
ernized in every part, but fortunately, the fine
staircase has been preserved. The steIs are low
and broad, and the balusters on which the hand /
rail rests similar TO those in the State House
Boston Everything about the old house is |
heavy in style. and it Is evident that beauty
and show were sacrificed in favor Of stability. |
But the staircase Is notable exception. and
even in its present condition. with little light on
IL and devoid of decoration. it is graceful and
reflects credit its builder
Van Den HuevePs nearest neighbor was Colo |
mel Charles Ward Apthorpe, whose house was
on the grounds which later became Elm Park, !
the house standing a plot which is now Nine
ty-second-st. and Amsterdam-ave He married
Colonel Apthorpe's daughter, and had a large
family. One OF his daughters married Thomas
Gibbs. Of South Carolina a daughter by this
marriage, Augusta, married John Jacob Astor
who was the father of William Waldorf Astor
Another daughter married John Church Ham,
iton, the son Of Alexander Hamilton. General
Schuyler Hamilton. the grandson of Alexander
Hamilton. who lives in New York visited the
Old home of his mother recently and when Will
lam Waldorf Astor was in New York some years
ago he called at the old house in the Blooming
dale Road TO where his grandmother had
spent her childhood.
The place. with its four hundred acres was
abandoned by the Van Den HueveIs during the
Revolutionary war and was occupied by Wash
1ngtons forces when they retreated from Brook
iyn. They had hardly been encamped on the
grounds when the British advanced and the
place was evacuated skrmish followed on
the BloOmngdale Road between the rear guard
of the American forces and the advance posts
of the British.
Many years later the occupants found in the
attic old red coats which had belonged to Brit |
ish soldiers. BY some means they were carried
to the old school which stood about where