House at 184 Albany Avenue
Encyclopedia
The house at 184 Albany Avenue (NY 32
) in Kingston
, New York, United States, is a frame
building in the Picturesque
mode of the Gothic Revival architectural style
. It was built around 1860.
In 2002 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
. It has remained a private residence since its original construction.
on the east side of the street, a short distance north of the Kingston Stockade District
and three houses south of Tremper Avenue. The neighborhood is exclusively residential, except for the nearby Sharp Burial Ground
. A non-contributing
pool and outbuilding are located behind the house.
It is a two-and-a-half-story building on a brick foundation
. The clapboard
siding
rises to a steeply pitched
mansard roof
with two cross-gable
s. It is shingled
in patterned slate
. The rooflines are marked by heavily molded
cornice
s, paired brackets
and decorative frieze
s. The gables are topped with finial
s.
On the southwest corner of the west (front) facade
is a one-and-a-half-story projecting bay
. At the first story this features a bay window
. A porch stretches across the rest of the facade at that story. Its roof is supported by three chamfer
ed and paneled posts with brackets. The main entrance has leaded
sidelights and an arched top light.
A similar bay, two and a half stories high, projects from the south side. It too has a bay window at ground level. A single-story rear wing projects from the east, adjacent to an enclosed porch now part of an expanded kitchen. The north profile has no projections or additions.
Inside, the house has a double-pile central hall plan. The first story retains much of its original finishing, such as carved newel
s and baluster
s on the stairs, molded door and window surrounds and decorated plaster cornices and ceilings. The second story also has its original plan and finishings; the attic has been renovated, opening up the space once used as servants' quarters. It still has some of the original finishing.
, who had strongly promoted the Picturesque
mode as an ideal for American residential construction during his lifetime. Few significant owners are known. In 1909 the city directory
gives the owner as Charles Banker, a local osteopathic physician. In 1921 it was the property of Vince Gorman, a founding partner of the city's Rose Gorman Rose department store
.
New York State Route 32
New York State Route 32 is a north–south state highway that extends for through the Hudson Valley and Capital District regions of the U.S. state of New York. It is a two-lane surface road for nearly its entire length, with few divided and no limited-access sections. From Harriman to Albany,...
) in Kingston
Kingston, New York
Kingston is a city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, USA. It is north of New York City and south of Albany. It became New York's first capital in 1777, and was burned by the British Oct. 16, 1777, after the Battles of Saratoga...
, New York, United States, is a frame
Framing (construction)
Framing, in construction known as light-frame construction, is a building technique based around structural members, usually called studs, which provide a stable frame to which interior and exterior wall coverings are attached, and covered by a roof comprising horizontal ceiling joists and sloping...
building in the Picturesque
Picturesque
Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin in Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, etc. Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; made in the Summer of the Year 1770, a practical book which instructed England's...
mode of the Gothic Revival 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...
. It was built around 1860.
In 2002 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...
. It has remained a private residence since its original construction.
Building
The house sits on a long, narrow (80 by) lotLot (real estate)
In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner. A lot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property in other countries...
on the east side of the street, a short distance north of the Kingston Stockade District
Kingston Stockade District
The Kingston Stockade District is an eight-block area in the western section of Kingston, New York, United States, commonly referred to as Uptown Kingston...
and three houses south of Tremper Avenue. The neighborhood is exclusively residential, except for the nearby Sharp Burial Ground
Sharp Burial Ground
The Sharp Burial Ground, also known as the Albany Avenue Cemetery, is located on Albany Avenue in Kingston, New York, United States. It is a small burying ground used during the middle decades of the 19th century, before larger rural cemeteries had become common but after churchyards had become...
. A non-contributing
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...
pool and outbuilding are located behind the house.
It is a two-and-a-half-story building on a brick foundation
Foundation (architecture)
A foundation is the lowest and supporting layer of a structure. Foundations are generally divided into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.-Shallow foundations:...
. The 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...
siding
Siding
Siding is the outer covering or cladding of a house meant to shed water and protect from the effects of weather. On a building that uses siding, it may act as a key element in the aesthetic beauty of the structure and directly influence its property value....
rises to a steeply pitched
Roof pitch
In building construction, roof pitch is a numerical measure of the steepness of a roof, and a pitched roof is a roof that is steep.The roof's pitch is the measured vertical rise divided by the measured horizontal span, the same thing as what is called "slope" in geometry. Roof pitch is typically...
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...
with two cross-gable
Gable
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...
s. It is shingled
Roof shingle
Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat rectangular shapes laid in rows from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive higher row overlapping the joints in the row below...
in patterned slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
. The rooflines are marked by heavily 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...
cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
s, paired 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...
and decorative frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
s. The gables are topped with finial
Finial
The finial is an architectural device, typically carved in stone and employed decoratively to emphasize the apex of a gable or any of various distinctive ornaments at the top, end, or corner of a building or structure. Smaller finials can be used as a decorative ornament on the ends of curtain rods...
s.
On the southwest corner of the west (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 one-and-a-half-story projecting bay
Bay (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:...
. At the first story this features a 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...
. A porch stretches across the rest of the facade at that story. Its roof is supported by three chamfer
Chamfer
A chamfer is a beveled edge connecting two surfaces. If the surfaces are at right angles, the chamfer will typically be symmetrical at 45 degrees. A fillet is the rounding off of an interior corner. A rounding of an exterior corner is called a "round" or a "radius"."Chamfer" is a term commonly...
ed and paneled posts with brackets. The main entrance has leaded
Leaded glass
Leaded glass may refer to:*Lead glass, potassium silicate glass which has been impregnated with a small amount of lead oxide in its fabrication...
sidelights and an arched top light.
A similar bay, two and a half stories high, projects from the south side. It too has a bay window at ground level. A single-story rear wing projects from the east, adjacent to an enclosed porch now part of an expanded kitchen. The north profile has no projections or additions.
Inside, the house has a double-pile central hall plan. The first story retains much of its original finishing, such as carved newel
Newel
A newel, also called a central pole, is an upright post that supports the handrail of a stair banister. In stairs having straight flights it is the principal post at the foot of the staircase, but it can also be used for the intermediate posts on landings and at the top of a staircase...
s and baluster
Baluster
A baluster is a moulded shaft, square or of lathe-turned form, one of various forms of spindle in woodwork, made of stone or wood and sometimes of metal, standing on a unifying footing, and supporting the coping of a parapet or the handrail of a staircase. Multiplied in this way, they form a...
s on the stairs, molded door and window surrounds and decorated plaster cornices and ceilings. The second story also has its original plan and finishings; the attic has been renovated, opening up the space once used as servants' quarters. It still has some of the original finishing.
History
The house is believed to have been built around 1860, probably following patterns in books by Andrew Jackson DowningAndrew Jackson Downing
Andrew Jackson Downing was an American landscape designer, horticulturalist, and writer, a prominent advocate of the Gothic Revival style in the United States, and editor of The Horticulturist magazine...
, who had strongly promoted the Picturesque
Picturesque
Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin in Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, etc. Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; made in the Summer of the Year 1770, a practical book which instructed England's...
mode as an ideal for American residential construction during his lifetime. Few significant owners are known. In 1909 the city directory
City directory
A city directory is a listing of residents, streets, businesses, organizations or institutions, giving their location in a city. Antedating telephone directories, they have been in use for centuries....
gives the owner as Charles Banker, a local osteopathic physician. In 1921 it was the property of Vince Gorman, a founding partner of the city's Rose Gorman Rose department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
.