Plumbush
Encyclopedia
Plumbush is the former house and farm of Robert Parker Parrott
, the inventor of the Parrott gun
. It is located at the junction of NY 9D
and Peekshill Road south of Cold Spring
, New York
, United States
.
It was built for Parrott by local architect George Edward Harney
in 1865, when he had taken over as superintendent of the nearby West Point Foundry
. It is today a bed and breakfast
and restaurant
. It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places
since 1992, due to its association with Parrott and Harney's interpretation of patterns by Andrew Jackson Downing
.
, home of painter Thomas Prichard Rossiter
. It was named Plumbush after another nearby farm by its original owner, Agnes Shewan, later the Marquise Agnes Rizzo dei Ritii, in the early 19th century. One of the other buildings, a wood house, is also considered a contributing resource to the historic value of the property.
Harney's house consists of three rectangular sections, which remain largely intact today. The two-story 23 by 33-foot (7 by 10 m) main block is topped with a hipped roof
shingled in patterned slate
. A veranda with rounded corner is wrapped around the south and west sides. The other original sections are the 15-foot (5 m) square east wing and a one-story wing with gable
d roof. Two other wings, added when the house was converted
into a restaurant, are concealed from view and designed so as not to detract from the house's overall character.
Much of the original fenestration
and ornamentation
remains. Newer additions, such as a wrought-iron
spiral staircase
between the veranda and the second floor has, as with the additions, been designed to be sympathetic with what already exists.
. Its roof comes to a cupola
that itself has a flat roof. The interior has been substantially renovated so that it serves as a residence.
The former carriage house
, which now serves as a garage
is probably original to the property but has undergone extensive renovation and no longer retains its original integrity. A larger house near the rear of the property was built in the mid-20th century.
lines, suggested by patterns in books by the influential Andrew Jackson Downing
, who had lived in Newburgh
, just up the river, until his death in an 1852 steamboat explosion. Although only one building by Downing survives, his pattern books influenced many mid-19th century Gothic Revival
and Carpenter Gothic
cottages in the Hudson Valley
and elsewhere.
Downing advocated rural cottages that were harmonious with the local natural environment, a "local fitness and an intimate relationship with the soil it stands upon" rather than challenging it as the blocky Federal and Greek Revival
homes of the earlier century had. Harney carefully adapted the house to the site, in accordance with Downing's philosophies, putting the veranda next to a grove of trees and making sure the nearby Hudson River
and the Hudson Highlands
beyond could be seen from the upper windows.
The house itself shows Downing's influence in the irregularity and asymmetry of its three main blocks. The varied rooflines, truncated and cross gables, large veranda and chimney
s decorated with medieval crosses are also found in many of Downing's patterns.
In 1870 Harney published a book of his own, Barns, Outbuildings and Fences, with the original plans and sketches for Plumbush. His designs show the clear influence of some of the patterns shown in Downing's The Architecture of Country Houses.
at West Point
, served as the foundry's inspector general
for the Army
during the Civil War
. After it ended, foundry owner Gouverneur Kemble
persuaded him to resign from the Army and take over as superintendent of the foundry.
He married Kemble's sister and moved into Plumbush. After his death in 1877, little is known of Plumbush' history or ownership until the restaurant was opened in 1971.
Robert Parker Parrott
Robert Parker Parrott was an American soldier and inventor of military ordnance.-Biography:Born in Lee, New Hampshire, he was the son of John Fabyan Parrott. He graduated with honors from the United States Military Academy, third in the Class of 1824. Parrott was assigned to the Third Regiment of...
, the inventor of the Parrott gun
Parrott rifle
The Parrott rifle was a type of muzzle loading rifled artillery weapon used extensively in the American Civil War.-Parrott Rifle:The gun was invented by Robert Parker Parrott, a West Point graduate. He resigned from the service in 1836 and became the superintendent of the West Point Foundry in Cold...
. It is located at the junction of NY 9D
New York State Route 9D
New York State Route 9D , also known as the Bear Mountain – Beacon Highway, is a north–south state highway that runs along the eastern shore of the Hudson River in New York in the United States. It starts at the eastern end of the Bear Mountain Bridge at U.S...
and Peekshill Road south of Cold Spring
Cold Spring, New York
Cold Spring is a village located in the Town of Philipstown in Putnam County, New York. The population was 1,983 at the 2000 census. It borders the smaller village of Nelsonville...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
It was built for Parrott by local architect George Edward Harney
George Edward Harney
George Edward Harney was a late-19th century American architect based in New York City.-Buildings:*Plumbush , in Cold Spring, New York, a house built for Robert Parker Parrott, the inventor of the Parrott gun...
in 1865, when he had taken over as superintendent of the nearby West Point Foundry
West Point Foundry
The West Point Foundry was an early ironworks in Cold Spring, New York that operated from 1817 to 1911. Set up to remedy deficiencies in national armaments production after the War of 1812, it became most famous for its production of Parrott rifles and other munitions during the Civil War, although...
. It is today a bed and breakfast
Bed and breakfast
A bed and breakfast is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast, but usually does not offer other meals. Since the 1980s, the meaning of the term has also extended to include accommodations that are also known as "self-catering" establishments...
and restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
. It has been 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...
since 1992, due to its association with Parrott and Harney's interpretation of patterns by Andrew Jackson Downing
Andrew 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...
.
Building
The main Plumbush building is one of four located on a nine-acre (12 ha) parcel backed by Cold Spring Cemetery, the remnant of Parrott's original 65 acre (26 ha) farm, across Route 9D from the entrance to Fair LawnFair Lawn (Cold Spring, New York)
Fair Lawn is a house located off NY 9D just south of Cold Spring, New York, United States. It was designed by the painter Thomas Prichard Rossiter, who moved into it for the last decade of his life.Subsequent owners modified the house slightly...
, home of painter Thomas Prichard Rossiter
Thomas Prichard Rossiter
Thomas Prichard Rossiter was an American portrait and historical painter. He was born in New Haven, Conn., and studied there with Nathaniel Jocelyn. In 1838-40 he painted portraits in London and Paris and from 1841 to 1846 he lived in Rome...
. It was named Plumbush after another nearby farm by its original owner, Agnes Shewan, later the Marquise Agnes Rizzo dei Ritii, in the early 19th century. One of the other buildings, a wood house, is also considered a contributing resource to the historic value of the property.
Harney's house consists of three rectangular sections, which remain largely intact today. The two-story 23 by 33-foot (7 by 10 m) main block is topped with a hipped roof
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
shingled 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...
. A veranda with rounded corner is wrapped around the south and west sides. The other original sections are the 15-foot (5 m) square east wing and a one-story wing with 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...
d roof. Two other wings, added when the house was converted
Adaptive reuse
Adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing an old site or building for a purpose other than which it was built or designed for. Along with brownfield reclamation, adaptive reuse is seen by many as a key factor in land conservation and the reduction of urban sprawl...
into a restaurant, are concealed from view and designed so as not to detract from the house's overall character.
Much of the original fenestration
Window
A window is a transparent or translucent opening in a wall or door that allows the passage of light and, if not closed or sealed, air and sound. Windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent material like float glass. Windows are held in place by frames, which...
and ornamentation
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
remains. Newer additions, such as a wrought-iron
Wrought iron
thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
spiral staircase
Spiral staircase
Spiral staircase may refer to:* A type of stairway characterized by its spiral shape* The Spiral Staircase , a 1946 American psychological thriller film* The Spiral Staircase , a 1975 British film, a remake of the 1946 film...
between the veranda and the second floor has, as with the additions, been designed to be sympathetic with what already exists.
Outbuildings
Three other buildings share Plumbush's lot. One, the former wood house, remains true enough to its original design to be considered a contributing resourceContributing 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...
. Its roof comes to a cupola
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
that itself has a flat roof. The interior has been substantially renovated so that it serves as a residence.
The former carriage house
Carriage house
A carriage house, also called remise or coach house, is an outbuilding which was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and the related tack.In Great Britain the farm building was called a Cart Shed...
, which now serves as a garage
Garage (house)
A residential garage is part of a home, or an associated building, designed or used for storing a vehicle or vehicles. In some places the term is used synonymously with "carport", though that term normally describes a structure that is not completely enclosed.- British residential garages:Those...
is probably original to the property but has undergone extensive renovation and no longer retains its original integrity. A larger house near the rear of the property was built in the mid-20th century.
Aesthetic
Harney built the house along PicturesquePicturesque
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...
lines, suggested by patterns in books by the influential Andrew Jackson Downing
Andrew 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 lived in Newburgh
Newburgh (city), New York
Newburgh is a city located in Orange County, New York, United States, north of New York City, and south of Albany, on the Hudson River. Newburgh is a principal city of the Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown metropolitan area, which includes all of Dutchess and Orange counties. The Newburgh area was...
, just up the river, until his death in an 1852 steamboat explosion. Although only one building by Downing survives, his pattern books influenced many mid-19th century Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
and Carpenter Gothic
Carpenter Gothic
Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic, and Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massing applied to wooden structures built by house-carpenters...
cottages in the Hudson Valley
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...
and elsewhere.
Downing advocated rural cottages that were harmonious with the local natural environment, a "local fitness and an intimate relationship with the soil it stands upon" rather than challenging it as the blocky Federal and Greek Revival
Greek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
homes of the earlier century had. Harney carefully adapted the house to the site, in accordance with Downing's philosophies, putting the veranda next to a grove of trees and making sure the nearby Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
and the Hudson Highlands
Hudson Highlands
The Hudson Highlands are mountains on both sides of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York, between Newburgh Bay and Haverstraw Bay, which form the northern region of the New York - New Jersey Highlands....
beyond could be seen from the upper windows.
The house itself shows Downing's influence in the irregularity and asymmetry of its three main blocks. The varied rooflines, truncated and cross gables, large veranda and chimney
Chimney
A chimney is a structure for venting hot flue gases or smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. Chimneys are typically vertical, or as near as possible to vertical, to ensure that the gases flow smoothly, drawing air into the combustion in what is known as the...
s decorated with medieval crosses are also found in many of Downing's patterns.
In 1870 Harney published a book of his own, Barns, Outbuildings and Fences, with the original plans and sketches for Plumbush. His designs show the clear influence of some of the patterns shown in Downing's The Architecture of Country Houses.
History
Parrott, one of the earliest settlers of Cold Spring and a graduate of the nearby United States Military AcademyUnited States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
at West Point
West Point, New York
West Point is a federal military reservation established by President of the United States Thomas Jefferson in 1802. It is a census-designated place located in Town of Highlands in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 7,138 at the 2000 census...
, served as the foundry's inspector general
Inspector General
An Inspector General is an investigative official in a civil or military organization. The plural of the term is Inspectors General.-Bangladesh:...
for the Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
during the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. After it ended, foundry owner Gouverneur Kemble
Gouverneur Kemble
Gouverneur Kemble was a two-term United States Congressman, diplomat and industrialist. He helped found the West Point Foundry, a major producer of artillery during the American Civil War....
persuaded him to resign from the Army and take over as superintendent of the foundry.
He married Kemble's sister and moved into Plumbush. After his death in 1877, little is known of Plumbush' history or ownership until the restaurant was opened in 1971.