Verbeck House
Encyclopedia
The Verbeck House is located on Church Street (NY 50
) just south of downtown Ballston Spa
, New York, United States. It is a frame
house built in the late 19th century.
It was one of the last buildings designed by regionally important architect Marcus F. Cummings
. The building is one of the few houses he designed late in his career, and one of his few in the Queen Anne
architectural style
. It retains much of its ornate period interior decorations.
In 1983 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
. It was used for a time afterwards as the National Bottle Museum
, which obtained a state matching
grant
to restore
it. The museum later moved to larger quarters in the village's downtown following a legal dispute with its parent organization. Today the house is home to some professional offices.
on the west side of the street, just south of High Street (NY 67
), partially shaded by tall trees. A parking lot has been built on the south side to serve the offices. The surrounding neighborhood is mostly residential.
It is a two-and-a-half-story, four-by-six-bay
house on a stone foundation
, mostly sided
in narrow clapboard
with bands and panels emphasizing the structural supports. The slate roof is surrounded by a modillioned cornice
. There are projecting two-story bays on the south and east, with a one-story raised balustraded porch on the east at the main entrance. Windows have decorative lintels. A corbel
ed brick chimney rises on the south end.
The main entrance is a six-panel wooden door with stained glass
sidelight and transom
. It opens onto a central hall, decorated with early Art Nouveau
style wallpaper
in an embossed floral pattern, running nearly the length of the house, giving access to parlors and other rooms paneled in cherry. A walnut staircase with turned balusters rises to the second floor. Doors at the west end of both hallways have stained glass in the pattern of the hall decoration.
On the floor, the oak in a parquet pattern is original. The house also has rare chandelier
s that can support either gas
or electric lights, functional steam radiators and an intact butler's pantry. It does not appear to have ever had any outbuildings.
, before he retired in 1891. Most of his previous houses were built before 1869, in the wake of a devastating fire in Troy, and those were in the Italianate
and Second Empire styles. His use of elements of the Queen Anne style here is a strong contrast to his earlier residential work.
Verbeck's descendants owned the house until 1978, maintaining it and its furnishings near their original state. The next year, it was donated to the Federation of Historical Bottle Clubs, and converted
into the National Bottle Museum
. In 1989, the museum obtained a $46,000 state grant
to restore the house,, repainting it in the original colors, ascertained through paint chip
analysis. The museum celebrated its ten-year anniversary in the house and the house's centenary with several events, including a bottle collectors' gathering and auction.
Three years later, during a dispute between the federation and the museum, run by the National Bottle Museum Society, the museum was evicted
. A covenant in the deed
by which the Verbecks donated the house provided that if it were not used as a museum, ownership would revert to the family. As a condition of the grant that restored the house, which required that the house continue to be used as a museum for at least 23 years, the covenant was lifted. The federation put the house on the market. It is now the offices of a local insurance agency. and financial management firm.
New York State Route 50
New York State Route 50 is a state highway in the Capital District of New York in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at an intersection with NY 5 in Scotia...
) just south of downtown Ballston Spa
Ballston Spa, New York
Ballston Spa is a village in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 5,556 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Saratoga County. The village is named after Rev. Eliphalet Ball, a Congregationalist clergyman and an early settler. The village lies on the border of two...
, New York, United States. It 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...
house built in the late 19th century.
It was one of the last buildings designed by regionally important architect Marcus F. Cummings
Marcus F. Cummings
Marcus F. Cummings was an American architect active in the Capital District region of the U.S. state of New York. Born in Utica, he later established his practice in the city of Troy, where many of his buildings are located in the Central Troy Historic District and listed on the National Register...
. The building is one of the few houses he designed late in his career, and one of his few in the Queen Anne
Queen Anne Style architecture
The Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...
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 retains much of its ornate period interior decorations.
In 1983 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 was used for a time afterwards as the National Bottle Museum
National Bottle Museum
The National Bottle Museum is located on Milton Avenue in downtown Ballston Spa, New York, United States. Established in 1978, it has a collection of around 2,000 antique bottles, most made prior to industrialization of the process in 1903...
, which obtained a state matching
Matching funds
Matching funds, a term used to describe the requirement or condition that a generally minimal amount of money or services-in-kind originate from the beneficiaries of financial amounts, usually for a purpose of charitable or public good.-Charitable causes:...
grant
Grant (money)
Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...
to restore
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
it. The museum later moved to larger quarters in the village's downtown following a legal dispute with its parent organization. Today the house is home to some professional offices.
Building
The house sits on a small 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 west side of the street, just south of High Street (NY 67
New York State Route 67
New York State Route 67 is an east–west state highway in eastern New York in the United States. The western terminus of the route is at an intersection with NY 5 in the town of St. Johnsville...
), partially shaded by tall trees. A parking lot has been built on the south side to serve the offices. The surrounding neighborhood is mostly residential.
It is a two-and-a-half-story, four-by-six-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:...
house on a stone 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:...
, mostly sided
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....
in narrow 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...
with bands and panels emphasizing the structural supports. The slate roof is surrounded by a modillioned 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...
. There are projecting two-story bays on the south and east, with a one-story raised balustraded porch on the east at the main entrance. Windows have decorative lintels. A corbel
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
ed brick chimney rises on the south end.
The main entrance is a six-panel wooden door with stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
sidelight and transom
Transom (architectural)
In architecture, a transom is the term given to a transverse beam or bar in a frame, or to the crosspiece separating a door or the like from a window or fanlight above it. Transom is also the customary U.S. word used for a transom light, the window over this crosspiece...
. It opens onto a central hall, decorated with early Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
style wallpaper
Wallpaper
Wallpaper is a kind of material used to cover and decorate the interior walls of homes, offices, and other buildings; it is one aspect of interior decoration. It is usually sold in rolls and is put onto a wall using wallpaper paste...
in an embossed floral pattern, running nearly the length of the house, giving access to parlors and other rooms paneled in cherry. A walnut staircase with turned balusters rises to the second floor. Doors at the west end of both hallways have stained glass in the pattern of the hall decoration.
On the floor, the oak in a parquet pattern is original. The house also has rare chandelier
Chandelier
A chandelier is a branched decorative ceiling-mounted light fixture with two or more arms bearing lights. Chandeliers are often ornate, containing dozens of lamps and complex arrays of glass or crystal prisms to illuminate a room with refracted light...
s that can support either gas
Gas lighting
Gas lighting is production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, including hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, or natural gas. Before electricity became sufficiently widespread and economical to allow for general public use, gas was the most...
or electric lights, functional steam radiators and an intact butler's pantry. It does not appear to have ever had any outbuildings.
History
The house was designed for James Verbeck, a prominent local attorney. It was one of the last houses built by Cummings, an architect known primarily for his commercial buildings in downtown TroyCentral Troy Historic District
The Central Troy Historic District is an irregularly-shaped, area of downtown Troy, New York, United States. It has been described as "one of the most perfectly preserved 19th-century downtowns in the [country]" with nearly 700 properties in a variety of architectural styles from the early 19th to...
, before he retired in 1891. Most of his previous houses were built before 1869, in the wake of a devastating fire in Troy, and those were in the Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
and Second Empire styles. His use of elements of the Queen Anne style here is a strong contrast to his earlier residential work.
Verbeck's descendants owned the house until 1978, maintaining it and its furnishings near their original state. The next year, it was donated to the Federation of Historical Bottle Clubs, and 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 the National Bottle Museum
National Bottle Museum
The National Bottle Museum is located on Milton Avenue in downtown Ballston Spa, New York, United States. Established in 1978, it has a collection of around 2,000 antique bottles, most made prior to industrialization of the process in 1903...
. In 1989, the museum obtained a $46,000 state grant
Grant (money)
Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...
to restore the house,, repainting it in the original colors, ascertained through paint chip
Lead paint
Lead paint or lead-based paint is paint containing lead, a heavy metal, that is used as pigment, with lead chromate and lead carbonate being the most common. Lead is also added to paint to speed drying, increase durability, retain a fresh appearance, and resist moisture that causes corrosion...
analysis. The museum celebrated its ten-year anniversary in the house and the house's centenary with several events, including a bottle collectors' gathering and auction.
Three years later, during a dispute between the federation and the museum, run by the National Bottle Museum Society, the museum was evicted
Eviction
How you doing???? Eviction is the removal of a tenant from rental property by the landlord. Depending on the laws of the jurisdiction, eviction may also be known as unlawful detainer, summary possession, summary dispossess, forcible detainer, ejectment, and repossession, among other terms...
. A covenant in the deed
Deed
A deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, or affirms or confirms something which passes, an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions sealed...
by which the Verbecks donated the house provided that if it were not used as a museum, ownership would revert to the family. As a condition of the grant that restored the house, which required that the house continue to be used as a museum for at least 23 years, the covenant was lifted. The federation put the house on the market. It is now the offices of a local insurance agency. and financial management firm.