.gif)
Woodlawn Farm (Slate Hill, New York)
Encyclopedia
Woodlawn Farm, sometimes known as the Wood Homestead, is located on Mount Orange Road, a short distance north of Slate Hill
, New York
, United States
. It is centered by a three-section farmhouse whose materials date to the mid-18th century, making it one of the oldest buildings in the Town of Wawayanda
. In 2008 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
It has undergone extensive renovation and reconstruction since its original construction, some incorporating elements of architectural style
s of the later 19th century. Its residents, many of whom lived in the house for years, have primarily been from two different families, including the descendants of the original builder. Many have also been active in local affairs and served in political office. Woodlawn Farm has thus played an important role in the history of Slate Hill.
gable
-roofed clapboard
-sided 28-by-25-foot (8.5 by 7.6 m) unit with wraparound veranda on the south and west sides. All the windows have louver
ed shutter
s, with those on the main block larger than the other two sections. The roof has patterned cement
-asbestos
shingles
and a brick chimney
.
The center and east sections are smaller two-by-two-bay two-story buildings with rolled asphalt
roofs, progressively lower in height. Another chimney rises from the east block, currently used as a kitchen. A chimney on the center block has been largely dismantled.
Inside, the main block has a side-hall, double-parlor plan, suggesting it was built as the Federal style was becoming popular in the late 18th century. Some of the decorative
touches, such as woodwork and door paneling, are in keeping with the Greek Revival
era and an extensive renovation around that time. In the center section, believed to be the oldest, the two open areas and cooking fireplace are consistent with the late 18th century. A library
and bay window
were added during the 19th century. Its upper story is used for bedrooms.
The east block, the smallest and newest, serves as the kitchen with a large brick mass separating it from the cooking areas in the center block. Its upper story is unfinished.
Two outbuildings are considered contributing resources
to the farm's historic character. A large barn
with gabled roof is to the north, near the carport, and a frame privy
with gabled, asphalt-shingled roof, four-paneled door and novelty siding.
used are not consistent with that period. They, and the overall plan, are more suggestive of a circa-1790 construction date. Richard Wood, the first known occupant of the house, did not settle it until 1772. His house was used for early meetings of the nearby Primitive Baptist Church of Brookfield
until the church that still bears that name was built in 1792. The main block was probably added around this time.
While the house itself may not be as old as believed, some of its materials may. In 2002, during the most recent renovation of the house, notched hand-hewn timbers were found beneath the center-block bathroom floor that are more extensively used in houses on Long Island
from that era. They appear to have been reused from a previously-built home. No record or other trace exists of any earlier building on or near the site.
From Wood, the house became the property of Festus Webb, a local official, in 1796. He would reside there for the next forty years, during which the Greek Revival aspects of the main block were added. Roswell Mead, who bought it from Webb's estate, lived there until his death in 1850, serving as town supervisor
, New York State Assembly
man, and town justice during his residency. His wife and son sold the property to William Wood, Richard's grandson, in 1867.
Like his predecessors, Wood would own the house for over two decades, and distinguish himself in local politics as a supervisor, a position he held for 14 years. It is likely that he put the east wing on the house, due to the Italianate
touches on it. He built the current barn in 1888 when the original one burned down
. He also branched out from farming into industry, damming a nearby stream to create the now-drained Crescent Lake. He built a gristmill
, ice house and the Springbrook Hat Factory, using wild teasel
from his fields to card
the wool
. None of these buildings remain, but their existence is attested by period photographs.
He transferred the property to his daughter Minnie in 1900. Under her ownership, the property became more valuable as real estate
than as farmland. She subdivided
it into 18 lots, reducing the family plot to today's 20 acres (8 ha) around the house and fronting on the road. Her son LeRoy inherited it when she died in 1945, then sold it to Dr. Frank Myers Jr. a year later.
Myers, who lived at Woodlawn until 1986, was also active in community affairs. He chaired the Department of Medicine at Middletown
's Horton Memorial Hospital for 22 years, serving for part of that time as chief of staff, while maintaining his local practice. He was the town's health officer, and also played a part in establishing the Minisink Valley Central School District
. His son and daughter-in-law have lived there since then.
of the mid-18th century. The center block's two-by-two-bay shape is common among older houses in Orange County
built by settlers of English descent, especially in the Town of Montgomery
. Most were expanded with only one wing, or with an additional bay or two. The two separate blocks added on and heavily modified in later eras represent a distinctive record of the changes in architectural taste among the region's prosperous landowners.
Slate Hill, New York
Slate Hill is one of the eight hamlets found in the town of Wawayanda, New York. It is home to the Minisink Valley Central School District. Slate Hill is found in Orange County, New York, one of the fastest growing counties in the state...
, 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 is centered by a three-section farmhouse whose materials date to the mid-18th century, making it one of the oldest buildings in the Town of Wawayanda
Wawayanda, New York
Wawayanda is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 7,024 as recorded by the 2006 census.The Town of Wawayanda is in the western part of the county, south of Middletown.-History:...
. In 2008 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 undergone extensive renovation and reconstruction since its original construction, some incorporating elements of 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...
s of the later 19th century. Its residents, many of whom lived in the house for years, have primarily been from two different families, including the descendants of the original builder. Many have also been active in local affairs and served in political office. Woodlawn Farm has thus played an important role in the history of Slate Hill.
Property
The main farmhouse is a combination of three structures erected during different eras. The main (west) block, closest to the road, is a two-and-a-half-story three-by-two-bayBay (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:...
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...
-roofed 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...
-sided 28-by-25-foot (8.5 by 7.6 m) unit with wraparound veranda on the south and west sides. All the windows have louver
Louver
A louver or louvre , from the French l'ouvert; "the open one") is a window, blind or shutter with horizontal slats that are angled to admit light and air, but to keep out rain, direct sunshine, and noise...
ed shutter
Shutter
Shutter may refer to:Windows:*Window shutter, a solid window covering used to block light and winds*Plantation Shutters/Jigsaw Shutters, interior wooden louvred shutters to control heat, light and privacy...
s, with those on the main block larger than the other two sections. The roof has patterned cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
-asbestos
Asbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
shingles
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...
and a brick 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...
.
The center and east sections are smaller two-by-two-bay two-story buildings with rolled asphalt
Asphalt
Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
roofs, progressively lower in height. Another chimney rises from the east block, currently used as a kitchen. A chimney on the center block has been largely dismantled.
Inside, the main block has a side-hall, double-parlor plan, suggesting it was built as the Federal style was becoming popular in the late 18th century. Some of the decorative
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...
touches, such as woodwork and door paneling, are in keeping with the 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...
era and an extensive renovation around that time. In the center section, believed to be the oldest, the two open areas and cooking fireplace are consistent with the late 18th century. A library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
and 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...
were added during the 19th century. Its upper story is used for bedrooms.
The east block, the smallest and newest, serves as the kitchen with a large brick mass separating it from the cooking areas in the center block. Its upper story is unfinished.
Two outbuildings are considered contributing resources
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...
to the farm's historic character. A large barn
Barn
A barn is an agricultural building used for storage and as a covered workplace. It may sometimes be used to house livestock or to store farming vehicles and equipment...
with gabled roof is to the north, near the carport, and a frame privy
Outhouse
An outhouse is a small structure separate from a main building which often contained a simple toilet and may possibly also be used for housing animals and storage.- Terminology :...
with gabled, asphalt-shingled roof, four-paneled door and novelty siding.
History
Local lore dates the building's center block to 1765, when Benjamin Whitaker owned what was then a 129 acres (52.2 ha) property but the hand-hewn timbers visible in the basement, and the finishesWood finishing
Wood finishing refers to the process of embellishing and/or protecting the surface of a wooden material. The process starts with surface preparation, either by sanding by hand , scraping, or planing. Imperfections or nail holes on the surface may be filled using wood putty or pores may be filled...
used are not consistent with that period. They, and the overall plan, are more suggestive of a circa-1790 construction date. Richard Wood, the first known occupant of the house, did not settle it until 1772. His house was used for early meetings of the nearby Primitive Baptist Church of Brookfield
Primitive Baptist Church of Brookfield
The Primitive Baptist Church of Brookfield, also known as the Old School Baptist Meeting House, is located along US 6 in Slate Hill, New York, USA, a hamlet of the Town of Wawayanda in Orange County. It was built in 1792, when the settlement was known as Brookfield...
until the church that still bears that name was built in 1792. The main block was probably added around this time.
While the house itself may not be as old as believed, some of its materials may. In 2002, during the most recent renovation of the house, notched hand-hewn timbers were found beneath the center-block bathroom floor that are more extensively used in houses on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
from that era. They appear to have been reused from a previously-built home. No record or other trace exists of any earlier building on or near the site.
From Wood, the house became the property of Festus Webb, a local official, in 1796. He would reside there for the next forty years, during which the Greek Revival aspects of the main block were added. Roswell Mead, who bought it from Webb's estate, lived there until his death in 1850, serving as town supervisor
Town supervisor
Town Supervisor is an elective legislative position in New York towns. Supervisors sit on the town board, where they preside over town board meetings and vote on all matters with no more legal weight than that of any other board member .Towns may adopt local laws that allow them to provide for an...
, New York State Assembly
New York State Assembly
The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652...
man, and town justice during his residency. His wife and son sold the property to William Wood, Richard's grandson, in 1867.
Like his predecessors, Wood would own the house for over two decades, and distinguish himself in local politics as a supervisor, a position he held for 14 years. It is likely that he put the east wing on the house, due to 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...
touches on it. He built the current barn in 1888 when the original one burned down
Structure fire
A structure fire is a fire involving the structural components of various residential buildings ranging from single-family detached homes and townhouses to apartments and tower blocks, or various commercial buildings ranging from offices to shopping malls...
. He also branched out from farming into industry, damming a nearby stream to create the now-drained Crescent Lake. He built a gristmill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
, ice house and the Springbrook Hat Factory, using wild teasel
Dipsacus
Dipsacus is a genus of flowering plant in the family Dipsacaceae. The members of this genus are known as teasel or teazel or teazle. The genus includes about 15 species of tall herbaceous biennial plants growing to tall...
from his fields to card
Carding
Carding is a mechanical process that breaks up locks and unorganised clumps of fibre and then aligns the individual fibres so that they are more or less parallel with each other. The word is derived from the Latin carduus meaning teasel, as dried vegetable teasels were first used to comb the raw wool...
the wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
. None of these buildings remain, but their existence is attested by period photographs.
He transferred the property to his daughter Minnie in 1900. Under her ownership, the property became more valuable as real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
than as farmland. She subdivided
Subdivision (land)
Subdivision is the act of dividing land into pieces that are easier to sell or otherwise develop, usually via a plat. The former single piece as a whole is then known in the United States as a subdivision...
it into 18 lots, reducing the family plot to today's 20 acres (8 ha) around the house and fronting on the road. Her son LeRoy inherited it when she died in 1945, then sold it to Dr. Frank Myers Jr. a year later.
Myers, who lived at Woodlawn until 1986, was also active in community affairs. He chaired the Department of Medicine at Middletown
Middletown, Orange County, New York
Middletown is a city in Orange County, New York, United States. It lies in New York's Hudson Valley region, near the Wallkill River and the foothills of the Shawangunk Mountains. Middletown is situated between Port Jervis and Newburgh, New York. The city's population was 25,388 at the 2000 census...
's Horton Memorial Hospital for 22 years, serving for part of that time as chief of staff, while maintaining his local practice. He was the town's health officer, and also played a part in establishing the Minisink Valley Central School District
Minisink Valley Central School District
The Minisink Valley Central School District is a unified school district in Orange County, New York. The district consists of five schools; an elementary, intermediate, middle, and high school, which are all located in the township of Wawayanda, New York and the Otisville Elementary school, located...
. His son and daughter-in-law have lived there since then.
Aesthetics
The original blocks of the Woodlawn Farm house are representative of English colonial building traditionsVernacular architecture
Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs and circumstances. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it...
of the mid-18th century. The center block's two-by-two-bay shape is common among older houses in Orange County
Orange County, New York
Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area and is located at the northern reaches of the New York metropolitan area. The county sits in the state's scenic Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley...
built by settlers of English descent, especially in the Town of Montgomery
Montgomery (town), New York
Montgomery is a town in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 20,891 at the 2000 census. It was named in honor of Richard Montgomery, an American Revolutionary War general killed in 1775 at the Battle of Quebec....
. Most were expanded with only one wing, or with an additional bay or two. The two separate blocks added on and heavily modified in later eras represent a distinctive record of the changes in architectural taste among the region's prosperous landowners.