This old house

This is the story of an old house, a house with many stories. The names of its inhabitants from records in the town hall conjure up versions that might be or might not be real: DeMeyer, Zeilman, Kiselbrack, Whitney, Schafer. 

A recent walk-through was evocative. Built some time around 1790, in Malden-on-Hudson (formerly called Bristol), this stone-and-clapboard home was surely created by the boat builders of the era for the men and their families who worked the river. It offers original bead-board closet doors and ceilings, fireplaces, the bluestone foundation at the back of the original house, hand-hewn beams, and windows looking out to the Hudson. 

The house is simple, with restrained details. Though at its beginning it had no indoor plumbing, it was made as energy-efficient as possible for its time: fireplaces on each floor, with stone-and-plaster and horsehair walls to hold in the heat. Both staircases were originally enclosed with doors at the top and bottom. Its pair of doors on the back, side by side, lead to the outside. 

It is likely that this abode was once a two-family, and that one of the doors led to the main level and the other to the upper floors. Rumor has it that at one time, it housed as many as twelve people. 

Built on a bluestone foundation and part of Benjamin DeMeyer’s 18th-century farm, the residence on York Street is just uphill enough from the Hudson to be safe, and close enough to provide beautiful seasonal views and and lovely walks to the water’s’ edge. It was upgraded in the 1980s, when the owners used its natural stone ledge — part of a very old drainage system that prevented water from collecting by redirecting the flow on the back of the kitchen — as a starting point, they lowered the level of the floor to restore and update the French drainage by adding five tons of gravel, a vapor barrier, and the bluestone floor. An underground stone wall allows the benefits of a thermal heating and cooling system. The temperature is regulated by the earth. 

The fireplaces were rebuilt. Those stewards also put in the first bathroom, and created a working kitchen, with walls of stone nearly two feet thick. 

Today, an artist lives here. The home’s heritage has been respected, despite the many updates to the plumbing and electricity, and additional comforts born of need. There’s now a sink on the top floor, and a sliding wall that creates a utilitarian addition used as the studio. The walls have been adjusted to create a third bedroom, and there’s a romantic bath.

Malden-on-Hudson is a special neighborhood, and this York Street home sits in a special spot within it. It is part of a quiet world, a private enclave for those who seek to appreciate what has been before. Watch the moon rise over the ethereal Hudson from one of the upstairs windows. It will change you.