The Maples (Rhinebeck, New York)

The Maples is a historic house located on 108 Montgomery Street in Rhinebeck, New York. It was built in the 1830s in the Greek Revival style. Three decades later, its exterior was remodeled, adding decoration in the picturesque mode.

The Maples
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Front facade of The Maples
Location in New York Show map of New York Location in United States Show map of the United States
Location	Rhinebeck, New York
Nearest city	Kingston
Coordinates	41°56′09″N 73°54′55″W
Area	1.7 acres (6,900 m^2)
Built	1833[1]
Architectural style	Greek Revival
MPS	Rhinebeck Town MRA
NRHP reference No.	87001092
Added to NRHP	August 17, 2019

For decades, The Maples was used as medical offices. When the medical offices closed, the building was listed for sale, but remained empty for three years, falling into despair. In 2017, new owners purchased The Maples and began an extensive renovation, transforming the building into professional office suites.

Front porch entrance

In 1987, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Property

The Maples is located on a grassy 1.7-acre (6,900 m²) lot with tall shade trees in the northern portion of the village, just across from the hospital complex. A shed is in the rear, and a stone wall runs along the front. Both are considered contributing resources to its listing on the National Register.[1]

Design

The main house is a two-story, five-bay frame building on a raised fieldstone foundation. The gabled metallic roof has cornice returns and is pierced by four chimneys at the corners. The eastern (front) facade has a full-length flat-roofed veranda with cornice bracketry and scroll-sawn segmentally-arched knee braces. Small Palladian windows are located in the gable apexes on the north and south, with two quarter-round attic windows on either side.[1]

On the west is a large two-story wing that was added later. It has a gabled roof of lower pitch than the main block, and bracketed cornices on the north and south elevations. A small one-story shed-roofed wing projects from the north.[1]

The main entrance is a centrally located, recessed and paneled door flanked by fluted pilasters with Doric capitals. It leads to a center hallway where some original trim remains, including a late Federal mantelpiece in the southeast parlor and original woodwork on the windows. A curving staircase, also original, leads to the second story. Most of the interior has been remodeled into office space and examining rooms.[1]

Outside, the shed to the southwest is a flushboard and clapboard-sided one-story frame building. Its gabled roof is trimmed with a scalloped pattern. The stone wall in front with central gate posts is an original feature.[1]

History

Little in the historical record describes the house's builders and original owners. Local tradition has it that a farmhouse stood there in the early 19th century when it was sold to a Jeffrey H. Champlin. The house's construction date is established by its cornerstone. In 1850, a map of Rhinebeck shows Champlin still owning the house.[1]

In 1867, H. E. Welcher was listed as the owner. It is believed that he was responsible for the exterior renovations, a common trend in Rhinebeck at the time. Among the documented later owners was William Vincent Astor, father of John Jacob Astor. A circa 1833 Greek Revival building[2] listed on National Register is located in Rhinebeck village.

"We aren't sure when Jeffrey Hazard moved from Rhode Island to Dutchess County, New York. His father, Thomas, is said to have moved there sometime after 1878, which would have been before the end of the War when Jeffrey was still a youngster. Some records claim that Jeffrey's twins, George and Ellis, were born in Rhode Island, which would mean he was still there in 1802. Other records say they were born in Rhinebeck, New York, where they family settled and lived out their days.[2] That suggests he could have moved to New York many years earlier."

Jeffrey Hazard was about 23 years old when he married Delight Wilbour (Wilbur or Wilbor). Again, records conflict about whether Delight and her younger sister Prudence were born in Rhode Island or Dutchess County. Delight died in 1795, the year after the marriage. It is possible her death was related to childbirth. The following year, Jeffrey married her sister Prudence.

Jeffrey and Prudence's first baby was a boy, named Hazard. He fathered nine children and lived to age 72. When Hazard was 2½, a baby sister was born, named Delight, presumably after Prudence's late sister. Three and a half years later, in November 1802, twins George and Allis joined the family. A brother John was born in 1808.

The following account comes from Bob Champlin: "Jeffrey became a wealthy man in Rhinebeck and was made a Trustee of the Rhinebeck Methodist Church on June 2, 1829 ... In the late 1700s, [he] built an estate referred to over the years first as the 'Old Homestead' and later as 'The Maples'. The property was located along the Old Post Road north of the village and consisted of 135 to 150 acres plus the mansion. Jeffrey sold it to Mr. Upton, who in turn sold it to Henry Welcher, who sold it to John van Wagner, who sold it to John Woods, who sold it to John Wilbour Champlin (son of Jeffrey). The property then passed from the Champlins' hands for good when John sold it to Griffen Hoffman. He sold the land to Mr. Ingalls, who later sold it back to him. Hoffman then sold the property to Astor.[3] At some point, between Astor's death and Lorenzo Decker's death, the property was sold to Decker, who died there on September 28, 1900.

When the five Hazard children reached adulthood Hazard married Mary Ann Plass, and George married Susan Underwood. Both Delight and Allis married men whose last names were Champlin. John married Jane Van Allen and later bought back the family estate.

Political journalist Richard Rovere owned The Maples and raised his family there. He wrote his monthly New Yorkercolumn there from 1944 until his death.

References

1. Todd, Nancy (September 1986). "National Register of Historic Places nomination, The Maples". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved May 31, 2009.
2. "A Rhinebeck Property With Legendary Ties". North of NYC. 2015-09-22. Retrieved 2019-09-16.
3. Section 22, Portion of Dutchess County, 1891 Map by Watson & Co.