Van Alen House


The Luykas Van Alen House is a historic Dutch Colonial farmhouse at 2589 New York State Route 9H in the town of Kinderhook, Columbia County, New York. Built about 1737 and enlarged about 1750, it is one of the finest surviving examples of Dutch colonial architecture in upstate New York. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1967. It is now a historic house museum operated by the Columbia County Historical Society, open for tours on weekends from June to October.

Description and history

The Van Alen House is located in a rural setting of the upper Hudson River valley, on the west side New York 9H, about south of its junction with US 9. It is a 1-1/2 story brick structure, with a steeply pitched gabled roof. It has three chimneys, one at each gable end, and one between two of the three rooms that make up the ground floor. The brick is laid in a typical Dutch style, with the gables also finished in brick. The gable lines differ from typical urban Dutch architecture of the period by being straight lines, rather than stepped or curved. The house's three rooms each have separate entrances, with reproduction sash windows beside them. The interior retains a number of features original to its construction or later alteration, but some features have been brought in from similar period houses.
THe house was built about 1737 by Luykas Van Alen, who purchased the land from Native Americans. As built then it was just two rooms, with no internal connection between them, and a sleeping loft above. The third room was added about 1750. The house remained in the hands of the Van Alen family until 1961, undergoing numerous alterations before falling into disrepair. It was given by them to the Columbia County Historical Society, which undertook a complete restoration. It is now operated by them as a historic house museum showing 18th century Dutch Colonial life.
The Van Alen House and its farm are believed to have served as the inspiration for homestead of the Van Tassel family in Washington Irving's short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Irving was a close friend of Kinderhook native Martin Van Buren, a neighbor of the Van Alens and a frequent guest in the town.
This property was a location scene in the 1993 Martin Scorsese film, "The Age of Innocence" starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Daniel Day-Lewis.