Bush-Lyon Homestead is a historic home located at

Port Chester Port Chester is a village in the U.S. state of New York and the largest part of the town of Rye in Westchester County by population. At the 2010 U.S. census, the village of Port Chester had a population of 28,967 and was the fifth-most populou ...

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...

. The earliest part was built about 1720. It is a -story, five-by-two-bay, frame residence faced in shingles and clapboards. It has a center stone chimney. The rear kitchen wing and 1-story north wing were added about 1800 and the house given its

saltbox A saltbox house is a gable-roofed residential structure that is typically two stories in the front and one in the rear. It is a traditional New England style of home, originally timber framed, which takes its name from its resemblance to a woode ...

configuration. In the mid-19th century, the present porch was added with its

Doric order The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of c ...

piers and a 1-story, gable-roofed wing added. Also on the property are a

carriage house A carriage house, also called a remise or coach house, is an outbuilding which was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and the related tack. In Great Britain the farm building was called a cart shed. These typically were open ...

, former slave quarters, and a storage building / corn crib. The property was purchased by the village in 1925 from the Bush estate. ''See also:'' It served as headquarters for General

Israel Putnam Israel Putnam (January 7, 1718 – May 29, 1790), popularly known as "Old Put", was an American military officer and landowner who fought with distinction at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). He als ...

, 1777–1778. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1982. History of the Homestead : The home may have been built by John Lyon II, born 1693, who had considerable farm land that included the area now called Lyon Park. There is considerable evidence that the house existed before the marriage of his daughter Ruth Lyon to Abraham Bush, who made the house their homestead. It may have been occupied by one or more of John Lyon II's sons. John Lyon II's children were: John Lyon (1713-1790); Roger Lyon (1715-1797); Elizabeth (Lyon) Treadwell (1718-1772); James Lyon (1720-1804); Ruth Lyon (1724-1802). Ruth Lyon and Abraham Bush were married c.1744. They had seven children, all born at the house between 1747 and 1766. Their son Gilbert Bush (1753-1831) married Sabrina Seymour and had one daughter Mary Emeline Bush (born about 1799, died 1893), who inherited the house. Emeline married Gershom Bulkley of Port Chester, from a family of sea merchants in the area. They had seven children born in the house, all of whom pre-deceased Mary Emeline. Upon her death, questions arose as to the ownership and preservation of the home, and after a series of court hearings involving distance relatives, the house and property were purchased by the Village of Port Chester in 1925 and preserved as a park. The Port Chester Historical Society maintains its headquarters at the homestead and welcomes any visitors to tour the homestead when the homestead is open to the public.

References

External links

Website dedicated to Bush-Lyon HomesteadHistoric Bush- Lyon Homestead
Historic house museums in New York (state) Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Houses completed in 1720 Houses in Westchester County, New York Port Chester, New York National Register of Historic Places in Westchester County, New York 1720 establishments in the Province of New York Slave cabins and quarters in the United States {{NewYork-museum-stub