The Edward Harden Mansion, also known as Broad Oaks, is a historic home located on North Broadway (
U.S. Route 9
U.S. Route 9 (US 9) is a north–south United States highway in the states of Delaware, New Jersey, and New York in the Northeastern United States. It is one of only two U.S. Highways with a ferry connection (the Cape May–Lewes Ferry, between ...
) in
Sleepy Hollow, New York, United States, on the boundary between it and neighboring
Tarrytown
Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North Hu ...
. It is a brick building in the
Georgian Revival
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover— George I, George II, Ge ...
style
Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to:
* Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable
* Design, the process of creating something
* Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...
designed by
Hunt & Hunt
Richard Howland Hunt (March 14, 1862 – July 12, 1931) was an American architect and member of the Hunt family of Vermont who worked with his brother Joseph Howland Hunt in New York City at Hunt & Hunt.
The brothers were sons of Richard Mor ...
in the early 20th century, one of the few mansions left of many that lined Broadway in the era it was built. Also on the property is a
wood frame
Framing, in construction, is the fitting together of pieces to give a structure support and shape. Framing materials are usually wood, engineered wood, or structural steel. The alternative to framed construction is generally called ''mass wal ...
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 ...
that predates it slightly.
[
''Note:'' This includes
an]
''Accompanying four photographs''
/ref> Both buildings were listed on 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 2003.
Edward Harden had earned fame and fortune as the ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'' reporter who broke the story of Admiral George Dewey
George Dewey (December 26, 1837January 16, 1917) was Admiral of the Navy, the only person in United States history to have attained that rank. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War, with ...
's victory in the Battle of Manila Bay
The Battle of Manila Bay ( fil, Labanan sa Look ng Maynila; es, Batalla de BahÃa de Manila), also known as the Battle of Cavite, took place on 1 May 1898, during the Spanish–American War. The American Asiatic Squadron under Commodore ...
. He later left journalism for finance, and after earning a seat on the New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...
commissioned the house. Shortly after it was built, he allowed part of the home to be used for a new kindergarten
Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th ce ...
that was the first Montessori school
The Montessori method of education involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing real-world skills. It emphasizes indepen ...
in the U.S. The Harden family later moved to nearby Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
. It was used as a home for retired seamstresses and, in the middle of the century, sold to the local school district, which continues to use it as its main offices today.
Building
The mansion is located atop a small hill on the east side of Broadway, adjacent to Patriot's Park
Patriot's Park (originally referred to as Brookside Park) is located on U.S. Route 9 along the boundary between Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is a four-acre (1.6-ha) parcel with a walkway and se ...
, listed on the Register as the site where John André was captured during the Revolutionary War, exposing Benedict Arnold's espionage for the British. On the east property line is the Old Croton Aqueduct
The Croton Aqueduct or Old Croton Aqueduct was a large and complex water distribution system constructed for New York City between 1837 and 1842. The great aqueducts, which were among the first in the United States, carried water by gravity from ...
, a National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
. The house straddles the municipal boundary between Sleepy Hollow and neighboring Tarrytown. It and the park are the transitional area between the densely developed downtown sections of the two communities, to the west, and residential areas to the east, marked by tall mature trees sheltering houses on large lots. Sleepy Hollow High School
Sleepy means feeling a need for sleep, also known as somnolence. It may also refer to: People
* Sleepy (rapper) (born 1984), a South Korean rapper part of the hip hop duo Untouchable
* Sleepy Bill Burns (1880–1953), American baseball player
* ...
and the district's middle school are to the north and the elementary John Paulding School is to the south. A drive leads up from Broadway, curving south to a parking lot to the southwest. Another large parking lot is in the rear.
The main house itself is a brick-faced nine-by-five- bay structure, two and a half stories tall with dormer window
A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window.
Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable spac ...
s and brick chimneys piercing its hip roof
A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...
. On the north and south end are two-story, three-bay flat-roofed wings faced in decorative woodwork. A one-story service wing is on the rear, and an open porch on a stonework foundation with an iron railing runs along the ground floor of the west (front) facade, wrapping around both porches.
All windows on the seven bays of the main block's west facade are double-hung sash
A sash is a large and usually colorful ribbon or band of material worn around the body, either draping from one shoulder to the opposing hip and back up, or else running around the waist. The sash around the waist may be worn in daily attire, bu ...
, 20-over-1 on the first floor (except for modern, narrower one-over-one on the northwest corner) and 15-over-15 upstairs. Some have projecting window air conditioner units. They have marble sills and splayed brick lintels with marble keystones. Recessed panels are worked into the brick between the two stories; the corners are quoined. At the roofline is a modillioned, dentilled cornice. The small six-over-six double-hung sash in the five dormers are topped with pediment
Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape.
Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds.
A pedim ...
ed gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
s.
From the center of the south facade the porch projects. It is a three-by-three-bay two-story wooden extension with a flat roof. Corner pilaster
In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...
s support a frieze
In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
with molded dentils. On the first story all windows are small six-over-six double-hung sash, replacing the original French window
A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide security by ...
s. They are within semicircular arches supported by paneled pilasters. On the second floor the 12-over-12 double-hung sash form balconet
Balconet or balconette is an architectural term to describe a false balcony, or railing at the outer plane of a window-opening reaching to the floor, and having, when the window is open, the appearance of a balcony. They are common in France, Por ...
tes. Above it three more gabled dormers pierce the roof. The north porch is similar but smaller, recessed slightly into the corner. Both porches are flanked on the main block by windows with the same treatment as the corresponding windows on the west facade. On the northeast corner, the service wing has a flat roof, windows in a variety of configurations, and an entrance porch.
The east facade runs the full nine bays since it includes the rear of the north porch. Its windows are the same as the others on the house. In its center is a recessed three-bay two-story entrance porch, the house's original front entrance, creating three-bay flanking pavilion
In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings:
* It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...
s with two smooth columns on either side supported by sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
Composite
Composite or compositing may refer to:
Materials
* Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances
** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts
** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic materials
...
capitals. In the center bay the entrance has its original stained wooden single-panel door with narrow pilasters and leaded glass sidelights and transom
Transom may refer to:
* Transom (architecture), a bar of wood or stone across the top of a door or window, or the window above such a bar
* Transom (nautical), that part of the stern of a vessel where the two sides of its hull meet
* Operation Tran ...
.
Similar columns flank the west entrance, which is topped by a single-bay pedimented segmental-arched porch. The door itself has been replaced with a modern one; its overhead transom has been filled in as well. It opens into a large entrance hall with a staircase reported to have been brought from a genuine Colonial house in Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. The walls that once separated the dining room on the north and drawing room
A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained, and an alternative name for a living room. The name is derived from the 16th-century terms withdrawing room and withdrawing chamber, which remained in use through the 17th cent ...
on the south have been removed. Many original finishes remain, such as the plaster walls and ceilings; wood, plaster and marble fireplace mantel
The fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a fire grate to catch the smoke. The term has evolved to include the decorative framework around the fireplace, and ca ...
s and black walnut
A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''.
Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...
woodwork in other places. The bathrooms upstairs retain their white tile floors.
The carriage house is a one-and-a-half-story wood-frame building at the northeast corner of the property. It has a clipped gable roof, bracketed eave
The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...
s and a small cupola
In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome.
The word derives, via Italian, from ...
. Its windows are double-hung sash in a variety of configurations.
History
In 1898, then 29-year-old ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'' business editor Edward Harden was riding along on the USS ''Hugh McCulloch'', a revenue cutter
A cutter is a type of watercraft. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan) of a sailing vessel (but with regional differences in definition), to a governmental enforcement agency vessel (such as a coast guard or bor ...
, when it was summoned to join the Asiatic Squadron
The Asiatic Squadron was a squadron of United States Navy warships stationed in East Asia during the latter half of the 19th century. It was created in 1868 when the East India Squadron was disbanded. Vessels of the squadron were primarily invo ...
under the command of Commodore George Dewey
George Dewey (December 26, 1837January 16, 1917) was Admiral of the Navy, the only person in United States history to have attained that rank. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War, with ...
, as the Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (clock ...
broke out. He was one of three reporters who witnessed Dewey's victory in the Battle of Manila Bay
The Battle of Manila Bay ( fil, Labanan sa Look ng Maynila; es, Batalla de BahÃa de Manila), also known as the Battle of Cavite, took place on 1 May 1898, during the Spanish–American War. The American Asiatic Squadron under Commodore ...
, the first by the U.S. Navy over a foreign fleet since the War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
. From Hong Kong he was able to scoop
Scoop, Scoops or The scoop may refer to:
Objects
* Scoop (tool), a shovel-like tool, particularly one deep and curved, used in digging
* Scoop (machine part), a component of machinery to carry things
* Scoop stretcher, a device used for casualty ...
the other two by paying the telegraph operator with a bag of gold to expedite the dispatch to his paper. It reached the United States ahead of Dewey's official report, which had been sent first, and even President William McKinley
William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...
found out when the ''Tribune'''s editor awoke him with the news.
Seven years later, after service as a special commissioner in the Philippines and editor of the '' Chicago Journal'', he left journalism for finance and business. He was successful enough as a stock trader to earn a seat on the New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...
, and married Ruth Vanderlip, sister of Frank Vanderlip
Frank Arthur Vanderlip Sr. (November 17, 1864 – June 30, 1937) was an American banker and journalist. He was president of the National City Bank of New York (now Citibank) from 1909 to 1919, and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury from 1 ...
, Assistant Treasury Secretary during the Spanish–American War and later president of National City Bank. The couple and their children were drawn to the Tarrytowns, where many other prominent wealthy families of the time lived.
They commissioned Hunt & Hunt
Richard Howland Hunt (March 14, 1862 – July 12, 1931) was an American architect and member of the Hunt family of Vermont who worked with his brother Joseph Howland Hunt in New York City at Hunt & Hunt.
The brothers were sons of Richard Morr ...
, a firm run by the sons of Richard Morris Hunt
Richard Morris Hunt (October 31, 1827 – July 31, 1895) was an American architect of the nineteenth century and an eminent figure in the history of American architecture. He helped shape New York City with his designs for the 1902 entrance faà ...
, to design the house in what was then known as North Tarrytown, in 1909. Harden bought four acres (), which included the carriage house, likely built for a predecessor house. The architects chose the new Georgian Revival
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover— George I, George II, Ge ...
style for the building, which was widely covered by New York and Chicago newspapers. Harden was aware of the Revolutionary-era history of the nearby land, and may have chosen an 18th-century revival style to reflect this. He collected memorabilia related to John André, a collection held today by the Tarrytown Historical Society, and later bought the land for use as a public park.
After two years at the mansion, the school was moved to the Vanderlips' property in nearby Briarcliff Manor
Briarcliff Manor () is a suburban village in Westchester County, New York, north of New York City. It is on of land on the east bank of the Hudson River, geographically shared by the towns of Mount Pleasant and Ossining. Briarcliff Manor inc ...
, where it became the Scarborough School
The Scarborough Day School was a private school in Scarborough-on-Hudson, in Briarcliff Manor, New York. Frank and Narcissa Cox Vanderlip established the school in 1913 at their estate, Beechwood. The school, a nonsectarian nonprofit college prep ...
. Among its later students were some of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
's grandchildren. The Hardens, too, moved to Scarborough in 1926, supposedly finding Broadway had become "too noisy". It was sold to the estate of Margaret Howard, an Irish immigrant who had become a millionaire dressmaker in New York. She had directed in her will
Will may refer to:
Common meanings
* Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death
* Will (philosophy), or willpower
* Will (sociology)
* Will, volition (psychology)
* Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will
...
that a large amount of money be used to purchase and maintain a home for retired seamstress
A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes custom clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician.
Nota ...
es like those who had worked for her, an unusual idea at the time. Two years after the sale, in 1928, the Sisters of Mercy
The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...
managed the home as the first residents moved in.
The seamstresses kept busy, sewing uniforms for American troops during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Ten years after the war, in 1955, the house was sold to the Union Free School District of the Tarrytowns, which converted it slightly. The mansion to the north had already been used as the basis for a private boys' school, the building that is now Sleepy Hollow High School. Later the southern mansion became John Paulding School, named for one of the local militiamen
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
who had apprehended André nearby. The district has continued to use it as its administration building.
See also
*
References
{{National Register of Historic Places in New York
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)
Georgian Revival architecture in New York (state)
Houses completed in 1909
U.S. Route 9
Montessori education
Houses in Westchester County, New York
Sleepy Hollow, New York
Tarrytown, New York
People from Briarcliff Manor, New York
National Register of Historic Places in Westchester County, New York