The John A. Hartford House, now known as Hartford Hall, is a historic house on the campus of
Westchester Community College
Westchester Community College (WCC) is a public community college in Valhalla, New York, in Westchester County. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system.
History
New York Institute of Applied Arts and Sciences becomes West ...
. It was built in 1930–32 by
John A. Hartford (1872–1951), company president of the
Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, was an American chain of grocery stores that operated from 1859 to 2015. From 1915 through 1975, A&P was the largest grocery retailer in the United States (and, until 1965, the lar ...
(A&P). The house was designated 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 ...
in 1977 for its association with Hartford, who oversaw the rise of A&P into the nation's first national chain grocer.
[ and ] The building now houses the office of the college president, among other uses.
Description and history
The John A. Hartford House stands on the campus of Westchester Community College, located west of the village of Valhalla. The college is located on a portion of the original Hartford country estate. The house is a large Tudor Revival structure, designed by Mann and MacNeille, an architecture firm from
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
,
and completed in 1932. It is stories in height, built mainly out of fieldstone and covered by a slate hip roof. The stone is laid in rough courses, with wooden beams interrupting some of them. Red brick chimneys with corbelled tops dot the structure. The interior is finished with rich woodwork, marble, and plasterwork. Despite the building's adaptation to institutional use, it retains some feeling of a home, and still includes some of John Hartford's furnishings.
John Hartford purchased over of land in 1930 from Joseph Daly, a New York lawyer who had used the estate for breeding horses. Hartford had the house built, along with other trappings of a country estate, including a nine-hole golf course. Of Hartford's estate buildings, only the house and a greenhouse survive. Hartford is considered by historians of business to be the principal force in the expansion of A&P to national scope; the company was founded in 1859, but its expansion took place in between 1910 and 1930, with Hartford and his brother
George
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presid ...
at the corporate helm.
After Hartford died in 1951, the property was controlled by the
John A. Hartford Foundation
The John A. Hartford Foundation (JAHF or the Hartford Foundation) is a private United States-based philanthropy whose current mission is to improve the care of older adults. For many years, it made grants for research and education in geriatric me ...
, which leased it to
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
for use in a forestry program.
In 1957, the foundation sold the property to the county at a discounted price, for use as an educational facility. The county had been seeking a home for the community college, whose administration it had taken over from the state.
[
]
See also
*List of National Historic Landmarks in New York
This is a list of National Historic Landmarks and comparable other historic sites designated by the U.S. government in the U.S. state of New York. The United States National Historic Landmark (NHL) program operates under the auspices of the Nat ...
*
References
External links
Valhalla Campus: A Little History, Westchester Community College
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartford, John, House
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)
National Historic Landmarks in New York (state)
National Register of Historic Places in Westchester County, New York
Houses completed in 1930
Houses in Westchester County, New York