Hart-Cluett Mansion
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The Hart-Cluett Mansion is located at 57 Second Street in
Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...
, New York, United States. It was 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 v ...
in 1973, and is a
contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...
to the
Central Troy Historic District The Central Troy Historic District is an irregularly shaped, area of downtown Troy, New York, United States. It has been described as "one of the most perfectly preserved 19th-century downtowns in the ountry with nearly 700 properties in a var ...
created in 1986. Since the 1950s it, and the Carr Building next door, has been the main office of the
Rensselaer County Historical Society The Rensselaer County Historical Society (RCHS) is a non-profit, historical society and museum, to promote the study of the history of the Rensselaer County, NY. RCHS was founded in 1927, and originally operated out of a single room in the Troy ...
, The house is open to the public as a
historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...
. Built in 1827 from a most likely created by architect
Martin E. Thompson Martin Euclid Thompson (1786–1877) was an American architect and artist prolific in nineteenth-century New York City, and a co-founder of the National Academy of Design. Landmarks Preservation Commission (New York City)br>LP-0312 October 12 ...
, of
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 ...
, it is a
Federal style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the newly founded United States between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was heavily based on the works of Andrea Palladio with several inn ...
townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...
with decorated
marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...
and
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
facing considered one of the best and most intact houses in that style in the city of Troy. The house was built by John Bard Colgrove, who moved to
Troy, NY Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany an ...
in 1826 to oversee the construction of the Hart House. Immediately after constructing the Hart House, Colgrove built the first Rensselaer County Court House (1828–31). It was constructed as a gift for his only child, Betsey Howard Hart, and her husband, Richard P. Hart, by wealthy
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 ...
merchant and banker William Howard, done in a style similar to contemporary mansions there. Those homes have since been demolished, making Troy the only extant place visitors can experience an early 19th-century New York City mansion. In the late 19th century it became the property of another local businessman, George Cluett, who expanded it in the early 20th century. In 1910, the property was sold to his nephew Albert Cluett and his wife Caroline. Caroline Cluett donated the house to the Historical Society in 1952.


Building

The house is L-shaped, two and a half stories high with a full
basement A basement or cellar is one or more floors of a building that are completely or partly below the ground floor. It generally is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, ...
. The short end facing the street to its east and the long end wrapping around the brick house to its north. The front facade is four
bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...
wide; the southern facade, accounting for the house's full depth from the street and overlooking a narrow
alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in the older parts of towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane ...
, nine. All other facades save the front are done in
brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...
. That front facade is dominated by its off-center entrance. The recessed door is set in a
portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...
, with elliptical
fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window, often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, and is sometimes hinged to a transom. Th ...
supported by small
column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...
s and sidelights. Around the portico are a marble
architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can ...
with vermiculated keystone and
quoin Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th century encyclopedia, t ...
s. No similar marble houses, are found in Troy, or the vicinity. The marble is presumed to come from a Berkshire quarry, possibly near Great Barrington, Mass. The marble has vertical comb finish, approximately 6 to the inch and is laid with 1/8" lime mortar joints.Historic American Buildings Survey.
Hanns Weber, Author
The
tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
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 ...
d roof has two
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 space ...
s on the east side. Two chimneys apiece rise from the north and south ends. There is one outbuilding, a former
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 f ...
, in the rear of the building. Inside, the house follows the standard Federal-style central hall plan, with high ceilings and narrow, tall windows. Much of the original furnishings and trim remain. The
plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for Molding (decorative), moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of ...
and
woodwork Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinet making (cabinetry and furniture), wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials ...
are unaltered, as are such details as a marble
mantelpiece 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 ...
and
dining room A dining room is a room (architecture), room for eating, consuming food. In modern times it is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving, although in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level. Historically ...
mirror. The original basement kitchen remains, along with a late 19th-century one on the first floor.


History

Hart, an early member of Troy's business elite, was a personal friend of Howard when he married Betsey. He had made his money first by supplying the Army during 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 ...
and then in commerce from the
Erie Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...
and Champlain canals. He later served as president of the
Schenectady and Troy Railroad The Troy & Schenectady Railroad was incorporated May 21, 1836. The stock was divided into five hundred shares at one hundred dollars each. The building of the road began in 1841, and trains began running from Schenectady to Troy, New York in the ...
and several local philanthropies. He had a political career as well, serving as a state assemblyman and mayor of Troy. To build the house, 29-year-old John Colegrove was hired. He moved to Troy from New York in 1826 to supervise the job, and stayed there, going on to build many other notable buildings in the city. His
obituary An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...
in 1860 referred to the mansion as his first major local accomplishment. The original house was just the square block. The house was first enlarged in 1836 when Richard Hart was Mayor of Troy. Richard Hart died in 1843. Betsey remained in the house till her death in 1886 and her daughter Sarah Wool Hart was the last Hart to live in the house. She died in 1892 and the house was then sold to George B. Cluett, founder of Cluett, Peabody & Co. Inc. makers of Arrow Shirts. George and his wife Amanda had a new addition built that moved the kitchen to the first floor, replacing the original basement kitchen. He sold the house to his nephew Albert E. Cluett, in 1910. Albert and Caroline Cluett made alterations on the third floor, raising the roof to accommodate the growing needs of their four sons. New oak floors, picture and chair rail mouldings all in the Colonial Revival Style were added to the two parlors and entrance hall. The old wallpaper was removed and the walls were painted ivory. A scenic wallpaper from the Zuber & Co. of Paris, France was installed on the walls of the Entrance Hall on the first floor. Albert Cluett died in 1949 but not before he and his wife Caroline challenged the Board of Trustees at RCHS to raise money to support the preservation of the house. Caroline lived in the house until 1952 when she then signed the house over to RCHS. The society has maintained it as a historic house museum and uses the adjoining Joseph B. Carr Building (57 2nd Street) as their museum headquarters that house the changing exhibition galleries, research library, collection storage and administrative offices.


Museum

The house is open to the public the 2nd Saturday of the month at 2pm for a guided tour, May through December. Tours are also available by prior appointment. 2nd Saturday tours are $10.00 for adults.


Floor Plan and Elevation


References


External links


Rensselaer County Historical Society
{{National Register of Historic Places in New York Historic house museums in New York (state) National Register of Historic Places in Troy, New York Federal architecture in New York (state) Houses completed in 1827 Houses in Troy, New York Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Museums in Rensselaer County, New York Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in New York (state) 1827 establishments in New York (state)