The Carvey–Gatfield House (originally called the Carney-Gatfield House) is a historic house located at 375 Angola Road in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, Orange County,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Building

The land was originally the property of Isaac Bobbin, an early settler, until being subdivided into the present parcel and sold to Mathias Carvey in 1805, around the time the

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

house was built. The house was built in the first decade of the 19th century in the then-dominant

Federal style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classical architecture built in the United States following the American Revolution between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was influenced heavily by the works of And ...

, with two storeys, three

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, ci ...

and a sidehall plan. However, it also features some unique touches such as a

gambrel roof A gambrel or gambrel roof is a usually symmetrical two-sided roof with two slopes on each side. The upper slope is positioned at a shallow angle, while the lower slope is steep. This design provides the advantages of a sloped roof while maxim ...

, with a corresponding

dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a Roof pitch, pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the ...

added later. It also appears taller than it actually is due to the sloping land beneath. An original front

porch A porch (; , ) is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance to a building. A porch is placed in front of the façade of a building it commands, and forms a low front. Alternatively, it may be a vestibule (architecture), vestibule (a s ...

that ran the width of the house was removed during the 20th century. Two of its features, a low-pitched roof on a two-story dwelling and a wide top section, suggest some connection to

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

building traditions. Decorative sidelights, transom light around the entryway and brick surrounds on the front windows show the slow move from the

vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...

styles of the

colonial era Colonial period (a period in a country's history where it was subject to management by a colonial power) may refer to: Continents *European colonization of the Americas * Colonisation of Africa * Western imperialism in Asia Countries * Col ...

to the Federal style of

American independence The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American Revolutionary War ...

, which put more emphasis on a

decorative Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes them pleasure, pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, art and taste are the main subjects of aesthetics, one of the fie ...

facade. The house's interior has not been significantly altered since its construction. The original wall finishings are gone, but much of the woodwork and molding remains. Two other buildings are located on the property: a

barn A barn is an agricultural building usually on farms and used for various purposes. In North America, a barn refers to structures that house livestock, including cattle and horses, as well as equipment and fodder, and often grain.Allen G ...

, also gambrel-roofed, and a garage. The former dates to the original construction of the house and is considered a

contributing resource 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 distr ...

; the latter is more contemporary and does not contribute to the historic value of the house.

History

Carvey purchased the property from William Robinson, two owners removed from Bobbin, to support his

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * Factory * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Paper mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * Sugarcane mill * Textile mill * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic ...

on a nearby stream. After Carvey's death, his wife, the former Eleanor Wheeler, continued to run the farm, even after the death of her second husband, Rev. William Pearce. She, in turn, left the property to her nephew, Benjamin Gatfield, the son of her deceased sister, Katherine Wheeler, and the former wife of Archibald Gatfield (also deceased).Benjamin Gatfield and his brother Archibald lived on the property with their widowed aunt, assisting her with the running of the farm. Another sister of Eleanor Wheeler Carvey Pearce, Diana Wheeler Gatfield Harwick, who married her brother-in-law, Archibald Gatfield after the death of their sister Katherine, unsuccessfully contested the will together with her second husband, Justus Harwick. The house would remain in the Gatfield family for almost a century. After the deaths of Benjamin and Archibald Gatfield, the property was inhabited by their half-brother, George S. Gatfield - a son of Diana Wheeler Gatfield Hardick and Archibald Gatfield.New York, Orange County, Wills; Author: New York. Surrogate's Court (Orange County); Probate Place: Orange, New York It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on March 8, 1996.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carvey-Gatfield House Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Houses in Orange County, New York National Register of Historic Places in Orange County, New York Houses completed in 1800 Cornwall, New York Federal architecture in New York (state)