Poultney willed the Bigelow Homestead to a niece who had insisted upon – and funded – its residential installation of modern plumbing and electricity sometime in the late 1940s.
Together they agreed that 1134 Main Street should remain forever in the family, which was already active in the material preservation of its heritage. Various branches of the Bigelow family own five important residences in the Hudson Valley, the most grand of which is The Squirrels, in Highland Falls, which was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
Poultney, the fourth of eight children, was married twice, and had three daughters by his first wife, whom he divorced in 1902. His second wife, Lillian Pritchard, worked in a library founded by his father; that marriage ended with her death in 1932.
“Poultney’s first wife, who was in the New York Social Register, dumped him because he was having an affair with (novelist) Stephen Crane’s widow, a noted courtesan,” said Jen. “Because of that affair, Mark Twain’s wife forced the writer to cut off Poultney as his best friend, but there’s a lively exchange of letters between the two men, plus lots of other correspondence between Poultney and other men of letters in his day,” the caretaker said.
“The family which owns this house are conservatives in the most literal sense of the word,” said Dragon. “Not only do they care tremendously about environmental causes, they are all extremely active in preserving the architectural heritage of this part of the country.”
Today intermarried with Georgian aristocracy plus several east coast American dynasties, about ten descendants of Asa Bigelow actively use the Bigelow Homestead as a rural getaway. Dragon says her main job these days is to “fluff the pillows and stock the refrigerator” for the family members, who notify her in advance of their plans to visit.
Dragon says all of the descendants of Asa Bigelow who have access to the Homestead are either artistic, interested in history and architectural preservation, or both. The most famous relative who uses the Homestead regularly is Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff, a 1985 Princeton University graduate and Republican Party politician from New York who serves as New Jersey state treasurer under Gov. Chris Christie.
Sidamon-Eristoff previously served as commissioner of tax and finance under New York State Gov. George Pataki from 2003 until his resignation in November 2006. His maternal great-grandfather, Henry Phipps, was a partner of Andrew Carnegie, and on his father’s side, he’s a grandson of Prince Simon Sidamon-Eristoff, a Georgian military officer from a noble family who emigrated to the United States after the Bolsheviks invaded Georgia in 1921. His father, Constantine, died in December last year of esophageal cancer.
Spears brought back from a trip
Sometimes local weather events alter the normally placid details of monitoring this relatively modest, but extremely significant, functioning monument to the origins of Saugerties commerce, the caretaker said.
“During Hurricane Irene, it was almost comic, so many trees came down on the property, but they all just missed causing serious damage,” said Dragon.
Dragon points out that however lovely – and livable – the Bigelow Homestead is today, at its essence, the structure was built in perfect harmony with its surrounds. It’s far from garish, and the landscaping and later additions to the original 1815 structure have a soothing, proportionate classic harmony.
“This is not a huge and fancy house; it’s quirky and relatively modest,” she said. “Because of that, and due to this family’s unique commitment to preserving its heritage, we’ve got this amazing living museum, regularly opened to the wider public for events, preserving examples of important area artists, but also a whole way of life,” she said. “Poultney was weird, magnetic and eccentric; people used to come here just to listen to his remarkable stories. Today, we may not have Poultney himself, but we do have all these first editions of important American books, personally inscribed by the authors, in this comfortable library, where the grandchildren of the current owners can play, and it’s not some formal, cold place,” the caretaker said.
Dragon said that while many visitors come initially to see Poultney’s semi-famous collection of ceremonial swords, poison blow darts, and wooden kayaks, in the end, they are most profoundly affected by the record of comfortable Hudson Valley domesticity as represented by the Bigelow Homestead.
“I think we all wish we had a family heirloom that is also a fabulous off-the-grid vacation home like this,” she said.
