Calvert Vaux designed bridges, tunnels and other structures for Central Park in New York City alongside his better-known partner on the project, landscape architect Frederick Olmsted. Vaux was a pioneer in building apartment houses in 19th-century American cities, and he worked on the original Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History.
The Hoyt House in Staatsburgh was originally called “The Point.” True to Vaux’s aesthetic, it was designed to be integrated so fully into its promontory setting that the footprint of the building was modified to save a tree grove. Its bluestone exterior was quarried on site. According to differing accounts, the house was taken from the Hoyt heirs in a 1962 exercise of eminent domain, led by Robert Moses, in an attempt either to consolidate a 900-acre stretch of state-owned riverfront property or to replace the structure with a swimming pool. That never happened, and the house today is abandoned, vacant for 50 years, vandalized and neglected.
In April of this year, a $320,000 grant from the New York State Environmental Protection Fund was awarded to stabilize and restore Hoyt House, a matching grant to one awarded last year to the New York State Office of Parks for restoration of the roof and portions of the exterior. The plan is to eventually restore the entire main house, dependent buildings and grounds to use as a working farm with livestock and a vibrant center of cultural and educational activity for the mid-Hudson region.
For information on visiting Staatsburgh State Historic Site, call 889-8851 or visit www.nysparks.com/historic-sites/25/details.aspx or www.facebook.com/StaatsburghSHS.
House tours are available Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last tour at 4 p.m.) from April through October, with special holiday hours November 23 to December 31.
