Van Alen House

East profile and south elevation, 2008
Location Kinderhook, NY
Nearest city Hudson
Coordinates 42°22′51.94″N 73°41′29.10″W / 42.3810944°N 73.6914167°W / 42.3810944; -73.6914167Coordinates: 42°22′51.94″N 73°41′29.10″W / 42.3810944°N 73.6914167°W / 42.3810944; -73.6914167
Built c.1737
Architectural style Colonial, Dutch
NRHP Reference # 67000011
Significant dates
Added to NRHP December 24, 1967[1]
Designated NHL December 24, 1967[2]

The Van Alen House or Luykas Van Alen House is a historic Dutch brick farmhouse built in approximately 1737 in the Hudson River valley. Located on NY 9H, about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Kinderhook village in Columbia County, New York and 2 miles (3.2 km) south of US 9, the house is a National Historic Landmark.

The "Van Alen House" and its farm are believed to have served as the inspiration for homestead of the Van Tassel family in Washington Irving's short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Irving was a close friend of Kinderhook native (and U.S. President) Martin Van Buren, a neighbor of the "Van Alen House" and a frequent guest in the town.[3] The house is currently operated by the Columbia County Historical Society as a historic house museum showing 18th century Colonial life.

HABS image of Van Alen House showing west profile

It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1967.[2]

This property (interior and exterior) was a location scene in the 1993 Martin Scorsese film, "The Age of Innocence" starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Daniel Day-Lewis.

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ Staff (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 "Van Alen House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. 2007-09-07.
  3. ↑ p. 50, Elizabeth L. Bradley, Knickerbocker: The Myth Behind New York, Rivergate (Rutgers University Press) 2009.

External links

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