North Grove Street Historic District
The North Grove Street Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. Portions of the content on this web page were adapted from a copy of the original nomination document. [1]
Description
The North Grove Street Historic District is a small residential enclave situated on a hill to the east of Tarrytown's central business district. The North Grove Street Historic District consists of five mid-nineteenth century houses and a carriage barn. All six buildings form a cohesive group at the northern end of Grove Street between Neperan Road and Elizabeth Street. An undeveloped and wooded hill rises steeply to the east (rear) of numbers Two and Eight Grove Street. Surrounding the North Grove Street Historic District on the north, west, and south sides are twentieth century residences. These dwellings represent a more recent population and building expansion in Tarrytown.
Number One Grove Street, the headquarters for the Historical Society of the Tarrytowns, is a red brick, former residence located at the southwest corner of Grove Street and Neperan Road. Single and double one-over-one windows with stone lintels and sills punctuate the symmetrically balanced three-bay, two-story exterior. A central three-story tower interrupts the flat roof line at the east or front elevation. The main entrance is located at the tower's first floor. Decorative wooden hoods supported by large brackets appear above both the entrance and tower's second-story window. An elegant mansard roof with dormers crown the square tower. Simple wooden brackets and rectangular eyebrow windows occur below the over-hanging roof cornice. A large, two-story bay projects from the rear or west side and a railed porch surrounds its first floor. A decorative wrought iron fence appears at the front of the house. A detached, one-story garage is located to the rear of the property. The interior of the house's main floor is substantially intact and retains its window and door surrounds, decorative marble fireplaces, and other decorative features.
Number 15 Grove Street is a brick, two-story single family residence located on the west side of the street just south of One Grove Street. Simple but decorative shingles cover its two-story north side addition. Single one-over-one windows with segmentally arched lintels punctuate the house's exterior. A railed porch extends across the front (east) elevation and a small second-story deck appears above it. Three-sided bay windows project from both the north and south elevations. A three-story tower is located at a forty-five degree angle to the rear (west) side of the main house. The square tower interrupts the house's flat roof line and has several double windows with segmentally arched lintels. Decorative wood brackets line the flat roofs of the house and tower. The interior of the house's main floor retains its spiral staircase, window and door surrounds.
Number 19 Grove Street is a brick, two-story residence located on the west side of the street next to (south of) 15 Grove Street. Single and double one-over-one windows with round arch transoms and gauged brick enframements punctuate the house's three-bay exterior. Decorative gauged brickwork also appears on several chimneys. A one-story vestibule with a single wrought iron grilled door and fanlight projects from the front (east) elevation. Wrought iron balconies adorn two second floor east side windows. A large three-story tower interrupts the center of the rear (west) elevation. A carefully detailed one-story porch extends across the rear of the house. Decoratively carved wooden brackets line the house's low gable roof, the vestibule's tiled hip roof and the tower's low gable roof. The house's main floor interior retains its elegant spiral staircase, window and door surrounds, and several marble fireplaces. The nineteenth-century houses at Numbers One and Nineteen Grove Street are the most significant architectural components of this small, largely intact residential enclave.
Number 8 Grove Street is located to the east or across the street from 19 Grove Street. The well-preserved house and carriage barn occupy a large treed lot. Clapboarding covers the house's two stories and slate covers its broad mansard roof. Paired one-over-one sash windows with simple wood trim punctuate the house's three bay exterior. A one-story railed porch extends across the front (west) elevation. The central main entrance has double doors and a large transom light. Carved modillions line the flat porch roof and the house's mansard roof. A large 1900 addition at the rear (east) side contains a kitchen and several bedrooms. Significant interior features include marble fireplaces and window and door surrounds.
A large two-story carriage barn is situated to the south of Number 8 Grove Street. Clapboarding covers its exterior and simple wood trim frame its simple six-over-six sash windows. A single garage opening and paneled second floor loft doors provide access into the building. Asphalt shingles cover its dormered mansard roof.
Number Two Grove Street is located across the street (east) from One Grove Street. Clapboarding covers the frame, two-story, three-bay, L-shaped Italianate style residence. A three-story square tower punctuates the house's northwest corner. Double and single one-over-one sash windows appear at all sides. Decorative entablatures and round arches adorn many widows. A small porch protects the single door and transom light of the main entrance. Asphalt shingles cover the intersecting gable roof, and carved brackets define the tower's hip roof. A two-story rear addition houses the kitchen. Significant interior features include intact, heavily molded window and door surrounds.
Mature trees, lawns, stone and iron fences add visual interest to this largely intact period streetscape.
Significance
Tarrytown was first settled in the late seventeenth century but only in the nineteenth century did it become a prosperous Hudson River community. The area's population grew rapidly during the nineteenth century and the wooded hills east of the village core became suburban residential in character. Tarrytown's prominent citizens built elegant houses above the central business district to take advantage of the picturesque Hudson River view. The North Grove Street Historic District is a small mid-nineteenth century enclave of fine, largely unaltered residences. Five houses and one dependency comprise the North Grove Street Historic District. The buildings form a significant group of American Victorian architecture and reflect the history of Tarrytown's nineteenth-century residential development.
The Tarrytowns were part of an English land grant to Fredrick Philipse in 1677. Philipse established a mill on the Pocantico River in north Tarrytown. After the Revolutionary War, tenant farmers revolted and Fredrick Philipse III lost most of his property. By 1837, Tarrytown was a prosperous hamlet with several wharves and three churches. Many workers came to the area between 1842 and 1847 when the Croton Aqueduct was under construction. Like many Hudson River communities, Tarrytown developed and grew around a thriving commercial/industrial core. When the railroad was completed in 1848, the population moved eastward (up the hill). The houses in the North Grove Street Historic District recall an aspect of Tarrytown's population expansion and economic prosperity.
Prominently situated above the village center, the handsome mid-nineteenth century Grove Street residences housed Tarrytown's leading citizens. Popular American architectural revivals are well-represented and include Italianate, Gothic, and French Second Empire influences. Number One Grove Street was built in 1848 by Jacob Odell, who was a prosperous merchant and Tarrytown's first president. Mr. Odell also served as the Town of Greenburgh's supervisor. In 1860, Odell built Number 15 Grove Street as a wedding present for his daughter. Number 19 Grove Street was built in 1856 on land which was part of the former Archer estate. Built in 1868, three generations of doctors lived in Number 8 Grove Street; all had offices on the first floor. Marcus Raymond, who was editor of the Tarrytown Argus newspaper for thirty years, built Number 2 Grove Street in 1860. These largely intact buildings form a cohesive nineteenth-century residential group and are elegant reminders of Tarrytown's effort at fashionable architecture as it developed during its most prosperous years.
References
Bolton, Robert Jr. A History of the County of Westchester From Its First Settlement to the Present Time. New York: Alexander S. Gould, 1848.
Sanchis, Frank. American Architecture: Westchester County, New York. Dobbs Ferry: North River Press, Inc., 1977.
Scharf, J. Thomas. History of Westchester County, New York. New York: E. Preston and Company, 1886.
Tarrytown, New York. "Historical Society of the Tarrytowns Historical House Tour October 13, 1974." Tarrytown, New York: Historical Society of the Tarrytowns, 1974.
- O'Brien, Austin N., New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, North Grove Street Historic District, nomination document, 1978, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, Washington, D.C.
Street Names
Grove Street North
