A historic home in Yorktown is now the first house in close to four decades to be landmarked and thus protecting it from demolition in the town of Yorktown following a public hearing on Tuesday, Aug. 6.
Town board members all voted in favor of landmarking the home located at 3438 Old Yorktown Road.
Members of the Landmarks Preservation Commission of Yorktown had been reaching out to historic house owners seeking their consent to designate their properties as local landmarks which they say is the "only effective way" to save a structure from future demolition.
With the consent of the owner – Sarah Galbraith – they've received permission to landmark the historic home located at 3438 Old Yorktown Road (located across from Lakeland Copper Beach School on Route 132).
"It is a common misperception that a structure has to be connected to a well-known person in order to be considered historically significant but this is not always the case," said J-F De Laperouse, member of the Landmark Preservation Committee. "The majority of people who built Yorktown and our country as a whole were not famous but their lives were still important and worth remembering."
The Yorktown town board recently changed the landmarking rules and the owner's consent is now required for the application to be approved. De Laperouse said the home located at 3438 Old Yorktown Road is the only temple-style Greek Revival house still standing in Yorktown.
"Due to its location on a main road it has become an admired landmark to many people," he said. "Its form is also a symbol of our young country's belief in the concept of democracy that first arose in ancient Greece."
Except for stone pillars at the entrance to the Croton Heights neighborhood that were landmarked a few years ago, no structure has been landmarked in Yorktown since 1976.
From the landmark application submitted to the Yorktown town board:
"Its front façade which includes a prostyle portico with four square columns supporting a triangular pediment, the evocation of acroteria in the top exterior casing of the doorway and two first floor windows, the use of flush facing on the front wall and tympanum above and the engaged pilasters at the corners of the front wall was designed to mimic the appearance of a classical temple executed in masonry.
In addition, the wide frieze board with incorporated windows between the cornice and the architrave that wraps around the original wall of the structure, the low pitched roof and the design of the front doorway with side and transom lights surrounding a two paneled door are typical of the Greek Revival period."
The house has "a modest and charming vernacular quality that endows it with its own unique character and accurately reflects our town’s pastoral history," the application read.
In the 20th century, additions were made to the house on the eastern and northern sides. A large window was placed in the southern wall by a previous owner. Many of the house's original features are preserved on the interior including the mantelpieces, flooring, staircase, doors and hardware.
See the attached pdf file for more details on the home, its history and previous owners.
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Editor's Note: The article has been updated since its original publication on Aug. 5 to reflect the town board's decision.
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