The Pruyn House
Originally posted on my travel blog.
There are many historical sites in the Capital Region that I've wanted to visit. Today, I was out in Albany Rural Cemetery doing some headstone photography. As I was wrapping up my work I noticed the Pruyn family headstones. This reminded me that I had not yet visited the Pruyn House, a historic site that's just down the road from home. So, rather than going straight out of the cemetery to go home, I turned right and made my way to Pruyn House. (For those of you, like me, who are not accustomed to seeing "uy" in names, it sounds like a long "i"... so imagine that the name is spelled "Prine House" and you'll be pronouncing it correctly in your head.)
This home was built between 1825 and 1830 on land owned by the Van Rensselaer patroon. The home belonged to the patroon's land agent (i.e. rent collector), Casparus Francis Pruyn. He was the sixth generation of Pruyns to live in America, the first having arrived in the 1660's.
Although you can see from the above photo that the home is in need of some repairs, it is a vast improvement over its condition in 1983 when the Town of Colonie purchased it to be a cultural and historical center. The man who owned it at the time was living in the basement and had closed off the other two floors. They were falling in around him, and partially open to the elements. The volunteer who showed me around explained that the back wall where the stairway goes up to the top floor was almost completely fallen in when they took ownership. They have done an amazing job of restoring it. Here's what the wall and stairway look like now...
The site has been preserved beautifully, taking care to stay true to the original stature of the home. Local families have donated or loaned all of the furnishings, rugs, paintings, and display pieces.
The bulk of the building preservation was done 30 years ago. They are preparing now to, once again, remove all the paint, restore the bricks, and repaint it. Repairs to the shutters will happen in another phase.
The site includes several out-buildings that were part of the original farm/homestead, including the privy, the pump house, the smokehouse, the barn, and the carriage house. Additionally, an old one-room schoolhouse was moved from another site to be preserved here. The grounds include a beautiful garden that is maintained by the Fort Orange Garden Club. Today, a family was preparing the barn for a wedding, as you can see by the white curtains draped over the barn door.
The Pruyn House truly serves as a cultural center, as is evidenced by the summer concert series that is held here. On several Wednesdays, they will have live music, food trucks, and open the house and the out buildings so that people can tour them. The themes include a German day and an Irish day, which I'm told is quite crowded. In September, they have "Old Fashioned Sunday," where everyone will come out to see how things were "back in the old days," including sheep-shearing the old-fashioned way. Hopefully I'll be able to make it to some of these fun events!
There are many, many sites to see around the Capital Region (historical and otherwise), and I don't have to travel far to see them! Yet, I decided to post today's visit to my travel blog all the same, because it's the type of activity that feels like you'd do it on vacation. Here's to right-around-the-corner vacations!
There are many historical sites in the Capital Region that I've wanted to visit. Today, I was out in Albany Rural Cemetery doing some headstone photography. As I was wrapping up my work I noticed the Pruyn family headstones. This reminded me that I had not yet visited the Pruyn House, a historic site that's just down the road from home. So, rather than going straight out of the cemetery to go home, I turned right and made my way to Pruyn House. (For those of you, like me, who are not accustomed to seeing "uy" in names, it sounds like a long "i"... so imagine that the name is spelled "Prine House" and you'll be pronouncing it correctly in your head.)
This home was built between 1825 and 1830 on land owned by the Van Rensselaer patroon. The home belonged to the patroon's land agent (i.e. rent collector), Casparus Francis Pruyn. He was the sixth generation of Pruyns to live in America, the first having arrived in the 1660's.
Although you can see from the above photo that the home is in need of some repairs, it is a vast improvement over its condition in 1983 when the Town of Colonie purchased it to be a cultural and historical center. The man who owned it at the time was living in the basement and had closed off the other two floors. They were falling in around him, and partially open to the elements. The volunteer who showed me around explained that the back wall where the stairway goes up to the top floor was almost completely fallen in when they took ownership. They have done an amazing job of restoring it. Here's what the wall and stairway look like now...
The bulk of the building preservation was done 30 years ago. They are preparing now to, once again, remove all the paint, restore the bricks, and repaint it. Repairs to the shutters will happen in another phase.
The site includes several out-buildings that were part of the original farm/homestead, including the privy, the pump house, the smokehouse, the barn, and the carriage house. Additionally, an old one-room schoolhouse was moved from another site to be preserved here. The grounds include a beautiful garden that is maintained by the Fort Orange Garden Club. Today, a family was preparing the barn for a wedding, as you can see by the white curtains draped over the barn door.
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| FYI: If you're wondering where the Garden Club got its name, Fort Orange was the first permanent Dutch settlement in New Netherland, built in 1624; the present-day city of Albany, New York developed at this site. (Wikipedia) |
The Pruyn House truly serves as a cultural center, as is evidenced by the summer concert series that is held here. On several Wednesdays, they will have live music, food trucks, and open the house and the out buildings so that people can tour them. The themes include a German day and an Irish day, which I'm told is quite crowded. In September, they have "Old Fashioned Sunday," where everyone will come out to see how things were "back in the old days," including sheep-shearing the old-fashioned way. Hopefully I'll be able to make it to some of these fun events!
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