Name/Title
Hamptonburgh Historical SocietyEntry/Object ID
003365Tags
William Bull and Sarah Wells Stone House AssociationScope and Content
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HILL-HOLD
Bull Jackson House
The Georgian style of architecture is characterized by scale, symetry and proportion. Perhaps the first example of a large scale Georgian house in America was the Governor's mansion in Williamsburg, Virginia. Drayton Hall, in South Carolina and Carter's Grove in Virginia are other examples of great 18th century Georgian American houses.
The style spread by means of design books – with illustrations of facades, doorways and so forth.
Hill-Hold, built in 1769, is a fine illustration of a design book-inspired house. It is a basic, back-country version of a Georgian house of the Colonial period. It is constructed of field and quarried stone. Its nicely proportioned facade (the south front) is a perfect example of Georgian symetry.
The interior is designed with high ceilinged rooms – all of them retaining their original paneling, moldings and hardware.
Hill-Hold was built by Thomas Bull, a prosperous farmer. In an area rich in Revolutionary War history and with several American army headquarters museums, Hill-Hold stands out as the home of a Tory. Thomas Bull was held prisoner during part of the war because of his loyalty to the Crown. At the end of the war, Hill-Hold – and Thomas Bull – returned to rural tranquility. The Bull family married into the Jackson family. The Jacksons held ownership of the property until it was willed to the Orange County Parks Department in 1969.
Restored to the 1830 period, Hill-Hold contains a fine collection of Hudson Valley furniture – much of it original to the house. Hill-Hold is interpreted as a Hudson Valley farm of the period just prior to the Industrial Revolution.
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KATHRYN BULL BOOTH HOUSE
Owners: Karl and Barbara Meyer
The house was built by a Booth on property traced back to the Conning family. This family is mentioned in the History of Orange County as owning land on the Montgomery-Goshen Post Road north of Thomas Bull's property.
The Connings enlarged their holdings along the Post Road through marriage into the Booth family. No record has been found of the builder or date of the house, but an approximate date of between 1820–1830 can be ascertained from the style and period of the house and the interior, especially the unique woodwork inside. The interior is small and beautifully proportioned. The front door opens to a hallway, with the parlour and dining room off to the right, a small writing room straight ahead and the stairs going up the left exterior wall.
Upstairs there are two bedrooms, and a third small room with steps up to the attic. Aside from several coats of wallpaper and paint on the woodwork, these two floors were relatively untouched. The basement, kitchen and three other smaller rooms were remodeled (records indicate in 1888). The bake oven was removed and a marble mantlepiece put over the brick and stone kitchen fireplace. There were no modernizations except electricity done on the house.
The cut stone exterior construction is a familiar type for the area and the stone was probably quarried on the Conning property.
The house left the Conning family in 1907 when it, along with 176 acres, was bought by the Fealey family, who owned it until 1977. That year the whole farm was sold, and then a year later the house, farm outbuildings and 6 acres were sold to the Meyers.
