Name/Title
Newspaper "The Times Herald Record" March 25, 1987 Amy Bull Crist's home - Brick CastleEntry/Object ID
000369Tags
Amy Bull CristScope and Content
Wednesday, March 25, 1987 THE TIMES HERALD-RECORD
the region
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Her home is her castle, historic site
By CAROLINE LISS Staff Writer STONY FORD - To historic preservation buffs, the town of Wallkill home of William Bull III is the epitome of classic architecture from the Revolutionary War. To Amy Bull Crist, the house with the gable roof and green shutters is her home. "I really didn't want it to be a museum," she said of the house that she was born in and never left. "I live here." She has no plans to turn the house into a museum, nor does she intend to move. Instead, the 81-year-old Ms. Crist, former county school superintendent and founder of BOCES, takes great pride in the recent honor bestowed upon her home. The house, also known as Brick Castle, recently was placed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places. It's the fourth Bull family house in Orange County to be placed on the registers, according to Ms. Crist. "This house was never on it because it was a home- stead," she said. But one of her 80th birthday gifts last March was the nomination of her Bart Bull Road home presented by Graham Skea, county parks commissioner, to the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. After a lengthy review process and the filing of many descriptive narratives and accompanying photo- graphs, Ms. Crist's home was added to the historical lists. There were several points about the 1780 home that make it worthy of placement among the state's 2,000 register listings, said Mark Peckham, a historical preservation program assistant in Albany. For one, the family boasts a long and interesting history. The Bulls were some of the first settlers in Orange County
Record photo by Dom Fiorille
The William Bull III home on Bart Bull Road in Stony Ford has been named a historic site.
and the first William Bull's wife, Sarah Wells, was reportedly the first white woman in the county. The house itself is a sound piece of architecture. It is built of brick, and brick homes in that era were unusual, according to Peckham. Ms. Crist said her great-great- grandfather saw brick homes in Monmouth, N.J., while serving in the Revolutionary War, and constructed his own kiln to bake bricks when he returned. He built the house himself, using a pinkish clay he dug from the Wallkill River, for a total of $800. He placed grout over the bricks to serve as insulation, and it seems to work. Ms. Crist said the home stays cool in the summer because the walls are thick, and even with 16 rooms, heating bills are reasonable. The home, which sits atop a hill on a 113-acre horse farm, was renovated slightly in about 1830, and features some styling of the Greek revival period, a popular architectural style in New York until about 1850, Peckham said. Slaves were quartered in the cellar. "It was a major house for its period," Peckham said. The white-haired Ms. Crist dismisses all that architectual jargon with a wave of her hand. She said the Bulls always took pride in their homes, and they love the house because it's part of the family. "I'm very pleased, especially for the future generations of Bulls. All of us have great pride in our heritage and this will continue the pride. It's housed so many people and raised generations of us for years," she said, adding that she and her three sisters, who own the house, plan to keep it in the family so future Bulls can learn about William Bull III. "It makes them appreciate their ancestors," she said.Relationships
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Amy Bull