{"nrhp_refnum":"04000873","name":"Van Alen, John Evert, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1744 Washington Ave. Ext.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Defreestville","county":"Rensselaer County","state":"NY","lat":42.65309643900008,"lon":-73.69857383299995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-08-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, wood-frame Federal-style farmhouse built in 1793-94 at 1744 Washington Avenue Extension in the hamlet of Defreestville, North Greenbush, Rensselaer County, New York, for John Evert van Alen. It has an addition of c.1840-1854 and a barn.","why_significant":"The house is nearly intact to its period of significance and reflects the aspirations of John Evert van Alen, a surveyor and U.S. Representative elected in 1792. It mixes Federal and Georgian details and retains original hardware, trim, floors and plaster. It also documents a Hudson Valley farmstead, its enslaved residents, and the Van Alen family's surveying work.","narrative":"Built in 1793-94 for John Evert van Alen, this two-story, five-bay wood-frame house sits on 3.59 acres in Defreestville, North Greenbush, Rensselaer County. The land was once part of a farm of more than 400 acres. Van Alen, a surveyor elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in late 1792, gave sites for the neighboring Dutch Reformed Church and a district schoolhouse. The house has clapboard walls, a slate roof, a stone foundation and brick nogging in the frame. Federal details appear alongside Georgian mantels and cornices. A three-bay wing added c.1840-1854 housed hired hands. Inside, the center hall, tiger maple stair railing, stenciled wall decoration, original hardware and basement kitchen with its bread oven survive. The basement also held rooms for the family's enslaved people. The house is listed for its near-complete preservation and its link to the Van Alen family, whose surveying work included Erie Canal projects. A barn is the second contributing building.","period_of_significance":"1793-c. 1850","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Early Republic: Federal","criteria":[],"status_note":"Historic use was a single dwelling; current function is listed as commerce/trade: business. The house is almost entirely intact to its period of significance.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.607567-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/04000873.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000873/bb28be13c1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000873/bb28be13c1-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DefreestvilleNY_JohnEvertVanAlenHouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DefreestvilleNY_JohnEvertVanAlenHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321315","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Evert_Van_Alen_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6232080"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/rensselaer-county/van-alen-john-evert-house-04000873/"}