{"nrhp_refnum":"76001212","name":"Brett, Madam Catharyna, Homestead","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"50 Van Nydeck Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Beacon","county":"Dutchess County","state":"NY","lat":41.50256321200004,"lon":-73.96726237599995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-12-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-and-a-half-story wood-frame farmhouse on a 4.7-acre corner lot in the Village of Beacon, Dutchess County, New York, built around 1713-1715 for Roger and Catherine Rombout Brett.","why_significant":"It is probably the earliest frame residence in Dutchess County and the earliest surviving house near where Fishkill Creek meets the Hudson. It was the home of Catharyna \"Madam\" Brett, whose land sales and mills shaped the growth of the surrounding villages. It later housed a Revolutionary War officer and legislator and a member of Congress, and it stayed in one family for seven generations.","narrative":"Built around 1715 on part of the Rombout Patent, this frame farmhouse in Beacon, New York, is probably the earliest frame residence in Dutchess County. It has a five-bay main block with a lower kitchen wing, Dutch doors, sloping dormers and unusual scalloped cedar shingles dating from the eighteenth century. Inside, most of the woodwork reflects Federal period updating, and the old kitchen keeps its walk-in hearth and beehive oven. The house was home to Catharyna Brett, who became known as Madam Brett after being widowed and who ran a mill and sold farms outright to settlers. Those sales helped villages such as Fishkill Landing and Matteawan grow, and later mills along Fishkill Creek followed. Later residents included Henry Schenck, a Revolutionary War officer and legislator, and Isaac Teller, a congressman. An Episcopal Sunday School begun here led to St. Luke's Church. Seven generations of one family lived here, and the house now operates as a museum.","period_of_significance":"1700-1799","architect_builder":"probably Robert Dengee","architectural_style":"Early Dutch Hudson Valley farmhouse with Federal period interior detailing","criteria":[],"status_note":"Open as a historic house museum on a regular basis and used as a repository for local records, artifacts and family heirlooms; described as well preserved.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.738097-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/76001212.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001212/5efcdfb9f7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001212/5efcdfb9f7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Rolf Müller","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madam_brett_homestead_beacon_2006.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Rolf Müller</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madam_brett_homestead_beacon_2006.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75317309","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madam_Brett_Homestead","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6726230"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/dutchess-county/brett-madam-catharyna-homestead-76001212/"}