{"nrhp_refnum":"85002751","name":"Van Denbergh-Simmons House","other_names":["Component No. 26"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"537 Boght Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Colonie","county":"Albany County","state":"NY","lat":42.785425402000044,"lon":-73.73431716399995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-10-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A farmhouse at 537 Boght Road in the Town of Colonie, Albany County, New York, built in three phases: a northeast Dutch section ca. 1720-60, a northwest section ca. 1790, and a south Italianate Villa addition of ca. 1847.","why_significant":"It is described as a unique surviving example of an eighteenth-century frame Dutch farmhouse in Colonie, retaining exposed beams with knee braces, mud-brick nogging and a jambless fireplace. Its Federal wing and mid-nineteenth-century Italianate addition also show how a house was expanded over more than a century of occupation. The addition reflects Colonie's growth as a suburb for Albany-area businessmen such as Daniel Simmons.","narrative":"Set on a small knoll above Cohoes and the Hudson River Valley, this farmhouse at 537 Boght Road in Colonie grew in three stages. The oldest part, a one-and-one-half-story Dutch section built between about 1720 and 1760, keeps exposed beams with knee braces, mud-brick nogging and evidence of a jambless fireplace. A northwest wing from about 1790 added a large kitchen fireplace with a bee-hive oven and kiln-fired brick nogging. In 1847 Daniel Simmons, owner of an axe and edge tool company in Cohoes, added a two-story Italian Villa front with a square tower, paired windows and scroll-sawn brackets. The house is valued as the only known surviving eighteenth-century frame Dutch farmhouse in Colonie and as an example of how such homes changed with their owners' tastes and prosperity. About two acres remain, including the stone foundation of a barn.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Dutch Colonial (northeast section), Federal (northwest wing), Italianate Villa (south addition)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Used as a residence (originally a farmhouse); condition rated good; the tower was lowered ca. 1975; no threats known.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:45.047467-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/85002751.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75312073","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Denbergh-Simmons_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7913275"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/albany-county/van-denbergh-simmons-house-85002751/"}