Bethlehem House
Also known as: Rensselaer Nicoll House
Why it's listed
Overlooking the west shore of the Hudson River south of Albany, this brick house in Bethlehem grew in stages over roughly a century. Rensselaer Nicoll, nephew of the fourth patroon, built the original gambrel-roofed section in 1736 beside a falls on the Vlaumanskill, where a seventeenth-century sawmill had stood. His son Francis Nicoll added a southern wing in 1796 to house returning family members, using newer details such as inside shutters and different ceiling heights. Around 1810 a west kitchen wing was added, with slave quarters above, and a tea room and office followed in 1830. Inside, a central hall, original woodwork and paneling, and a cellar and attic little changed since the eighteenth century survive. A family cemetery with about seventy graves lies to the south. The house is valued as a record of one family's changing needs across the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It was unoccupied when nominated and in fair condition.
Significance in brief: The nomination presents the house as an architectural "growth not a type," whose successive additions express the changing needs and lifestyles of one family through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It also preserves much original woodwork and unchanged eighteenth-century framing, and it is tied to the Nicoll and Sill families and to the site's seventeenth-century sawmill.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 73001158, listed April 11, 1973. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | E of Bethlehem off NY 144, Bethlehem |
|---|---|
| County | Albany County |
| Listed | April 11, 1973 |
| Reference number | 73001158 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 18th and 19th centuries (specific dates 1735-1796-1810-1830) |
| Architect / builder | Rensselaer Nicoll (original house); Francis Nicoll (1796 southern addition) |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Listed as in fair condition, altered, and unoccupied; the house has deteriorated since the late 1800s and was being considered for use as headquarters of the Bethlehem Historical Society. |
| Acreage | 6.8 |
| Coordinates | 42.54407, -73.76624 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 73001158.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q14706183
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.