Rowe Farm
Why it's listed
Rowe Farm is a 24.8-acre farmstead in South Bethlehem, Albany County, New York, divided by Bridge Street into a domestic group and a barn group. It holds 16 contributing buildings and structures built between about 1790 and the mid-twentieth century. The centerpieces are an Italianate farmhouse of about 1875, with a braced timber frame, bay windows, bracketed eaves and largely intact interior finishes, and a large timber-frame hay barn marked "S C ROWE 1879," which includes some reused hewn oak from an earlier Dutch barn. Older buildings, including a c. 1790 livestock barn and a c. 1800 out-kitchen, show New World Dutch framing methods. Other outbuildings include a smokehouse, ice house, carriage barn, chicken and fowl houses, and a blacksmith shop beside Coeymans Creek. The farm is significant for its architecture and its agricultural history, particularly hay production for distant markets during Solomon Rowe's ownership. Its period of significance runs from about 1790 to 1961, reflecting continued farming into the 1960s.
Significance in brief: The farm documents agricultural and architectural development from the late eighteenth century through 1961. Its c. 1875 Italianate farmhouse and c. 1879 hay barn reflect the tenancy of Solomon C. Rowe, a hay farmer. Earlier outbuildings show New World Dutch framing traditions.
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 11001088, listed February 3, 2012. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 281 Bridge St., South Bethlehem |
|---|---|
| County | Albany County |
| Listed | February 3, 2012 |
| Reference number | 11001088 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | c. 1790-1961 |
| Architect / builder | Unknown |
| Architectural style | Vernacular; Late Victorian: Italianate; Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Colonial Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Agriculture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Current functions listed as domestic (single dwelling, secondary structure) and agricultural storage and outbuildings; no resources are noncontributing. |
| Acreage | 24.8 |
| Coordinates | 42.53997, -73.82613 (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.
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 11001088.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q23092048
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.