Pier, Jan, House
Why it's listed
Set on a 3.5-acre parcel along Route 308 just east of Rhinebeck village, this stone house began as an eighteenth-century farmhouse built about 1761 by Jan Pier, a descendant of early Rhinebeck settlers. In 1881, during the ownership of the Tremper family, it was enlarged and remodelled into a fashionable Second Empire dwelling. Its features include a polychrome slate mansard roof, pedimented dormers with rounded-arch windows, a front verandah with ornamental woodwork, and a projecting two-story tripartite bay window. Inside, exposed beams and wide floorboards reveal the earlier origins. The village grew around the once-rural property by the mid-nineteenth century, yet several farm buildings survive, including two barns, a brick and fieldstone smokehouse, a stone cistern, and a well with wellhouse. One barn holds the remains of a slaughterhouse, linked to the Tremper family's work as locally known butchers. Together these elements illustrate both rural and village building traditions.
Significance in brief: The house is significant as a fine example of a picturesque village dwelling in the Second Empire style, built around an earlier eighteenth-century German vernacular stone farmhouse. It reflects the common practice of updating older, modest buildings in later fashionable styles. The surviving commercial-size smokehouse and slaughterhouse equipment in the barn add to its importance.
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 87001073, listed July 9, 1987. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | NY 308, Rhinebeck |
|---|---|
| County | Dutchess County |
| Listed | July 9, 1987 |
| Reference number | 87001073 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Architect and builder unknown; original stone farmhouse built by Jan Pier according to available information |
| Architectural style | Second Empire (remodelling of an eighteenth-century German vernacular stone house) |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | In use as a residence; condition rated good. |
| Acreage | 3.5 |
| Within district | Rhinebeck Village Historic District |
| Coordinates | 41.92852, -73.90084 (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 87001073.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6149711
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.