Hand, Walter, House
Why it's listed
Set on a knoll along Angola Road in Cornwall, New York, this five-bay frame farmhouse was built about 1870 on land owned by Walter Hand, a farmer descended from one of the town's earliest families. The clapboard house has Gothic Revival touches, including a pointed-arch attic window with hood molding, a cross gable and a raised porch with bracketed cornices and cut-out railings. Inside, the center-hall plan keeps its original staircase, wood mantels, wide floorboards and large first-floor rooms. The Hands ran a working farm with a productive orchard and also took in vacationers from New York City, who were housed in a finished attic and fed in spacious common rooms. Six other buildings survive on the five-acre parcel: two barns, a summer kitchen, a carriage house and two sheds. The property was listed for its architecture and as a rare intact farmhouse from Cornwall's summer resort era.
Significance in brief: The house is significant as a representative example of Victorian dwellings and of residences tied to Cornwall's summer boarding industry, 1850-1900. It retains a high degree of exterior and interior integrity and its farm setting, reflecting both the area's agricultural development and its popularity as a summer resort.
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 96000154, listed March 8, 1996. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 520 Angola Rd., Cornwall |
|---|---|
| County | Orange County |
| Listed | March 8, 1996 |
| Reference number | 96000154 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | ca.1870 |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian/Gothic Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still used as a single-family dwelling; the summer kitchen has been converted into a residence. |
| Acreage | 5 |
| Coordinates | 41.40573, -74.06407 (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 96000154.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q1433592
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.