Baker, Sebastian, Stone House
Why it's listed
On Dug Road in the town of Rochester, Ulster County, a whitewashed stone farmhouse built about 1790 anchors a 167-acre farm. The house is a linear, one-and-one-half story building of limestone and fieldstone, six bays long, with a steep wood-shingled roof and thick walls. A two-story frame wing was added in 1914 by Jacob H. Baker to house tourist boarders arriving by the Ontario and Western Railroad. The farm also holds a Dutch barn from about 1840, a granary, a horse barn, early twentieth-century outbuildings, a family cemetery, and the ruins of a sawmill and an earlier house. The property was listed for architecture, as a strong regional example of late-eighteenth-century stone dwellings in the Hudson Valley. Its history is also notable because the Baker family has owned the land continuously across three centuries, descending from Sebastian Baker, who divided the homestead between his sons in 1842.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is an outstanding regional example of late-eighteenth-century linear stone dwelling architecture typical of the Hudson Valley and Ulster County. The farm is also noted as a rare example of continuous family ownership across three centuries. The Dutch barn, granary, horse barn, cemetery and stone walls add to its significance.
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 96000136, listed February 22, 1996. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 10 Dug Rd., Rochester |
|---|---|
| County | Ulster County |
| Listed | February 22, 1996 |
| Reference number | 96000136 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | ca.1790 - ca.1914 |
| Architectural style | Vernacular (OTHER/vernacular), with a Federal-style plan |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still in use as a single dwelling with agricultural outbuildings and secondary structures; the form lists current functions as domestic and agricultural. |
| Acreage | 167 |
| Coordinates | 41.83332, -74.24284 (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 96000136.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7442367
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.