Oldest Standing House in NYC
It may be hard to believe in New York City, still, today is the Wyckoff House, which is currently the oldest standing building. It dates back to at least 1652 and was occupied by the Wyckoff family for centuries. Imagine, only a few decades after the Pilgrims, English settlers, who came to North America on the Mayflower and established the Plymouth Colony.
Today it has been turned into a museum and it even has a working farm. To visit it, go to the 5816 Clarendon Road address in the Canarsie neighborhood of East Flatbush, Brooklyn. The house was originally constructed by Wouter van Twiller, a Dutch official, back in 1636.
Some 16 years later in 1652, Wouter van Twiller was recalled to Amsterdam and the house was sold to Dutch immigrant Pieter Claesen Wyckoff. The house remained in the Wyckoff family for centuries until a private buyer purchased it. Over the decades sections have been added to the original house such as a small kitchen in the 1700s and an enlarged portion to the house in the 1800s.
The Wyckoff House & Association, Inc., was created in 1937 by the family as a means of protecting the property from potential destruction. The home was then repurchased in 1961.
A few years later it was offered up as a donation to the Historic House Trust of the New York City Parks Department. In 1965, the house also became the first one in New York City to achieve designated landmark status. Lovingly restored, in 2001, it was finally opened to the general public.
If up in NYC, this is one place to view.
Photo: Wyckoff House in 1800s.
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