Monell Mansion Preview Tour Opportunity

One of Newburgh’s architectural gems – 288 Grand Street – a possible Frederick Clarke Withers designed home in the A.J. Downing tradition – is in need.

On Thursday, September 27th at 10am, the City of Newburgh will open the mansion as a preview for the silent auction.  This Broker’s Opening is a rare opportunity to connect buyers to this magnificent home.

Please come to photograph the home, learn its history and write about the situation so that we can find the right person to restore it.  It’s important that we get the word out about the urgent needs of our historic district. Every architectural rarity that we lose further destroys the fabric of our community.

The Newburgh area has a rich history as well as great natural beauty. It may be that the confluence of history and beauty caused the extraordinary flowering of architecture here that had a national impact. A flourishing 19th century economy was a magnet for many of the era’s most influential architects. Andrew Jackson Downing, a Newburgh native, established the nation’s first architectural collaborative with his colleagues A.J. Davis, Calvert Vaux and Frederick Clarke Withers, at Highland Gardens, his nursery and estate once located in the heart of Newburgh’s Historic East End.

RSVP to the Department of Planning & Development at (845) 569-9400 or via email at ckain@cityofnewburgh-ny.gov

5 Comment

  • Oh wow, I would love to see the inside of the mansion. Do you know if they will allow just anyone in, or is it just real estate brokers? If there are any brokers out there that would like to let me tag along and take pictures, I’d be very appreciative!

    I really hope that someone with the right ideas buys this house.

  • Oh wow, I would love to see the inside of the mansion. Do you know if they will allow just anyone in, or is it just real estate brokers? If there are any brokers out there that would like to let me tag along and take pictures, I’d be very appreciative!

    I really hope that someone with the right ideas buys this house.

  • Colleen, I can probably get you in there with me at 10am. The Historical Society is on the list. Call if you have any questions. 845-549-3321

    Johanna

  • Colleen, I can probably get you in there with me at 10am. The Historical Society is on the list. Call if you have any questions. 845-549-3321

    Johanna

  • Every time I pass this old house, I pray that someone will come along and bring her back to what she once was. Or at least closer to that than her current condition.

    It’s strange that there isn’t a better history of this place available somewhere, though. I’ve seen it advertised as Downing design, a Vaux design, and a Withers design, but I’m not sure any of those attributions are correct. Calvert Vaux seems the most likely architect to me, simply because he is mentioned in a book by Francis Kowsky as designing a house for Judge Monell in the early 1850s. Then again, I doubt this house is that old. One day someone will definitively answer the question, I suppose. Till then I’m keeping my fingers crossed that whoever gets the house will love it as much it deserves to be loved.