Real Estate: 288 Grand Street Mansion

This mansion at 288 Grand Street is listed for $199,000 and the owner seems eager to sell. It was built in  c.1840 and around 1889 it was home to E. A. Walsh.

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You can see that the home was remolded, perhaps sometime in the 1890’s. It is rumored to be an original A.J. Downing house, just found out it’s a Frederick Clarke Withers. The house boasts amazing original details like original wordwork, built ins, floors, tiles, fireplaces, hardware, and even a wine cellar in the huge basement! There is also a carriage house that might be salvageable. The details of this home go on and on. Unfortunately, it was made into 3 units, although that can not continue to be the case as it would ruin the architectural integrity of the home. A person who took a recent tour guesses that there are over 10 bedrooms in this home, truly making it a mansion. If you know anyone who is a historic preservationist and wants to buy a home, pass this along! Hopefully it can avoid the cutting board! See below for pictures:

 

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5 Comment

  • The house was designed by Frederick Clarke Withers and I believe Downing’s widow moved into this home after she remarried. The front “turret” was later design by Frank Estabrook and is not original to the house.

  • Thanks for the clarification. I love that the original fence is still there in the front yard!

  • Frederick Clarke WIthers did design a home for Judge Monell and his second wife, Caroline DeWint Downing, but this is definitely not that house. The Gothic Victorian house he designed for the Monells is called “Eustatia,” and it still stands on Monell Place in Beacon. That’s where Caroline and John Monell lived after their marriage. They were still connected to Newburgh in many ways but no longer lived on the west side of the Hudson. Withers did not come to America until the 1850s, by the way. Francis Kowsky, in his book about Calvert Vaux, notes that Vaux was hired to design a house called “The Glen” for Judge Monell in 1853-54, but almost nothing is known about that building, including its exact location This may possibly be that house being referred to, but I’m not convinced of that personally. In any case, this particular house was not designed by Downing or Withers. Coincidentally, Andrew Jackson Downing’s mother in law, Mrs. DeWint, who was lost with Downing during the explosion of the Steamer Henry Clay, was also Frederick Clarke WIthers’ mother in law. Withers was first married to Caroline Downing’s younger sister, Emily DeWint.

  • I just hope that they not only renovate this but live on the premises. I would also like to be a tenant.!! This is the only neighborhood I really like of Newburgh…….love the river view!

  • My husband’s family lived in this home in the 1950’s. His father was a physician, and he had his office on the first floor of the home. My husband is one of 11 children so this home was just perfect for them. Hope someone does want to restore this.