2011 Preservation Awards

Each year the Friends of Historic Kingston honor individuals who have demonstrated a deep appreciation for preserving our architectural heritage. Three Annual Preservation Awards were presented for 2011.

194 West Chestnut Street:

The house is one of five residences in Kingston that were designed by Calvert Vaux, the noted nineteenth century architect and landscape designer. It was built circa 1890 for Frank Griffith, who owned a large feed and grain business in Rondout. Griffith’s daughter, Anna, and her husband Arthur Sheldon, who was a founder of the Rotary Club, lived here for many years.  In 1977, Elizabeth and Taylor Thompson bought the house which had been empty for several decades and deteriorated to the point that there was a large gaping hole in the roof.   Nevertheless, because the house afforded a panoramic view of the Hudson River, several people put in bids to buy it with the intention of tearing it down and putting  another structure on the property.  The Thompsons, however, intended to restore it. Their total restoration of the house included all the woodwork and salvaging the original staircase.  They also constructed a carriage house to match the design of the house and completely restored the landscape as well.

60 Elmendorf Street

The original part of this wood frame house was built c. 1860 in the post and beam style. Numerous additions were built up to circa 1920. It was originally built as a single family home, but had been turned into an illegal three-family home long before it was condemned and abandoned in 2005. The condition of the building was beyond poor and it was a candidate for demolition.  The extensive restoration was carried out under the supervision of contractor Emerson DuBois who installed a new roof, new electrical wiring and plumbing, new boilers and insulation throughout the entire building. The two-story, glass- enclosed sleeping porches were raised 14 inches with hydraulic jacks and the foundation stabilized to prevent the porches from breaking away from the main house. All of the original flooring and windows and most of the doors were preserved. The original clapboard siding was exposed and sanded down completely before painting. The end result: two large sun-filled apartments, each with three to four bedrooms .

93 Wall Street

Extensive gardens are hidden behind the house that has gone down in local history as the only building not burned by the British on October 16, 1777.   The gardens were originally designed in 1938 by the Director of the Harvard Landscape School for Dr. Bibby, a pediatrician, and his wife. But the Bibby’s didn’t follow the exact plans. They created a large stone patio and the framework for the existing 5 sections of the garden. In the 1960’s, Dr. George Bushnell and his wife Anne, hired Herbert Cutler to restructure the gardens. But by 1995, when Dr. Wilson Meaders and Suzanne Zissu bought the house, the lines of the original design were lost and the gardens were in ruin. Wilson and Suzanne are self-taught gardeners but, nevertheless, they painstakingly and successfully recreated the gardens based on the Bibby’s original design. Some of the outstanding features include a linden tree allee, a boxwood maze, a cutting garden, a long garden in the center with a pool bordered by perennial beds and boxwoods, and an orchard with apple trees and, surprisingly, redwoods. The redwoods were inspired by the one in Herb Cutler’s glorious green garden on St. James Street.