Hart-Cluett Mansion

Hart-Cluett Mansion
Front (east) elevation, 2009
Hart-Cluett Mansion is located in New York
Hart-Cluett Mansion
Hart-Cluett Mansion is located in the United States
Hart-Cluett Mansion
LocationTroy, NY
Coordinates42°43′46″N 73°41′31″W / 42.72944°N 73.69194°W / 42.72944; -73.69194
Built1827[1]
ArchitectMartin E. Thompson
Architectural styleFederal
Part ofCentral Troy Historic District (ID86001527)
NRHP reference No.73001256
Significant dates
Added to NRHPApril 11, 1973[2]
Designated CPAugust 13, 1986

The Hart-Cluett Mansion is located at 57 Second Street in Troy, New York, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and is a contributing property to the Central Troy Historic District created in 1986. Since the 1950s it, and the Carr Building next door, was the main office of the Rensselaer County Historical Society before the organization changed its name to the Hart Cluett Museum at Historic Rensselaer County in 2019. The house is open to the public as a historic house museum.

Built in 1827 from a most likely created by architect Martin E. Thompson, of New York City,[3] it is a Federal style townhouse with decorated marble and limestone facing considered one of the best and most intact houses in that style in the city of Troy. The house was built by John Bard Colgrove, who moved to Troy, NY in 1826 to oversee the construction of the Hart House. Immediately after constructing the Hart House, Colgrove built the first Rensselaer County Court House (1828–31).[3] It was constructed as a gift for his only child, Betsey Howard Hart, and her husband, Richard P. Hart, by wealthy New York City merchant and banker William Howard, done in a style similar to contemporary mansions there. Those homes have since been demolished, making Troy the only extant place visitors can experience an early 19th-century New York City mansion.[4]

In the late 19th century it became the property of another local businessman, George Cluett, who expanded it in the early 20th century. In 1910, the property was sold to his nephew Albert Cluett and his wife Caroline. Caroline Cluett donated the house to the Historical Society in 1952.

  1. ^ Brooke, Cornelia (September 1971). "National Register of Historic Places nomination, Hart-Cluett Mansion". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Archived from the original on 2011-12-10. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  2. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  3. ^ a b Douglas G. Bucher; Stacy Pomeroy Draper; Walter Richard Wheeler; John G. Waite Associates Architects (2000). The Marble House in Second Street, Biography of a Town House and its Occupants 1825-2000. Rensselaer County Historical Society. ISBN 0-9705302-0-X.
  4. ^ "RCHS: The Hart-Cluett House". Rensselaer County Historical Society. Archived from the original on 2008-12-30.