Madam Brett Homestead

Infobox_nrhp | name = Madam Catharyna Brett Homestead
nrhp_type =

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caption = Front side of the house in 2006
location = 50 Van Nydeck Ave., Beacon, NY
nearest_city =
lat_degrees = 41
lat_minutes =
lat_seconds =
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 73
long_minutes =
long_seconds =
long_direction = W
area =
built = 1709
architect = Robert Dengee
architecture =
added = December 12th, 1976
visitation_num =
visitation_year =
refnum = 76001212
governing_body = Melzingah Chapter, DAR The Madame Brett Homestead is an early 18th-century home located in the city of Beacon, New York, USA. It is the oldest standing building in the region (Dutchess County) and has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places since 1976.

The homestead is named for Catheryna Rombout Brett (1687 - 1764). She inherited the land on which the house stands from her father Francis Rombout, who in turn had purchased it from the Wappani Indians. After marrying her husband, the British Navy lieutenant Roger Brett in 1703, Madame Brett moved settle on the land in the summer of 1708. The home was built in 1709 and it became the home of the first white woman to settle in the Hudson River highlands. It was subsequently occupied by her and her decedents until 1954, spanning a total of 7 generations.

During the American Revolutionary War, the building was used for as a shelter and storage facility by the Americans. Revolutionary leaders such as George Washington, the Marquis de La Fayette, and Baron von Steuben are said to have been guests in the house.

In 1800, Catheryna Rombout Brett's great granddaughter Alice Schenck Teller purchased the house from her widowed mother and remodeled it together with her husband Isaac Teller. After the death of Isaac Teller, the house was renamed "Teller's Villa" and operated as a boarding house.

In 1954, the building was considered for demolition to make room for a Supermarket. Instead, it was purchased by the Melzingah chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution which continued to operate it as a museum, which preserves a total of 17 rooms, as well as original furnishings and a collection of China-trade porcelain.

Location

The Madame Brett Homestead is located near Fishkill Creek, its street address is: 50 Van Nydeck Avenue, Beacon, New York 12508, USA.

ee also

*List of Registered Historic Places in Dutchess County, New York

References and external links

* [http://www.geocities.com/melzingah/id5.htm Madam Brett Homestead - Melzingah Chapter House, DAR]
* [http://cityguide.pojonews.com/fe/Heritage/stories/he_madam_brett_homestead.asp Article in the Poughkeepsie Journal (2006)]
* [http://www.spackenkillschools.org/nassau/hhv2/mbh.html School Essay]
* [http://www.cityofbeacon.org/Tour/TourRegionalAttractions.htm#Madam%20Brett%20Homestead Madam Brett Homestead tourism information]