Hamilton Grange literally up in the air for June 7 move
Hamilton Grange is on the move -- and that's no easy task for a 298-ton, 206-year old house wedged between a Romanesque church and a 1911 apartment building.
The house -- Alexander Hamilton's house to be precise -- is currently jacked up three stories in the air on thick wood beams in such a way that "it looks like they're playing Jenga," as one amused gawker pronounced into his cell phone while watching the work Friday afternoon.
The gawkers are indeed welcome on Convent Avenue, map, as the crews slide the planks in and jack up the house, slide the planks in, and jack up the house, leading up to the point this afternoon where they will slide the house out into the street. The next step is a delicate move around the corner at 141st, down a short block and then a right turn into St. Nicholas Park, map. That move, around the corner and down the hill, is set for June 7, from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
This past Friday, NewYorkology was lucky enough to take part in a tour of the exterior of the site with Stephen Spaulding, the chief of the architectural preservation division of the National Park Service's northeast region.
Here's a video clip of Spaulding explaining part of the Jenga-like process:
The Federal-style house was designed by City Hall-architect John McComb Jr. though it's clear that Hamilton himself had a hand in the process Spaulding said, as there is evidence of changes made during construction. "The house really reflects Hamilton," Spaulding said.
Hamilton, a Founding Father, first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and co-author of The Federalist Papers also founded the Bank of New York and the New York Post.
The Grange, named for Hamilton's grandfather's estate in Scotland, was the only house Hamilton ever owned, and unfortunately he only lived there two years as his plans were interrupted by that infamous 1804 duel with Aaron Burr across the Hudson in Weehawken.
The current move, which will keep the Grange on Hamilton's original property, aims to return it to a setting that replicates the original, which had front and back porches surrounded by greenery. The house - which was originally located on West 143rd Street (about a block and a half away from its current site,) was first moved in 1889 to save it from demolition. Eleven years after that first move, there was already public pressure to move it back. "It's almost a traditional use of the Grange to try to move it," Spaulding joked to his tour group, which was thick with experts in Manhattan history and architecture, including Manhattan borough historian Michael Miscione who assembled the group.
The original location afforded Hamilton views of the Hudson and Harlem Rivers, and was situated on the main road linking Albany to New York City. By carriage, it would have taken Hamilton abut an hour and half to reach Manhattan, Spaulding said. (The new location offers no river views, but you can see the cranes constructing the new Yankee Stadium.)
Behind Hamilton Grange's current location, the view from Hamilton Terrace affords a view literally under the house.
The video:
Spaulding said the preparations for the move have yielded all sorts of great surprises, such as the discovery that the workers in the 1889 move saved a lot of the original materials, if not in their original location. "All of his original stairs are in there, the original tread, the original trim." he said. "We won't be restoring those stairs, we'll be repairing them, putting them back in."
(Spaulding also shared an old carpenters' trick: If you're trying to date a building "pull up the front threshold to look for coins because that's how carpenters used to date their work.")
The new location:
Once the move is complete, it will take the National Park Service about a year to get everything fixed up and ready for public access, including an elevator allowing for handicap access. See the NPS updates page for more information.
