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The Pruyn House
The Pruyn House on Old Niskayuna Road in Colonie never faced a bulldozer, but it was unquestionably heading for a confrontation of that sort.
“Fred Field called this house a leap of faith when he convinced the board to buy it for $120,000 in 1983,” said Pruyn House curator Diane Morgan, referring to Colonie’s longtime town supervisor, the driving force behind the purchase. “Now, 26 years later, we have this wonderful house on this wonderful piece of property. I think it turned out to be a great idea.”
The house, once home to Casparus F. Pruyn and his large family, was built around 1830. The white, two-story home is characterized by a late Federal/early Greek Revival style, and is five bays wide and rectangular in plan. It has a flat roof, and the only real significant structural change to the home is a two-story, one-bay-wide addition over the back entrance.</p>
Posted on October 25, 2009.
The Pruyn House, located on Old Niskayuna Road in Colonie, looks very much like it did in the 1830s soon after it was built for Casparus F. Pruyn and his family.
The Pruyn House, like the sign says, serves as the Town of Colonie’s historical and cultural arts center.
Diane Morgan, curator at the Pruyn House in the Town of Colonie, checks out one of the upstairs bedrooms.
Pruyn House curator Diane Morgan, shown here in the front parlor, says the chandelier in that room was one of the few items still left in the home when the Town of Colonie purchased the building in 1983.
Pruyn House curator Diane Morgan looks at a display case documenting the history of Casparus F. Pruyn and his family.
Diane Morgan of the Pruyn House looks at the clock in the home’s main hallway. It dates back to the early 19th century and is probably the oldest artifact in the home.
A photograph of Robert H. Pruyn, the son of Casparus and ambassador to Japan during the U.S. Civil War, hangs in the second-floor hallway of the house.
The beehive oven built with the home in the 1830s is still on display in the basement of the Pruyn House.
The Verdoy Schoolhouse, built in 1910, is an example of the many one-room schoolhouses that were built during that time period in the Town of Colonie. It was moved to the Pruyn House site in 1995.
The Buhrmaster Barn, originally built on the banks of the Mohawk River early in the 19th century, was moved to Route 7 in 1911 and to the Pruyn House in 1987.
The gardens at the Pruyn House in the Town of Colonie also attract visitors to the site. This shot was taken earlier this summer.
