37 Nott Road, Rexford

SBL #269.20-1-1
Owner: Susan D. & Danielle Senecal






































































(Photo circa 1905)

Built by Nathaniel Holmes, the earliest section of the house is to the right of the
main entrance. The two story structure shown in the photograph, was built in the
Federal style in about 1820 and a Victorian addition has been built in the rear.


A BIT OF HISTORY
By J ohn L. Scherer
(May 28, 2010)
The Nathaniel Holmes & Olde Nott Far m House
Tells Its Stor y

Old houses have so many inter esting stor ies to tell. Thr ough the year s they have
sur vived violent weather and gener ations of families who owned and cher ished them.
They speak of how our ancestor s once lived without centr al heat or indoor plumbing
and they r eflect the tastes and pr efer ences of pr evious owner s who may have made
alter ations thr ough the year s. An old house can be r ead like a book and sometimes you
can even sense the pr esence of for mer owner s.

Recently in conjunction with an up coming May 16 tour of histor ic houses in
Clifton Par k I had occasion to r esear ch a home on Nott Road in Rexfor d. The home is
owned by Wayne and Susan Senecal. They acquir ed it in 1980, and later subdivided a
por tion of the or iginal far m land for the development now known as Olde Nott Far m.

The or iginal house is actually a small wing to the r ight of the fr ont door . This
or iginal one r oom building with loft above and salt box addition at the r ear was
constr ucted sometime between 1790 and 1800 by Nathaniel Holmes (1750-1828) and his
wife Jane. They came to Rexfor d fr om Nor th Castle, Westchester County, New Yor k
some time after the 1790 census was taken when they wer e living in Westchester and
befor e the 1800 census was taken and they wer e in their home in Rexfor d.

Nathaniel and Jane had a lar ge family and one wonder s how they managed to
exist in such small quar ter s. They had at least thr ee sons: Eldad; Solomon; and
Cassander , and pr obably other childr en. One can imagine the family gather ed ar ound
the lar ge living r oom fir eplace, the sole sour ce of heat, on a cold winter day. This
or iginal fir eplace still exists along with the or iginal paneling. Not only was it a sour ce of
war mth for the family it also ser ved as the kitchen r ange.

Some time in the 1820s a lar ge addition was added to the or iginal house and it
shows the affluence that Nathaniel had achieved. Built in the Feder al style popular at
the time, it is tr uly a gr and house with outstanding feder al moldings and fir eplace
mantels. The new two stor y addition added a lar ge side hall with a gr and stair way with
two r ooms off the hall on both floor s. Fir eplaces on both the fir st and second floor s
wer e used to heat the house. A two stor y shed type por tico or iginally gr aced the fr ont of
the house. The high ceilings, exquisitely car ved feder al moldings and gr and open
stair way contr ast with the simplicity of the or iginal c. 1795 far mhouse.

Nathaniel died in December 1828 shor tly after he completed this new addition
and is bur ied in a small family cemeter y acr oss Nott Road fr om the house. Another
stone in the cemeter y is for his son Solomon who died in Mar ch of 1828, and the only
other stone is for Ruth, wife of Casander Holmes who died in 1830. Amazingly, this
cemeter y is a r ecent discover y for the towns pr eser vation commission, and has now
been added to the inventor y of town cemeter ies.

Accor ding to deeds in the Sar atoga County Cour t House, Nathaniels son,
Cassander , was given the r ight to r emain in the house for the r est of his life. This was
gr anted to him by his br other , Eldad Holmes (1784-1869) and Nathaniels widow, Jane,
who had moved to Johnstown, New Yor k. Eldad was a pr ominent New Yor k City
mer chant. He founded and ser ved as the fir st pr esident of the Tr adesmans Bank in
New Yor k City in 1823.

Cassander must have died by 1845 because his sur viving br other , Eldad, sold the
far m to Howar d Nott that year . The far m at that time consisted of two hundr ed and
sixteen acr es. Howar d Nott (1808-1884) was the son of Eliphalet Nott (1773-1866), long
time Pr esident of Union College fr om 1804 to 1866, and inventor of the fir st stove for
anthr acite coal. In fact Howar d manufactur ed his father s patent stoves in Albany
under the fir m name of H. Nott & Co. It was Howar d who gave his name to the r oad
that now passes by the old house.

After Howar ds death in 1884, his son, Eliphalet Nott II, sold the home to Fr ank
Beer s who added a lar ge Victor ian addition to the r ear . Passing thr ough sever al mor e
families over the year s the house was eventually acquir ed by Har r y and Dor othy Winne
in 1940. The Winnes hir ed well-known local r estor ation ar chitect, Paul Schaeffer of
Niskayuna, to r estor e their house. Paul Schaefer (1909-1996), famed Adir ondack
conser vationist and natur alist also designed and built homes. He r estor ed many homes
in the Schenectady Stockade and was involved in cr eating the Stockade Histor ic
Distr ict, the fir st National Register Histor ic Distr ict in New Yor k. He also built a
number of r eplica Dutch Colonial and Colonial Revival homes in the ar ea.

The Winnes sold the house to Har r y W. and Jean Baker in 1958 who in tur n sold
it to Ar thur and Louise Adams in 1966. The Senecals acquir ed the house fr om Mr s.
Adams in 1980 and continue to pr eser ve and car e for this histor ic tr easur e. They have
also r estor ed the fr ont por tico that had been r emoved at some point in the homes past.

This home along with other s will be featur ed in a tour of histor ic Clifton Par k
homes on Sunday, May 16 fr om Noon until 5 PM. Tickets ar e available at the Town
Hall or the day of the tour at the Histor ic Gr ooms Taver n. These histor ic buildings all
have their own unique stor ies to tell.