Inventory #

230

Large restored 1760s home.on a breathtaking 90 acres of rolling meadow and woodlands in Livingston township.

Panoramic views to the Catskill and Berkshire Mountains. Property includes an authentic early Dutch barn, 3 bay garage with studio apartment, small guest house, Gunite pool on landscaped grounds.

The finished attic is like a separate apartment: a bedroom, living area, walk-in closet, and half bath. There is a finished cellar gym and wine cellar (150 cases) and workshop.

The property is bordered in part by a large agricultural trust (David Rockefeller), insuring natural preservation

County:

Columbia

Address:

CR 31

Town:

Livingston

School:

Red Hook Schools

Price:

$2,995,000

Sq Ft:

5738 sq ft

Lot Size:

92+/- acres

Year Built:

c. 1760s

Type:

Colonial residence

Pool:

Pool - yes, inground

Firplaces:

Fireplaces - 4 plus 2 gas

Pourch / Deck:

Poruch / Deck - yes, front, rear

Views:

Views - Catskills, Berkshires

Zoning:

Zoning - Resid, Agr.

Type:

Residence

Rooms all:

18

Bedrooms:

5

Bathrooms:

6

Other Buildings:

Other buildings - Dutch barn, garage/studio

History

John Bay (1743-1818) was born in Havre de Grace, Maryland, the son of William Bay (born about 1716 in Ireland and emigrated to Maryland). He was educated for the law, graduated from Princeton College and moved to Albany where, in 1774-6, he was a founding member of the Committee of Safety, Protection and Correspondence, for the First Ward - such committees were established throughout the colonies at the beginning of the Revolution to organize opposition to the British. He had married Ann Williams (1745-1845) and in the late 1770s moved to Claverack, then in Albany County but now in Columbia County, where he was recorded as sponsoring a baptism in 1781. He is believed to have owned this, the first John Bay house, by 1779. He had established a law office before 1785, about the time he began construction of a larger, brick, home in Claverack, just across the road from his first house. In his law office William W. Van Ness and Ambrose Spencer learned to be lawyers, going on to illustrious careers. Bay's daughter Jane married Van Ness, whose daughter then married John Bay's son, Dr. William Bay, who moved to Albany in 1810 and achieved a successful medical practice. In that year (1785) John Bay was the first elected Clerk for the City of Hudson. In 1786 he was admitted to the new Columbia County Bar. In 1788, and again in 1794-95, he was a member of the New York State Assembly. In 1788 he was a delegate to the New York State Convention for adopting the U.S. Constitution (as an Anti-Federalist he voted against it). Apparently changing his mind about the Constitution, in 1792 he was a Presidential Elector. One source characterized John Bay as " an able and accomplished lawyer, a man of courteous and cultivated manners, while his home was an abode of a most generous and open-hearted hospitality." He died in Claverack, Columbia County, in 1818, his wife dying in 1845.