1714 – Preface- Jean Hasbrouck died.

• His youngest son, Jacob, unmarried and living with and caring for his father, inherited Jean’s farm and investments at the age of 26.
• Jacob married Esther Bevier, daughter of patentee Louis Bevier four months later. Esther’s disabled brother, Andries Bevier, lived with them also.
• (Jean’s wife, Anna Deyo had died (1694), as had a daughter and son.  Two daughters were married and living in area communities, and the eldest son, Abraham, had left the region to places unknown.)

 

1721-1722 – Jacob Hasbrouck, son of Jean, built the house we know as ‘The Jean House’.

• Late in 1721, beams were cut from large red and white oak trees, windows and doors fabricated, pine flooring cut, stone and mortar materials gathered. Likely, completion of the house was in 1722.
• Of interest - parts of Patentee Jean’s dwelling may be in Jacob’s house. A long oak beam in the basement that was cut as early as 1677, and likely portions of the south and west walls survive from Jeans house.
• Workers on the construction are unknown, though probably inherited slaves Garret and James were on the work crew.
• Original windows would have been Dutch style; Bolcozijn (two panel with leaded glass) and Cruiscozijn (four panel) windows, (replaced with British style double hung sash windows by Josiah in 1786).
• Jambless fireplaces, similar to the Abraham Hasbrouck House, were incorporated.
• Due to the large scale of the house, the roof structure was an elaborate truss, incorporating two collar beams half-dovetailed into the rafters, along with braces.
• With a center hallway, and four rooms on the first level, the house was both avant-garde and symbolic of Jacob’s wealth.

 

1761 – Jacob Jr. inherited the house and New Paltz lands in his part of Jacob’s (his father) estate.

• Jacob Jr. (age 24) had married Jennetje DuBois (age 19) in 1751; they lived with his parents in the house for ten years. Jacob, Jr. worked the farm and business matters, assumes town leadership positions.
• Made no changes to the house while living there.

1786 – Jacob, Jr. built a new house north of the village on Huguenot Street (still standing).

• Josiah, son of Jacob Jr, married Sarah Decker in 1785.
• Involved in local politics, Josiah had a role in the creation of the Town of New Paltz.
• Josiah ran a store in the north front room.
• Significant changes to the house: Fitted shelves into the store (north front) room, Changed Dutch-style windows to 12/12 double hung sashes, Moved / replaced several fireplaces.

1806 – Josiah moved to Plattekill, purchasing the Terwilliger farm; in 1814 built Locust Lawn there.

 

1811 – Store moved to Main Street – Jean House north room jambless fireplace removed, recessed fireplace in its place with raised paneling added on the fireplace wall.

 

1822 – Jean House, owned by Levi Hasbrouck (who also owns Locust Lawn), unoccupied for possibly twenty-seven years.

 

1851 – Renovations took place.

• New, thin-muntin twelve over twelve windows were installed, preserving the earlier oak frames.
• New doors on the south and east entrances; (only the rear door of the center passageway is original, all use original frames).
• A crude room was added on the second floor, suitable for boarding the hired help.

1861 – Levi died and son Josiah inherited the property.

 

1884 -  Josiah Hasbrouck died.  His sister, Laura Hasbrouck Varick won control of the estate, and in 1886 partitioned the farm and sold it.

 

1886 – The house left the Hasbrouck family, purchased by Jesse Elting, a Huguenot history enthusiast.

 

1893 – Formation of the Huguenot Historical, Patriotic, and Monumental Society, (with the name changed in 1953 to Huguenot Historical Society of New Paltz, NY. Now recognized as Historic Huguenot Street.) The first chairperson of the organization was Jesse Elting.

 

1899 – Jesse Elting sold the house to the Society for use as a museum – to preserve Huguenot architecture and history. Called the “Memorial House” for many years. Museum displays in the two front rooms.

In 2019, when planning an urgently needed roof replacement, discovered was the need to repair the framing, as there were numerous rotted rafter ends. The porch roof structure was rebuilt also.

After those repairs were completed, new Alaskan Cedar shingles were applied to the massive roof in 2020.

New larger gutters, sized to handle the volume of rain from the roof will be installed in 2025.

On the west (rear) wall of the house is the location of the cellar opening. Though it is not the original (that located next to the kitchen door on the south wall), it provides larger access to the cellar for maintenance needs. The deteriorated cellar stairway cover is being replaced in 2024/25.

Part of the cellar cover project is repointing the west wall, with raised mortar points that match the north wall, completed in 2024. Following will be the pointing of the south and east (front) walls. This will bring all the walls to a historically correct stone and mortar appearance.