Mount Gulian
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Mount Gulian manor house
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Location | Town of Fishkill, NY |
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Nearest city | Beacon |
Coordinates | 41°31′17″N 73°58′49″W / 41.52139°N 73.98028°WCoordinates: 41°31′17″N 73°58′49″W / 41.52139°N 73.98028°W |
Built | 1730s |
Architect | Philip and Guilian Verplanck |
Architectural style | Colonial |
NRHP Reference # | 82001152 |
Added to NRHP | 1982 |
Mount Gulian is a reconstructed 18th century Dutch manor house on the Hudson River in the town of Fishkill, New York, United States of America. The original house served as the headquarters of Major General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben during the American Revolutionary War and was the place where the Society of the Cincinnati was founded. The site is registered as a National Historic Landmark.
Archeological studies indicate intermittent Native Americans presence since 6,000 BC. The land on which the house stands was purchased from the Wappinger Native Americans by two fur traders, Francis Rombout and Gulian Verplanck on August 8, 1683. In exchange for 85,000 acres (344 square kilometers) of land, they paid about 1,250 dollars in goods. The Rombout Patent which formally granted the land to Francis Rombout and Gulian Verplanck was issued by King James II of England on October 17, 1685. After Gulian Verplanck's death, his estate was eventually divided among his heirs.
Guilian Verplanck II, a merchant from New York City, received 2,880 acres, 400 of which were on a slope overlooking the Hudson River. He named his estate Mount Gulian, in honor of his grandfather and had the first house on the site built between 1730 and 1740. The building was a small structure with an A-roof. Archaeological evidence suggests it was probably enlarged around 1767 and the characteristic gambrel roof as well as two porches were added between this year and the American Revolutionary War.
During this war, Gulian Verplanck's son Samuel stayed at the house, while his wife Judith Crommelin remained at the family mansion at 3 Wall Street, New York City. In early 1783 Major General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben made Mount Gulian his headquarters. At the same time, George Washington had his headquarters in Hasbrouck House, Newburgh on the opposite side of the Hudson River.