Inside the House

Preserving Walden and Wallkill Valley's rich past.

The Meeting Room

The Society uses the Meeting Room as our main meeting area. We meet on the third Wednesday of the month in the Spring and Fall; with special events in Summer. Meetings are open to the public.

The shallow working fireplace is one of three on this floor set triangularly back-to-back. There is a huge stone base in the cellar that supports these fireplaces. The three flues come together in a common chimney, part of which you will be able to see in an upstairs bedroom. The fireplace had been partially destroyed when this house was converted into two apartments; the Society had it rebuilt as part of the restoration of the house. The mantel was salvaged from an old house near Pine Bush that was being demolished.

The copper kettle, a gift from Mr. Joseph Trickett, one of the founding members, is hanging on a cooking crane. The crane and andirons are early 18th century fireplace equipment.

The Dining Room

The dining room is also called the Schrade Room because of a large monetary donation given by the Schrade Family for the restoration of the room. Chair rails were copied from a small piece that was still in place on the north wall. The furnishings in this room are of the Empire Period. One of the distinguishing features of this period can be seen on the sideboard, the use of animal paw designs on the legs of the furniture and animal heads with nose rings as drawer pulls. On the top of the side board are two rare knife boxes that date to about 1790. The design in the cover is inlaid wood, not painted; the latch and feet are finely wrought silver.

Also on the sideboard is a Staffordshire platter with a Hudson River scene on it (or a canton bowl given by Mrs. Embler-Hill in memory of G.S. Millspaugh).

Over the sideboard is a portrait of Dr. David Fowler (1755-1835), an early Newburgh physician. The other portrait is that of Capt. Thomas W. Bradley, a member of the famed "Orange Blossoms"--Company H (Walden) of the 124th regiment of New York State Volunteers raised during the Civil War and later a great benefactor of the Village of Walden.

Other items of interest:

• Sheraton card table with reeded legs

• Empire mahogany dining room chairs with lyre backs

• Box on legs is an early wine/brandy cabinet

Front Hall

The Dutch double door and side-lights (windows) are original to the house. The door knocker is of the period of Mr. Walden's ownership. The stone exterior that you see today was covered with stucco when the Society purchased the building in 1959. The stucco was removed and the stonework pointed up as part of the restoration.

The large closet-like piece of furniture is a Dutch kas that had belonged to the Van Wyck family of New Hurley, Ulster County. It was used to store linens, blankets, and similar items. It dates to about 1800.

Large Upstairs Bedroom

The master bedroom has Empire furniture. The sleigh bed and matching bureau are part of the Nicholl Collection. The elegant baby carriage, circa 1878, boasts of leather side curtains, which can be dropped down to protect the baby from bad weather or rolled up inside the hood on fair weather days. Mr. Fred C. Gridley, founder of the Gridley Furniture house on Municipal Square, was pushed in this carriage by his mother.

Note: The three fireplace flues come together into one common chimney on this floor.

Other items of interest:

• sewing table, whose drawer can be pushed from either side, is very light weight so that a woman could easily move it nearer to her chair.

• children's toys

• an early baby walker

Small Upstairs Bedroom

The maple four-poster bed, circa 1790s, has a rope support for the feather mattress. The blanket chest dates from the William and Mary period (late 1600s) and is the most primitive piece in our collection. It is painted with buttermilk paint which was very popular and nearly impossible to remove. The oval box on the closet shelf is a wallpaper-covered hat box. This room displays some of the Society's small collection of clothing.

Other items:

• tole tin box

• candle stand with spider foot base

• 18th century wooden hooded cradle

The Living Room
(Embler-Hill Memorial Room)

Mrs. Muriel Embler-Hill provided the funds, and supervised the restoration and decoration of this room. Many of the fine antiques on display here were given by Mrs. Hill in memory of her friends and neighbors. The furnishings are a mixture of periods.

The Bohemian glass jars on the mantel were given in memory of Mr. C. Fred Fowler. Mrs. Hill was Muriel Gregory before marrying and when she died, she bequeathed the Society the beautiful Dutch lowboy from her Gregory family.

Other items of interest include the wing chair, the Federal style convex mirror, and the slant-top desk signed by Mr. Thomas Burling, a furniture maker noted for his desks.

The melodeon, given by Mr. Joseph Trickett, was a popular parlor instrument of the mid-1800s. It is a reed organ; the pedals must be pumped to produce the air supply.

The embroidered fireplace screen is adjustable. The sofa is from the Victorian period. The secretary is Empire; it is from the Nicholl collection. A few pieces of Rockingham china are displayed on it. The portraits are of Samuel B. and Anna Storm Thomson, grandparents of Bessie Newkirk Estile, an early member of the Society.