In Columbia County, an extensive landscape of 67 acres ranges from secluded woods to rolling lawns and includes a 19th century brick main house filled with lovingly cared for period details and enough outbuildings to hold guests and a multitude of hobbies.
With an address of 3 Pratt Road, the house on the market is in the small hamlet of Malden Bridge near the Kinderhook Creek. While there were already some houses in the area, including this one, before the 1840s, the town grew with the establishment of a paper mill. Even with the increase in industry, by 1860 it was still a modest community. At the time, Gazeteer of New York reported a population of 193 with one church, a sawmill, and tannery in addition to the paper mill.
County records give a date of 1795 for the five-bay-wide house, but research by the late Richard Dorsey, town historian for Chatham, found that some of the earliest deeds for the property were missing, making an exact determination difficult. He did find that the house was likely originally owned by Laurence and Polly Van Valkenburgh, who married in 1805. The couple later sold the house to sibling Sylvester Van Valkenburgh, who in turn sold it to sister Salome and her husband, Joseph Anson Pratt, in 1839. The Pratt family would own the house until the mid 1950s.
The Pratt family ownership is also indicated on 19th century maps of the area. An 1873 map shows the house at the crossroads of the town, near hotels, stores, and other houses. The census record of 1870 shows Joseph and Salome in their 70s and living with a widowed daughter, a grandson, and one servant. Salome died in 1871, but Joseph stayed in the house until his death in 1886 when it passed down to their children.
By the 20th century, the property was home to siblings Harrison, Ann, and Agnes Pratt, grandchildren of Joseph and Salome. Ann and Agnes were in the antique business and, judging by ads of the period, they specialized in early American furniture. Ann got a bit of fame in the 1930s when artist George Luks painted her portrait. “Ann of Malden Bridge” was reproduced in the New York Times with critic Elisabeth Luther Cary describing the work as “an imperious embodiment of life” and “an evocation from which it is difficult to turn away.”…