By:Brittany Conlon, Irene Nicholas, Dina Thomas, Preety Saran
Section: 8
Located in Orange County, New York, The Bull Stone House is a ten-room stone house that took thirteen years to complete. William Bull and Sarah Wells built the house in 1722; they were among the first settlers in Orange County. The house is extremely durable, and even endured an earthquake in 1728 during its construction. It is one of the oldest intact houses in all of New York, and it has one of only a few hundred surviving Dutch barns of the New World on its property. The house and its accompanying barn are also on the National Register of Historic Places.
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After researching, we found that many buildings in New York as well as New Jersey were built by the Dutch. For example, the Bull Stone House, one of the oldest intact houses in all of New York, was built by Dutch settlers. The house was built by married couple, William Bull and Sarah Wells, in 1722. The Bull Stone House is located in Hamptonburgh, New York and has one of only a few hundred surviving Dutch barns in the New World on its property. The stone house which has ten rooms took thirteen years to complete and endured an earthquake in 1728 during its construction.
The house’s builders, Bull and Wells, had received the land which the Bull Stone House is built on as a wedding gift and worked together to build a home and life with each other. Bull was a stonemason and Wells had prior experience with building as she had previously built her own log cabin at the age of 16.
They both worked towards the construction of the house which reflects the more progressive concepts the Dutch adopted towards gender roles. Both husband and wife had active roles during the Bull Stone House’s construction, rather than the societal norm of having only men do the more physically strenuous work.
The house stands as a symbol of feminism by commemorating then eighteen-year-old Sarah Wells’ trek along the Hudson River, during which she courageously led an entourage of Native American guides and carpenters. She received 100 acres as payment for claiming the land; the Bull Stone House that she built with her husband is a physical manifestation of her achievements.
Works Cited
“Bull Run.” Civil War Trust. Council on Foreign Relations, n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2016.
“Bull Stone House.” Bull Stone House. The William Bull and Sarah Wells Stone House Association, n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2016.
Sperling, Bert. “Best Places to Live in Hamptonburgh, New York.” Sperling’s Best Places. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2016.