Upstate

Grab Some Charm With Greene County's Quirky 'Icicle House,' Yours for $295K

This Greene County cottage takes the 19th century picturesque country house ideal to the extreme with bargeboards so elongated that the dwelling has earned the moniker “The Icicle House.”

by Susan De Vries

07/23/2021 5 minute 0

This Greene County cottage takes the 19th century picturesque country house ideal to the extreme with bargeboards so elongated that the dwelling has earned the moniker “The Icicle House.”

Adding to the charm, the house on the market at 47 Oak Hill Road in Durham, N.Y. has bright red board-and-batten siding and its windows are topped with scaled-down versions of the icy ornament. While the address is Durham the house and its neighbors are located in the historic hamlet of Oak Hill. Much of the hamlet, including this property, is included in the Oak Hill National Register Historic District. The district is largely filled with structures from the mid to late 19th century, corresponding to a time of booming industry in the area.

map of oak hill in 1856 — A map from 1856 shows the house as the property of C. Adams. Map by Robert Pearsall Smith via Library of Congress

The nomination speculates that the house dates to circa 1845 although it is possible that it might date to the early 1850s when the property was acquired by inventor and manufacturer Calvin Adams. Born in Oak Hill, Adams moved to Pittsburgh in the 1830s before returning to his hometown and setting up a foundry that manufactured “coffee mills, corn shellers, door trimmings, etc.” according to an 1850s history of Greene County.

An 1856 map of Oak Hill shows Calvin Adams as the owner of a house on the site. But by an 1867 map the house, with its attached barn shown in place, is indicated as the property of W. Paddock. In the late 1850s, Adams had moved back to Pittsburgh and the house passed into the hands of William and Rhoda Paddock.

It’s the Paddock family that is pictured standing in front of the house in a late 19th century photograph with the intricate bargeboard on full display. In the 1880 census, William Paddock is listed as a retired manufacturer living in the house with Rhoda, their adult son and daughter, Rhoda’s mother and a female servant. A brief history of the house included in the listing mentions that William’s signature can still be found on a beam inside the attached barn. It also mentions the intriguing fact that original templates used to make the “icicles” were found inside the walls during the 2008 restoration of the property.

When exactly the locals began referring to the house by its icy nickname is not clear — the earliest written mention dug up so far is in the 1920s.

Its exterior curb appeal is certainly the selling point of the house, although the interior of the roughly 1,825 square foot home does include some appealing wide-planked floorboards and a renovated interior.

There’s a bit of stained glass in the front door which opens into the windowed vestibule. It leads into a living room with a pellet stove and baseboard heating.

In the kitchen, there are two window seats, a beadboard clad island and white cabinets.

There are three bedrooms and one of those has an en suite bath, with one more full bath in the house.

Attached to the house, the former barn offers plenty of space for a workshop or studio.

While the house is set close to the road there are slightly over four acres of woodland included. The land stretches behind the house to Catskill Creek and includes frontage on both sides of the water.

Listed with David Ludwig of Gary DiMauro Real Estate the property is listed at $295,000.