Woodhull Road, Forestport, New York

 

I've been thinking about this 1802 blue Victorian house since last Halloween and it's still on the market for this one. My draft notes are "this house can't make up its mind what it is" and "cute dollhouse in the attic." I should have also written "Grover Cleveland connection."

If those three things didn't make you want to read more, I don't know what else will. 😀

At first glance, it looks like a farmhouse, with its original hardwood floors and simple detailing.

Then you step into the living room and see the beautiful arches between rooms and over the bay window.

If it were mine, I'd paint the walls a darker green and make it all a little more cozy and Victorian. (Vickitorian, anyway.)

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That means that this large dining room would pull double duty as a library, as seen above.

The kitchen currently feels farmhouse and utilitarian.

It would be pretty in a moody dark green with brass accents, like this:

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I think I'd ditch those barstools, though. They're too rustic and the counter doesn't look deep enough for them, anyway.

The next couple of rooms are why this house stayed on my mind: 

The dark wood and white paint lends itself well to a design like this:

{William McClure}

And, since it's almost Halloween, I'll show you the more "atmospheric" side of the room, too:

The house has four bedrooms and two bathrooms in 3,330 square feet.

There's that cute dollhouse in the attic that I mentioned. Is it weird that it's the only thing up there? This house definitely has Halloween vibes.

It's located almost across the street from the Black River, in the foothills of the Adirondack mountains.

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It's also located smack dab between the Forestport Presbyterian Church and Fellowship Hall and the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Old photos show the Presbyterian church next to a house that is similar in style to ours.

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More old photos (Google street view) also show that the blue Victorian wasn't blue in 2009:

Given that the house is between those churches, I'm guessing it was originally a parsonage for one of them. 

I don't have definitive proof of that. I was hoping the 1909 Sanborn map would label it, but it didn't.

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What I do know is that President Grover Cleveland's brother William was the minister at the First Presbyterian Church in 1884. Their father Richard was also a minister. The Cleveland home was next to his church in Caldwell, New Jersey:

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If William Cleveland did live in our similarly styled blue Victorian, he probably felt right at home.

The listing is here.