A Livingston House with a Hudson River View

Tracing the Nearly 185 Year History of a Federal Style Home in Athens, New York

By Carol Robinson
Overview

A Livingston House with a Hudson River View	Page
Brief History of Athens	1
Owners of Anthony Rutgers Livingston Hs.	2
Influence of Architectural Trends	4
Rumored Architect	6
Description of Anthony Rutgers Livingston Hs.	7
Exterior Features	7
Engineer's Structural Summary	8
Interior Features	8
Emily Brunner's Memories - Audio
Introduction and Family History	0
Athens Lighthouse 1930	2
Livingston House as a Rental in 1930	3
Babysitting at the Livingston House	6
The Livingston House Dumbwaiter	9

and designed with the majestic simplicity of Federal style architecture, the brick house at 12 South Water Street in Athens, New York offers an impressive view, whether a person is seated beneath the dwelling’s Greek columned portico or watching the shoreline from a seaworthy vessel. To the admiring glances of household visitors or from the distant gaze of passengers aboard a riverboat, the home appears timeless, as if unaltered since ancient Greek and Roman culture influenced America’s artistic, political, and philisophical ideas in the nation’s early history. Yet the pristine beauty hides numerous internal and external modifications brought by changes in owners' needs, technology, climate, circumstance, and fashion. To appreciate the home’s resilience amid numerous updates necessitates not only an understanding of architectural trends, but research into the values of past and present owners as well as the local economy . . .