The Van Alen House or Luykas Van Alen House is a historic Dutch brick farmhouse built in approximately 1737 in the Hudson River valley. Located on NY 9H, about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Kinderhook in Columbia County, New York and 2 miles (3.2 km) south of US 9, the house is a National Historic Landmark.
The "Van Alen House" and its farm are believed to have served as the inspiration for homestead of the Van Tassel family in Washington Irving's short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Irving was a close friend of Kinderhook native (and U.S. President) Martin Van Buren, a neighbor of the "Van Alen House" and a frequent guest in the town. The house is currently operated by the Columbia County Historical Society as a historic house museum showing 18th century Colonial life.
It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1967.
Read more about Van Alen House: Further Reading
Famous quotes containing the words van and/or house:
“‘Ouch’ is not independent of social training. One has only to prick a foreigner to appreciate that it is an English word.”
—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)
“In my Father’s house are many mansions.”
—Bible: New Testament Jesus, in John, 14:2.