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The Country Squire B&B at 251 Allen Street
is a 21-room Victorian in the Queen Anne style. Built in 1900,
it was designed by architect M.J. O'Connor as a rectory. It
subsequently served as a convent for the sisters of St. Mary's
Academy. In 1930 the house was purchased by the Eigo family
and continued to serve five-generations of Eigo/Travers until
2004. After the death of Mim Traver (a former President of
the Hudson City Council), the house was sold; renovations
for The Country Squire B&B began in May, 2004.
Today the house is once again a single-family
residence after having gone through a 70-year succession of
adaptations as a multiple-family dwelling. Fortunately nearly
all of the original detail that had been removed over the
years had been stored away in the basement and back studio.
A treasure trove of doors, woodwork, trim, moldings, locks,
hinges, doorknobs, and leaded glass panels were re-installed
or used for other aspects of the recent restoration. The house
features beautiful parquet floors throughout the first and
second floors, leaded glass, stained glass, an imposing mahogany
stairway, five fireplaces, pocket-doors, 10-foot ceilings
and even the original wooden ice boxes in the basement.
These fortuitous finds were the result of the
sensitivity of the prior owners who were insightful enough
to work around the structure as their needs changed. To them,
I am very grateful.
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