Babcock, Dr. John, House
101 Lasher Rd., Selkirk, NYThe Dr. John Babcock House is significant as a remarkably intact example of pattern book inspired "Tuscan style" domestic architecture in the Town of Bethlehem, Albany County,New York.
The Dr. John Babcock House is significant as a remarkably intact example of pattern book inspired "Tuscan style" domestic architecture in the Town of Bethlehem, Albany County,New York. Derived with some modifications from a design offered in Andrew Jackson Downing’s 1850 book The Architecture of Country Houses, the Babcock House retains are markably high level of historic integrity to the building’s 1851 date of construction.Further augmenting the high quality of the Babcock House as a historic resource is a period frame carriage barn and the survival of the original ten-acre parcel, both of which contribute to form a highly evocative and historically accurate setting for the main house. The house was resided in and maintained by four generations of the Babcock family with virtually no changes until passing outside of the family with the purchase by the current owners in 1996.
Local significance of the building:Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 2003.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.