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The Grange, New York City: Hamilton

The chosen site for the house, nine miles from Bowling Green, was bounded by the present St. Nicholas and Tenth Avenues and 141st and 145th streets. The coach from New York to Albany afforded regular transportation to the spot, though, of course, Hamilton had his own equipage. When he planned the house he thought his income of $12,000 would be ample to care for the property. Accordingly he felt justified in offering £800 for sixteen acres, one-half of which was to be paid in cash, the balance within a year.

The architect chosen was John McComb, the designer of New York's old City Hall. Hamilton and his fatherin-law, General Schuyler, had a hand in the development of the plans. In a letter to Hamilton, written August 25, 1800, General Schuyler said:

PATROONS AND KNICKERBOCKERS "If the house is boarded on the outside, and the clapboards put on, and filled on the inside with brick, I am persuaded no water will pass to the brick. If the clapboards are well painted, and filling in with brick will be little if any more expensive than lath and plaister, the former will prevent the nuisance occasioned by rats and mice, to which you will be eternally exposed if lath and plaister is made use of instead of brick."

The mason's specifications, quoted by Allan MacLane Hamilton, were as follows: "Proposal for finishing General Hamilton's Country House-Viz.