Luykas Van Alen House

It was a short and informative tour as well as the Icabod Crane school house. Very nice day trip if you are already in the area. Tour lasted around 20 to 30 minutes.

Docents Karen & Lisa with the Columbia County Historical Society we’re knowledgeable, charming and entertaining. We had a great time visiting both the Van Allen house and the Ichabod school house.

There's a nice hiking trail behind the house that is 1.7 miles over to the Martin Van Buren house, lived here for years had no idea! Very nice walk through farm land, you can almost imagine what it was like back in the day.

Another great underrated historic location.

THE LUYKAS VAN ALEN HOUSE MAY NOT HAVE A TON OF ROOMS TO TOUR THROUGH BUT THIS DUTCH HOME HAS SOME GREAT DUTCH HANDY WORK. LIKE THE UNIQUE BRICKWORK, HOW THEY USED IRON RODS TO STRENGTHEN THE HOME AND I LOVE HOW THE DATED THEIR BUILDS. THO THEY HAD SLAVES THEY DIDN'T TREAT THEM LIKE THE SOUTH. THE SLAVES LIVED IN THE HOME WITH THEM AND THEY WORK ALONG SIDE THEM. THE DUTCH DIDN'T LIKE WORKING INSIDE THE HOMES SO THEY MADE THESE GREAT LOOKING STOOPS SO THEY COULD DO SOME SIMPLE HOUSE WORK OUTSIDE LIKE SEWING AND SO ON. YOU CAN ALSO BUY A PASS FOR $15 THAT WILL ALLOW YOU TO SEE FOR GREAT SITES. THE ICHABOD CRANE SCHOOL 1850, JAMES VANDERPOEL HOUSE 1810, LUYKAS VAN ALEN HOUSE 1737 AND THE KINDERHOOK MEMORIAL LIBRARY 1929. IF YOU MAKE THIS YOU LAST STOP RIGHT BEHIND THIS SITE IS A TRAIL THAT YOU CAN HIKE TO THE MARTIN VAN BUREN HOUSE (OUR 8TH PRESIDENT) AND TOUR THIS HOUSE FOR FREE. IF HIKING NOT YOUR THING IT ONLY A FEW MINUTES DRIVE AWAY. WHAT AWAY TO SEE THIS BEAUTIFUL DUTCH HOME AND MAKE A DAY TRIP THAT IS GREAT FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY. NOT TO MENTION THE AWESOME 1700' AND 1800'S HOME YOU CAN SEE IN KINDERHOOK.