Remembering The Old House

Everyone on my dad's side of the family talks about The Old House as if it were a member of the family. It has been peppered throughout my grandma's and my dad's stories from their childhoods and we used to drive by it from time to time to see what it looked like and how the neighborhood has changed.

My grandma told stories of standing by the road and screaming "George Washington passed here!" to the few cars that came along. She also mentioned all the neighbors and friends -- Butchie Banks and others, Gretchen (said with an accent, I think) and the famous Mrs. Algier.

I did some research when my grandma passed away to find out more about the house. Out of this research came an article for the Courrier-News, the local daily paper for the area.

The home has a long history, but only a few owners. Built in the mid-1800s by a Finderne attorney named Mr. Windsor, the house was originally called the Windsor Mansion. It appeared in a small book called, Picturesque Finderne, that promoted the area as “malaria free” and “only an hour train ride to New York City.”

A photo of the house, taken in 1899, now hung in the foyer of the funeral home, shows a horse and buggy parked in front of it. I don't have a copy of this photo to put here, but I believe Jeff gave a copy of it to everyone one Christmas. Grandma hung it on the wall next to all the photos of her us and the rest of the family.

Instead of that photo, the one in this post is from June of 1953. It's very yellowed and the house is hidden behind the trees. I'm on the hunt for better ones as I go through our photos. I'll post more as I find them.

Here's how it all started for us. In 1920, John Biacovsky, my great-grandfather, bought the house from Mrs. Levi (pictured) and converted it into a two-family home. I don't know anything about Mrs. Levi and find it interesting that we have a photo of her. It could be that this house meant as much to her as it does to our family and she wanted us to remember her and her time taking care of it. Or, maybe that was just the custom at the time?

My grandmother, who was at that time was a petite 8 year old with dark wavy hair and hazel eyes, lived on one side with her parents, her brother and three sisters. Her father rented out the other half.

Grandma would tell me stories of Mrs. Algier, who had many husbands -- 7, I think -- and seemed to be in touch with the spirit world in some way. This was frowned upon by my very Catholic great-grandma. Despite this, Mrs. Algier took a special liking to my grandma and spoke with her often. I think she even showed grandma all of her dead husbands photographs in the attic. Although, I admit that sounds like I added that. Not sure if it is true. Does anyone else remember this?

There are many photos with The Old House in the background. I've posted one here, but I don't know who is it it. It's a man and two ladies. I think it might be great-grandpa Andrews, but I'm not sure. There is stuff written in Hungarian on the back. If anyone knows who it is, please let me know!

Two years after my great-grandfather died, my grandmother and her sisters decided to sell the house. In 1962, they sold the home to Edward and Eugenie Kowalenko who turned the two-family residence into The Bridgewater Funeral Home, Inc. Recently, Jim DeMaio has taken over the business.