Times Herald-Record photographer Tom Bushey is helping to document the rebuilding of the John G. Borden home.
Clean up culminates in questions
A crane removed debris from the John G. Borden home in Wallkill Feb. 13.
John G. Borden never imagined a piece of machinery like this: a crane with wheels the size of two sumo wrestlers and an arm controlled by a remote strapped across the belly of a contractor.
Pieces of his home were chained up and lifted across the sky, enjoying an unbeatable view of the Wallkill Valley before landing in a dumpster.
The clean up began last week, just before a flurry of winter storms. Contractors Alan and Scott White brought in workers to shovel hundreds of pounds of debris from the second floor. An unstable chimney came down, the roof was wrapped in blue plastic: a tarp protects what remains.
Now, the endless questions begin: What can be saved? How do they save it? Will the nogging – bricks between studded walls – dry out? Or must the first floor be torn down to the studs?
“Mold is the number one problem,” Alex Hoyt says, fussing with moccasins on the front porch, turning them over in the sun. “And, you know, everything got wet.”
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Waterlogged memories pulled from rubble
Since the fire, Alex Hoyt has spent his weekends in rubble, pulling memories and pieces of history from the home where he grew up.
In the first days, he walked the property, salvaging refuse rocketed yards by fire hoses. Twenty feet down a hill was the book he’d been reading, a biography of the Bennetts, a 1920s Hollywood film family.
On the side of the house, Alex picked a picture of his daughters from the icy ground, the frame broken but the photo still in tact.
Many picture albums and wall hangings were saved the night of the fire. Alex’s brother, Burt, and cousin Richard Hoyt worked in the dark, after the fire was out, to retrieve the irreplaceable.
Ironically, the high wind that stoked the flames also carried the smoke away from further damaging what remained, Alex said.
Some items weren’t so lucky: a 1925 Hoyt family bible was found wet and broken. A piece of Montgomery history was tarnished too: J.L. Hoyt’s 1942 Cornell yearbook was waterlogged, including a photo of classmate and notable environmentalist Sam Phelps.
But J.L.’s Army Air Corps Eisenhower jacket, a waist length number, still looks like he hung it up yesterday upon returning from Guam. J.L. served there with the notable Walden dentist and patron, Dr. Bob Kimball.
Each day, someone finds a new item to evoke a memory, a surprising artifact that survived all odds. On Tuesday a crane began extracting furniture from the second floor.
From the ice and fallen plaster, an ancient linen closet was removed then opened: the sheets inside, in tact.
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Three weeks later, a waiting game
Tongs rest on the spinach salad frozen in a mold of ice, still sitting in the silver bowl in the dining room.
The chairs are pushed back, woven placemats are strewn across a table missing a few leaves and smeared with ash.
Elisabeth Hoyt, 87, was hosting a holiday dinner party Dec. 29 when the family noticed flames outside the window of the John G. Borden House.
Three weeks later, the poinsettia plant droops on its stand next to a toppled Christmas tree.
The fire, which started on the roof, devastated the 1771 Dutch building built by the Hasbroucks. There is no second floor, the doors, windows and walls up there caved in. The belongings, beds and beams, all doused with water from the firefighters’ hoses, froze into a glacial mass.
“We’re going to have to use an ice pick to get it all out,” contractor Scott White says.
For three weeks now, White and his father, Alan, have been giving tours of the wreckage, to plumbers, engineers, electricians. The walks through are brainstorming sessions, and a reality check on the magnitude of what they will undertake.
They will rebuild the Borden House.
History must live on
No matter what was left, there was little doubt among local history buffs that Alex Hoyt, Elisabeth’s son, would take on this task.
As caretakers of the home, the Hoyts are known for their respect of history.
“They have been some of the most conscious stewards of the property and the land,” neighbor Karen Dale said.
When Alex’s grandmother, Johanna Hoyt, bought the downtrodden place in 1951, she restored its original state. She removed the Victorian baubles added by Borden himself. Gingerbread trim, a large tower with a widow’s watch overlooking the valley, all came down to reveal the home’s true character.
Alex said he’ll rebuild the home to that 1880s period, when the wealthy developer John P. Andrews lived there. “That decision was made by my grandparents,” he said.
Out of the ashes
The insurance appraisers have come and gone, each with cameras and clipboards to document the wreckage.
They’ve taken their paperwork back to the bean counters, who Alex has impressed upon time and again, this message: no rebuilding can happen until their approval.
“This is a historic site, they should make every effort to move quickly,” he says.
Family members came to gather belongings. The house was crammed with the things that always seem to collect after decades in a home: furniture, books, pots and pans.
Some of it still remains: when Scott opened the kitchen pantry, there’s a 1937 guest book with greetings, well-wishes, a drawing of Mickey Mouse.
“You find this kind of stuff everywhere,” Scott says, pages through it and gently lays it back in place.
Scott is meticulous in home restorations, the perfect partner, his father says.
Both men show compassion for this wreck.
Standing out front, Alan touches the old stone next to the door where 1771 is etched. “My house was built in 1772,” he says.
The Whites will pick through rubble to save things as small as a door hinge that it might one day be put back in place.
Yet, there’s not much else they can do now.
They watch the sky, hoping against storms that could devastate the delicate structure.
They want to build a temporary roof, to start thawing out that block of ice upstairs.
But all they can do is wait.
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From the archives: Borden Farm unique historical site
Originally published: Sunday, October 8, 1989
By BEATRICE ROSENBLUM
It is not only residents of the town of Shawangunk who are concerned with the preservation of the century-old Borden Farm.
Many historians and collectors, aware of the unique history of the site, also are concerned that it be properly protected and preserved.
The property, long known as “Borden Park,’’ was established in 1881 as the “Home Farm’’ of the Borden Milk Co. It was here that Gail Borden’s son, John, established the farm and factory for the manufacture of condensed milk (for which Borden senior had obtained a patent), a product that revolutionized the entire industry.
The property is of interest not only to historians of the dairy industry, but also to social historians.
The property was unique in conception for it was more than merely an industrial site; it was a large and beautiful park, its beauty enhanced with fountains, gardens, vineyards and roadways, surrounding the 70 buildings that included two large and remarkable barns.
John Borden was revered then and in the memories of families who have remained in the area is still revered because of his many contributions to the well-being of the community.
Turn-of-the-century historians recorded that “Borden was a man of unusual benevolence who felt deep concern for the welfare of his workers, for whom he built houses and then provided with pensions when they were no longer able to work – showing a concern for employees for those times.
The establishment conceived by John Borden was a combination of a scientific community and a Camelot. He intended it to be entirely self-sufficient for the people who lived and worked on the property and a happy place, free from cares, for those who came to visit.
It was well-equipped with all the necessities and indeed many luxuries for it had its own water, telephone and electric systems – services not yet widely available – which he generously shared with several of the neighboring communities that still lacked them.
Newspapers and journals of the day paid many tributes to all the members of the Borden family because of their many generous contributions to the area, and Anthony Knipp, a local historian of the dairy industry in America, observes that the many schools, libraries and scouting organizations that still exist bear witness to the concern and generosity of the family.
A large fraternity of collectors, whose specialty is dairy-related memorabilia, also is interested in the farm.
The Borden Co., in the eyes of many collectors, is unique in the annals of the industry and every memento, no matter how ephemeral, is deemed “collectible.’’
Historians always valued early records of the Borden family and the farm, but in recent years the growth of the bottle-collecting hobby has further enhanced that interest.
Those who are not savers of old milk bottles – and related items – would be astonished to learn of the large and enthusiastic body of collectors.
The hobby was sparked about 30 years ago when plastic and paper cartons began replacing glass vessels. People began saving the bottles they still found around the house and then began to search for them at garage and yard sales and later flea markets.
The early collectors were prompted by nostalgia they focused upon the bottles that bore familiar names of milk companies from their own area, but later, as the hobby advanced, collectors began to notice the variety of design found on the bottles, and the hobby became more serious.
There are still many bottle buffs who are collecting bottles for sentimental reasons.
They often reminisce about the little towers of ice that forced the paper cups high above the bottle top when the milk froze, and they recall fondly the name of their milk company, which long, long ago, was so faithful despite the foulest weather.
Knipp is credited with the growth and development of the hobby of collecting dairy bottles, not only in Orange County, where he lives, but also throughout the country.
A popular lecturer and author, he is the associate editor of the national publication “The Milk Route,’’ which serves as a clearing house for historians of the dairy industry as well as collectors wishing to have bottles identified.
In addition to “The Milk Route,’’ bottle buffs are helped by The Milk Bottle Collector’s Association. This organization, founded two decades ago, supports the National Bottle Museum in upstate Ballston Spa, which affords interested people an opportunity to research their possessions in their fine reference library.
“People all over the country are interested in the efforts of the residents of Wallkill and surrounding communities who are involved in the preservation of the Borden property,’’ said Knipp.
The booklet “Borden Today’’ is the result of considerable research on Knipp’s part, and he says, “It was a very gratifying project.’’
“Originally, I became interested in the Borden story because of the proximity of the farm to my home in Orange County, but as I did the research, I realized their story was unique and well worth reading. The Bordens were one of America’s most notable families and their contributions – economic and social – were really impressive. I found many references in the old histories to their philanthropy and the many institutions that still thrive in the area, as well as the property known as the `Home Farm’ – it bears witness to their vision and community concern.’’
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Fire engulfs historic home
Dec. 31, 2009
HAMLET OF WALLKILL — A fire that heavily damaged the 18th-century John G. Borden home Tuesday has saddened historians and re-ignited a controversy over a road closure.
Elisabeth Hoyt, 87, was hosting a family dinner when guests noticed a glow from outside at about 8:30 p.m., said her son, Alex Hoyt. A police car was already outside when the family exited, but the second story of the wood-and-brick house was engulfed when fire crews arrived. Responders battled fire, wind and ice until 1 a.m., said Wallkill fire Chief Craig Ross.
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No roof in the blizzard
But the insurance company is reluctant to pay for a barn-like structure – a roof to protect what’s left of the building through more than a year of restoration.
On Monday after days of heavy snow, crews hoisted snowblowers on to the second floor, to evict tons of flakes squatting in bedrooms without walls. “It’s quite a mess,” contractor Scott White said.
A felled tree barely missed Borden’s stone office, which sits adjacent to the ruined house. The power lines, like many in the region, were downed.
White hopes last week’s blizzard will convince insurers that they shouldn’t bet against the weather.