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New Hampton Town House
The New Hampton Town House stands on the town common at the northeast corner of Town House Road and Dana Hill Road in the Town of new Hampton. The main block of the wooden town hall is now a mid 19th century vernacular structure, while the smaller additions on its rear are mid 20th century vernacular structures. The tall one and a half story, gable roofed main block is set with its main facade, the lateral south side, facing Town House Road across the wide common. In the center of the main block's south facade, a one story, gable roofed porch shelters the main entry. The main block's rear north side is entirely covered by three, one story, shed roofed additions for the Kitchen, the stage, and the privies, and, at the east end, a small, one story, shed roofed rear entry porch. A wooden wheelchair ramp runs along the east gable end of the main block to the rear entry porch. The main block has a post and beam frame, while the three additions have balloon frames. The building retains it's basic integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association. The main block's exterior has seen little change since 1872, save for additions on the rear. The main block's interior, a single large room, also appears much the same as it has since 1872, same for two doors and a stage opening placed in it's north rear wall, when the additions were built. The additions are almost unchanged since their construction, probably in 1934 and in 1940.
The main block stands on a cut granite block foundation. It's clapboarded wall's are framed by wide corner pilasters, with simple molded capitals but no bases. A wide box cornice with moldings, with deep frieze, and returns trims the asphalt shingled gable roof. A plain brick chimney is found at each end of the roof ridge.
The one large room that occupies the main level of the main block is lit by large 20/15 sash windows. Each window has a simply molded frame, plain window sill, and is covered by a large plain single shutter, made of vertical boards, and hung on long metal hinges. four such windows are found in the 5 bay main facade, arranged in two pairs of windows, one pair on each side of the central main entry. The main entry is a six panel door with granite sill. ( mounted on the front of the door is a vertical wooden notice board with a simple frame.) The main door is flanked by pairs of pilasters, applied over flush boarding, and rising to an elaborate molding at the junction of the wall with the entry porch ceiling. The inner pilaster of each pair stands on the granite door sill, while the taller outer pilaster stands on the porch floor. The porch floor is a large single smooth granite slab, which rests on a stone foundation and is reached by a granite step on the front side. Two octagonal tapered pilasters on square wooden bases at the southern corners of the porch support its gable roof. The asphalt shingled roof is trimmed by a box cornice with moldings, frieze and returns. The south gable is mostly clapboarded, but the frieze is continued across its lower edge, beneath a simple horizontal board at the level of the cornice proper. A light fixture is mounted in the center of the porch's beaded board ceiling. A large painted wooden sign, with the inscription " TOWN HOUSE ERECTED 1798", is mounted on the facade above the main entry.
Town New Hampton
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