McVickar House

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The McVickar House is a Greek Revival frame building that was built in 1853 in Irvington, New York by John McVickar for his son. He was an Episcopalian minister and noted scholar who moved to Dearman (now Irvington) to establish a Chapel School which later became the church of St. Barnabas. The first head of the Chapel school and occupant of the house was McVickar’s son, the Rev. William Augustus McVickar. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. The McVickar House is the second oldest home on the village’s Main Street.

Images

Image of the front of the McVickar House

Image of Reverend John McVickar

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

In 1849, Franklin C. Field purchased the farmland property of Justus Dearman, a large area of land that extended eastward from the Hudson River to Broadway. This parcel of land that now covers many streets and 266 building lots has become Irvington, New York (previously Dearman). In February of 1853, lot #246 along with several others were sold to the Rev. John McVickar.

John McVickar (1787-1868) was born in New York City to a wealthy merchant family from Ireland. At the age of 17 McVickar graduated from King’s College (now Columbia University) as valedictorian of his class. When John McVickar turned 22 he married Elizabeth Bard with whom he had nine children.

In 1853, McVickar is responsible for the building the Chapel School (later it became St. Barnabas Church.) The same year his son William Augustus (1827-1877) became the rector at the Chapel School and his father built him a house in Irvington. The elder McVickar's home was located nearby on Fargo Lane. After graduating from Columbia in 1846, William attended the General Theological Seminary in New York. William had many prestigious religious appointments; these include being assistant at rector at the American Chapel in Nice, France and later at Christ Church in New York.

The home was designed in the Greek Revival style and remodeled around 20 years later giving it a more carpenter Gothic flavor. The house is two and a half stories with a high basement and field stone foundation. Some of the historic features of the home include a single story full-width porch on the front facade. The porch has a hipped roof and decorative carved wood columns.

The interior of the house has been remodeled but still retains some of its significant features. The entrance hall on the west side contains the original staircase to the second floor. The second floor has a large front room over the main parlor and several other rooms.The McVickar home remained in the families name until 1870.

In 1957 Consolidated Edison, the electric utility that serves Westchester County, bought it in order to build the substation in the rear yard. Consolidated Edison rented the property to various tenants until 1992. In the early 2000s the home was restored by the Irvington Historical Society, and it is used as a museum and home for the Irvington Historical Society.

Sources

Williams, Gray. Jackson, Kenneth T.. Picturing Our Past: National Register Sites in Westchester County.
McVickar House. National Register of Historic Places. Published June 20th 2003.
The McVickar House, Irvington Historical Society. Accessed September 20th 2020. https://www.irvingtonhistoricalsociety.org/the-mcvickar-house.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

National Register of Historic Places

History of Economic Thought website