Kellogg House (Halcyon Place Historic District)

The Halcyon Place Historic District is a residential neighborhood in Yonkers, NY, located on a cul-de-sac just east of the Hudson River and Warburton Avenue, and blocks west of the Old Croton Aqueduct and North Broadway. It is a well-preserved suburban development of twelve frame and masonry houses, all constructed by developer Harry Woodhouse between 1901 and 1924. Included in the district is the Kellogg House, a two-and-one-half story, Foursquare-style residence designed by an architect by the name of Jeffries and completed in 1900. One of the first houses in the district, the Kellogg House possesses a full-width front porch on the first floor, a pyramidal hipped roof, and broad eaves, all characteristics of the Foursquare style. The houses in the Halcyon Place Historic District, including the Kellogg House at 10 Halcyon Place, reflect the change from the more elaborate architecture and ornament of the late Victorian period to the simpler and more affordable houses for the growing middle class in Yonkers at the turn of the twentieth century. The Halcyon Place Historic District, including the Kellogg House, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

The Kellogg House at 10 Halcyon Place was one of the first homes built in the Halcyon Place Historic District in 1900. It is located at the upper end of the residential cul-de-sac, backing onto the wooded property that was once part of the Old Croton Aqueduct and is now the Old Croton Trailway State Park. The house was designed by an architect named Jeffries for its original owner, William C. Kellogg. Kellogg was a Yonkers lawyer, who served as a Yonkers city justice from 1895 to 1905. That last year he ran unsuccessfully as the Republican candidate for mayor of Yonkers. Kellogg lived at Number 10 Halcyon Place with his family until his death in 1917.

The Kellogg House is a shingled, two-and-one-half-story, three-bay, private residence. It is representative of the American Foursquare style, a popular design from the 1890s to 1920s, which was widely disseminated through pattern books, mail-order catalogs, and magazines. In addition to a pyramidal hipped roof, broad eaves, and a full-width first-level front porch, the house also exhibits a front hipped dormer with tripartite windows. The Kellogg House also possesses one-over-one double hung sash windows with eared surrounds, multiple side window projections, an arched recessed front entryway featuring double wooden doors with four panels, and two brick chimneys. 

Despite the extensive alteration to the fabric of the surrounding area over the past century and a quarter, the Kellogg House in the Halcyon Place Historic District remains largely intact and continues to reflect its original early twentieth century character. It is a surviving reminder of the significant architectural changes that took place in Yonkers at that time. The Halcyon Place Historic District, including the Kellogg House at 10 Halcyon Place, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

1. “Halycon Historic District #90002145.” National Register of Historic Places. United States Department of the Interior/National Park Service. 1985. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75323043 
2. Rebic, Michael P., ed. James D. Keen, Doris B. Keen. Landmarks Lost & Found: An Introduction to the Architecture and History of Yonkers. Yonkers, NY: Yonkers Planning Bureau and the Yonkers Environmental Impact Advisory Commission. 1986.
3. “Recent Additions to the National Register.” The Westchester Historian: Quarterly of the Westchester County Historical Society. Vol. 67, No. 2. 1991.
4. Williams, Gray. Picturing Our Past: National Register Sites in Westchester County. Westchester County Historical Society. 2003.