12 Halcyon Place (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 Number 12 Halcyon Place, a two-and-one-half story, Shingle-style residence with Queen Anne characteristics that was completed in 1902. The house possesses a distinctive corner tower with a conical roof, reflecting its association with the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is a surviving reminder of the significant architectural changes that took place in Yonkers in the early 1900s when evolving design and style preferences coincided with new approaches to housing requirements for the growing middle class. The Halcyon Place Historic District, including 12 Halcyon Place, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

Number 12 Halcyon Place is a well-preserved turn-of-the-twentieth-century private residence that exhibits distinctive architectural features of the Queen Anne style. Located near the upper end of the Halcyon Place Historic District, which is laid out as a cul-de-sac, it backs onto the wooded property of the Old Croton Trailway State Park that was once part of the Old Croton Aqueduct. Both the North Broadway and Warburton Avenue are also just blocks away. In 1902, the year that Number 12 Halcyon Place was built, the downtown trolley was within walking distance, providing access to the commercial centers of Yonkers.

Number 12 Halcyon Place is a two-and-one-half-story, Shingle-style residence with Queen Anne characteristics. Designed in a rectangular plan, the house presents curvature in the front, including a conical roof and corner tower. It has a steep gabled roof with multiple cross gables and block modillions under wide overhanging eaves. Its steep flaring gable end belters a front porch that is supported by coupled fluted ionic columns and is reached by side-facing stairs. The house possesses one-over-one double hung windows and multiple window projections. It has a stone-faced exposed basement.   

Despite the extensive alteration to the fabric of the surrounding area over the past century and a quarter, Number 12 Halcyon Place in the Halcyon Place Historic District remains largely intact and continues to reflect its original early twentieth century character. The Halcyon Place Historic District, including 12 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.