Maizefield

Maizefield, often locally called Maizeland, is a historic house on West Market Street (New York State Route 199) in the village of Red Hook, New York, United States. It is a large plain brick building, in the Federal style, with clear English Georgian influences, built around the end of the 18th century. In 1973 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The house was occupied by General David Van Ness, a Continental Army officer during the Revolutionary War and later Brigadier General of the Dutchess County Militia, state assemblyman and senator who was the first supervisor of the Town of Red Hook. It is not known if the house was built prior to his ownership; he sold the property shortly before his death in the 1810s. Aaron Burr hid there for a while shortly after killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel.

The house has been altered several times since then, including the addition of large wing on the south side. In the middle of the century, a timber-frame Victorian cottage was built on the southwest corner of the property. Later research found that it was designed by Alexander Jackson Davis. A number of prominent local families have lived in both houses since, and they remain private residences.

The house is on a 5-acre (2.0 ha) lot on the north side of West Market, on the eastern outskirts of the village, roughly 1,300 feet (400 m) west of the junction with Broadway (U.S. Route 9) at the center of town. Surrounding terrain is generally level. Red Hook Middle School, a similarly large building on a slightly larger parcel, is to the east along with some other residences on larger lots.

To the south, across West Market, are residential neighborhoods with smaller houses on smaller lots. North of the property is the track and football field associated with Red Hook High School to the northwest. Further west, at the western boundary of the village, is the school's driveway, some of its parking lots and its soccer field.

A high brick wall, with two openings near the west corner, runs along the south boundary of the property. Two wooden paneled fences, almost the same height, delineate the eastern and western bounds. Entry to the lot is via a driveway on the east that connects to the middle school's entrance road, opposite another entry road on the south side of the school building. The driveway goes south of the house, leading to carports on its east and west. Tall, mature shade trees and a chain-link fence screen the house on the south and west, with other trees lining the north and east bounds.

On the east and south elevations the main house stands on a slight, landscaped rise. Maintained shrubbery is in front of the first story windows. The main block of the house is faced in brick laid in English bond on all sides but the west, which is done in stone. It is three stories high, five bays wide by four deep, roughly 55 by 40 feet (17 by 12 m), and topped by a flat roof pierced by four brick chimneys at the corners. Extending from the west side of the south face is a two-story, semi-octagonal wing with a hipped roof pierced by one brick chimney; to its east is a small, partially enclosed, flat-roofed one-story porch. Verandas are affixed to the north and west sides; the former also has a flat roof but is unenclosed.

On the east (front) facade's first story, two double-hung six-over-six sash windows are on either side of the centrally located main entrance. They have plain surrounds, with plain stone sills and splayed brick lintels. Between them and their second-story counterparts are wooden panels, rectangular with a festoon motif on the outer bays and elliptical with a sunburst pattern on those closer to the center.