Property Name: Highland Cottage
Other Name(s): Squire House, Squire School, Mud House
Street Address: 36 South Highland Avenue
Section, Block, and Lot: Section 89.19, Block 4, Lot 67
Architect/Builder: S. Marvin McCord, Architect
Date of Construction: 1872
Architectural Style: High Victorian Gothic (1860s-1890s)

High Victorian Gothic architecture, which evolved from the Gothic Revival style, differs from that style in its use of contrasting polychromatic bands on the exterior wall surfaces and more elaborate decorative elements. This style was usually reserved for public buildings such as
schools or churches. As it is related to the Gothic Revival architecture, structures in this style also contain such elements as steeply pitched rooflines, elaborate ornamentation, and a predominantly vertical orientation.

Highland Cottage is a rare application of the High Victorian Gothic style in a private home. The structure is two stories tall and three bays wide. The exterior is defined by its irregular massing and rooflines; the structure contains a tall, pyramidal roofed central tower and a shorter, mansard roof southern section contains a turreted dormer window on the roof and a large bay window on the first floor of the main façade. The one story northern wing contains a mansard roof and a porch extending along the main façade. The steeply pitched gables, the most prominent of which is located above the main entryway, are cast in Sing Sing marble. The most striking architectural feature of Highland Cottage is its concrete construction. The exterior walls are made of 18-inch-thick concrete, covered with a layer of stucco that was scored in a fashion that lends the appearance of stone blocks. The house’s doors are solid walnut, as is its trim. The detailed and elaborate exterior ornamentation is mostly concrete and was cast in specially designed molds.

Significance: Architectural and Cultural

Highland Cottage was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It is architecturally significant as one of the earliest surviving concrete houses in Westchester County and the only such house within Ossining. It is also culturally significant for its association with Henry J. Baker, Amos O. Squire and his daughter Evelyn Squire Culp, each of whom played an important role in Ossining’s civic life in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Narrative:

Highland Cottage, also known by the name Squire House, is a High Victorian Gothic style cottage constructed in 1872 by late 19th century financier Henry J. Baker (1818-1878), a New York City businessman who moved to Ossining. The house was built almost entirely from concrete, leading to the disparaging nickname “Mud House”. Workers experienced in the use of concrete in house construction were brought to Ossining from England to build the house, as concrete has always been rarely used in house construction in the United States due to the long-
time availability of wood and brick masonry as construction materials in the United States. The cement used to form the walls was mined and processed in the Town of Rosendale in Ulster County, New York, the site of one the largest cement manufactories in the United States at the
time.

Amos Osborne Squire (1876-1949), the most famous resident of the house, operated a private mental hospital called the Grandview Sanitarium inside Highland Cottage. Squire later became chief physician at Sing Sing Prison during the early 1900s and served as the medical examiner for
Westchester County for twenty-three years and as the Village’s health officer during the 1920s. Squire’s daughter Evelyn Squire Culp (1907-2002), who was named Ossining Woman of the Year in 1970, played an important role in the civic life of Ossining during the mid 20th century in
such organizations as the Ossining Historical Society, the Ossining Women’s Club, and the Ossining Garden Club, among others. Culp also ran the Squire School of Business at the house from 1952 to 1984 and taught office skills such as typing, shorthand, and other secretarial skills.
Culp donated the house to Westchester Preservation League in 1984 and continued to live in the house until 1996. The Preservation League later sold the house to a private owner.

Village of Ossining Significant Sites and Structures Guide, page 158.

Taken with a Sony RX100 IV.