Historic Mohawk Valley Home For Sale.
My wife and I took a ride up Mohawk Drive in Tribes Hill Saturday and discovered that one of the great, old historic Mohawk Valley homes, Danascara Place, is for sale. I fell in love with this place when I first moved here in 1978, when it looked like a haunted house. Of course, it is out of my price range. Photographs of the place don’t do it complete justice.
The house only has 2.5 acres now. I am not sure how much land was with it originally, but I know that the land and barn across the Danascara Creek and the land across the road were part of it. This whole area is historic. The Wolf Clan of the Mohawks met here regularly for religious ceremonies, long before any white person built a house here.
As I said in an earlier post, the barn across the Danascara Creek hides one of the most beautiful views in the Mohawk Valley. This is private and posted property so you can’t get behind the barn to see the view, but if you ever get the opportunity to do so, take it.
The original Danascara mansion sat on the other side of the road, closer to the Mohawk River than the current house. It was attacked in 1780 during a suprise raid by Torys and Indians who came down the Danascara Creek, between the high walls of the gorge, to avoid detection. Colonel Visher (Vischer, Fisher), who fought in the Battle of Oriskany, survived the raid and in 1795 built the house that is now for sale.
The original house is the setting for Harold Frederic’s novel, In The Valley. Frederic was from Utica and hob-nobbed with the likes of Mark Twain. His name has slipped into obscurity, although his novel The Damnation Of Theron Ware is still considered a minor masterpiece.
Read Frederic’s article, The Mohawk Valley During The Revolution from Harper's New Monthly Magazine. / Volume 55, Issue 326 July 1877
The house only has 2.5 acres now. I am not sure how much land was with it originally, but I know that the land and barn across the Danascara Creek and the land across the road were part of it. This whole area is historic. The Wolf Clan of the Mohawks met here regularly for religious ceremonies, long before any white person built a house here.
As I said in an earlier post, the barn across the Danascara Creek hides one of the most beautiful views in the Mohawk Valley. This is private and posted property so you can’t get behind the barn to see the view, but if you ever get the opportunity to do so, take it.
The original Danascara mansion sat on the other side of the road, closer to the Mohawk River than the current house. It was attacked in 1780 during a suprise raid by Torys and Indians who came down the Danascara Creek, between the high walls of the gorge, to avoid detection. Colonel Visher (Vischer, Fisher), who fought in the Battle of Oriskany, survived the raid and in 1795 built the house that is now for sale.
The original house is the setting for Harold Frederic’s novel, In The Valley. Frederic was from Utica and hob-nobbed with the likes of Mark Twain. His name has slipped into obscurity, although his novel The Damnation Of Theron Ware is still considered a minor masterpiece.
Read Frederic’s article, The Mohawk Valley During The Revolution from Harper's New Monthly Magazine. / Volume 55, Issue 326 July 1877
posted by Anonymous at
9:01 AM
5 Comments:
Very nice posting, Dan. Thank you.
It's out of my reach also but, I'll tell you, living here in the Lake George region I figured there were some typos in the descriptions. In fact, I called Whipple (the realtor) to see if he hadn't left out the "1," in front of the prices. He hadn't...and I'm amazed at what $400,000 can buy out there!
Please keep up the always interesting and thoughtful postings.
By
Anonymous, at 8:57 PM
P.S. Are we correct to presume that Colonel Visher had something to do with Vischer Ferry?
By
Anonymous, at 9:07 PM
P.P.S. Wimple (not Whipple!) hadn't heard of "Upstream" before my call to him. He was rather pleased to learn that you provided a link to his listing. I'm sure you'll hear from him.
By
Anonymous, at 9:16 PM
Beautiful property although taxes are very high ($14000). That might be why it hasn't sold. Also, needs some work.
By
Anonymous, at 8:54 AM
I am the owner of the barn property that you have pictured. I too love the view and fell in love with this property - by the looks of things, you did not obey the no trespassing signs when taking your photos. I do not mind you taking photos, all you need to do is ask.
thank you
By
Anonymous, at 4:59 PM
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