Best evidence is that he first added the room to the east along the street side, then extended the entire structure to the north duplicating the two original rooms plus a very large center hall running the entire depth of the house. In proceeding with the additions in this way he was actually able to save on construction. What became the interior walls could be constructed merely as interior walls, not having to be exposed to the elements and structural and were built of timber frame filled with brick, mud and straw, lathed and plastered.

This configuration also allowed for the happy co-existance of a general store on one side of the building and the family occupying the other side of the building. The Center Hall also acted as a kind of breezeway allowing air to circulate completely through the house.

Unique in New Paltz to the Jean Hasbrouck house is the long central hall, the square symmetrical layout, the building being two rooms deep and the overall style of the finished building. Upon completion it takes on the form of a Dutch Farmhouse rather than a Dutch Townhouse. A secondary result of the design, or potentially a primary reason for the design, is that the truly massive roof encompasses nearly three full stories of storage space in the loft. In essence there is a full barn sitting atop the house.

When you enter the house what will probably first strike you is the depth of the building and the long center hall. But then look just up a little and to the left and look at the most massive single unsupported beam in domestic architecture still surviving from this period. It is over 40 feet long, the full depth of the house, and is totally unsupported from beneath except from its firm anchors in the side walls. It's fortunate that New Paltz was a back water and not of much interest to the English as this beam would have gotten Jean Hasbrouck into considerable trouble. The English relied on their American Colonies for wood to create their fleet. This beam represented a fast disappearing resource, wood for their masts.

The house remained in the Hasbrouck Family until 1899 when it was purchased by the Huguenot Monumental, Historical and Patriotic Society as their headquarters. Shortly after that it was turned into what became known as the Jean Hasbrouck Memorial House and is now filled with artifacts and displays of period furnishings and accessories. The Jean Hasbrouck Memorial House was the only house on Huguenot Street open to the public for many years, until the 1960's.

Visitors are taken through the four ground floor rooms and center hall. Each of the rooms has been set up with appropriately arranged period furniture and accessories, many of which are Hasbrouck heirlooms.

We should also take a moment to make sure you fully understand that these rooms are not arranged or furnished as they would have been in the time of Jean Hasbrouck or his son Jacob. With the exception of the kitchen, single use rooms didn't exist in homes of this period, especially in a rural setting like New Paltz. People slept, ate and received visitors all in the same chambers. Furniture was moved around continuously to accommodate the needs of the moment. The family would also have made additional uses of the room containing the store, even it was not allowed to languish.

Visitors are also taken up to the loft of the Jean Hasbrouck House, the only loft they are given access to. Upstairs are the original Huguenot Monumental, Historical & Patriotic Societies collections of farm implements, stoves, spinning wheels and looms.

All of that, tho interesting, is completely secondary to the experience of being in this massive attic space. It towers above you. All of the beams and joists are original to the expansion of the house and everything is joined with pegs. Your guide will make sure to ask you to observe the difference in the finish of the wood in this space as opposed to the living spaces. Up in the loft everything was left rough axed and unplanned, unlike the fine finish on the woodwork below.

Also original and towering before you is the chimney from the first addition when the main room was converted into the kitchen; rising three stories up to pass exactly through the center of the roof. It is the only chimney of its type, size and period still in existence in America, and is itself a primary cause of the entire structure receiving recognition by being placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Hasbrouck Family Association continues its close involvement in the care and maintenance of the Jean Hasbrouck House in partnership with the Huguenot Historical Society.They have direct input into the collections and the way things are arranged and displayed.