49°
Arden recently received thorough documentation from the Friends of Miller House/Washington’s Headquarters, Inc. confirming its value as a landmark.
“What they found is that the house is in fact historically significant,” said Arden.
Arden planned to address a letter sent by the Friends of Miller House to Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino during Wednesday night’s North Castle Town Board meeting.
The letter, sent Feb. 12, states “The Board of Directors of Friends of Miller House/Washington’s Headquarters, Inc. strongly disagrees with the report prepared by the Westchester County Historic Preservation Advisory Committee. Members of our Board of Directors have dedicated months of research to substantiate and verify our stand against the disputed statements of the original report.”
Arden said that now that its historic significance is verified, the biggest obstacle is finding out the technical process of moving the property from its current location of 140 Virginia Road in North White Plains around the corner to an unoccupied Fountain park.
The county’s legal department is currently looking at what’s entailed in making such a move.
“The good news is that they’re now not asking whether or not it should be done, but how it can be done,” said Arden.
Arden said the title search issued last month to Fidelity Title Ltd. on Fountain Park to determine whether the property is part of the original Miller Farm stopped around the 1830s, at which point it was still all Miller owned. He expects the title search to be completed soon and that “all indications are that it is indeed part of the original property.”
If Fountain Park is part of the original Miller Farm, the house can move to the new location without losing its landmark status.
The home, owned by Ann and Elijah Miller in 1776, became part of U.S. history when Washington used the house as a personal command post during the American Revolution.
In 1917, Westchester County acquired the house, declared it a museum and opened it to the public the following year. The museum has been closed for several years, with its location and condition to blame.
The renovation and relocation to Fountain Park plan would solve both concerns, Arden said.
“It could be a great solution to an old, thorny problem,” he said.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Armonk and receive free news updates.
