Nick's Response

Here is the letter Nick Alba wrote back to Richard to complete the story below.

Hi Richard,

I really enjoyed reading your narrative about your early days here in the valley.  We're very close in age, but I never experienced anything quite so rustic in my urban upbringing.  Do you have any idea of what year the photos were taken?  When I bought this place in 1981 the upper side porch was screened in, and that porch beneath it was framed out, screened in, and had an entry door.  The front porch, interestingly enough, had a dry stone foundation which was collapsing, and I removed it and put in piers, similar to the old house.  I don't believe that there was the picture window in the living room in these photos.  My house came with a picture window. The rear addition was also quite different. There was a door on the side, quite unnecessary, flanked by windows, which I removed and replaced with at picture window. Another large double hung window faced the woods.  I replaced that with a patio door, and a patio, so I can enjoy the delightful view.   My house was white when I bought it, but layers of old paint revealed a yellow color, closer to what I painted it before I even knew.

I heard about the old house on the road from the previous owner, Julius Weissman. I had no idea what it looked like, and its a lot more of a house than I envisioned.  Julius claimed that it was the oldest house in Ulster County, which I find hard to believe,  Maybe he meant Shandaken, or maybe he meant Woodland Valley. He told me that it collapsed from a snow storm, and he had it removed from the tax rolls.  There was scraps of old lumber in my yard which might have been remnants of the old house, or the out house. The Weissman's had a tenant at one time, Bob and Debbie Lepp, who still reside in the area, and Julius told me that the used the wood from the outhouse as firewood to heat the house.  The owners prior to the Weissmans were named Schwartz.  My house had an aluminum screen door in the front with a big "S" on it.

Thanks for this interesting information.

Nick Alba