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Walter Brewster House
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Front elevation, 2008
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| Location: | Brewster, NY |
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| Nearest city: | Danbury, CT |
| Area: | 2 acres (8,100 m2)[1] |
| Built: | ca. 1850[1] |
| Architectural style: | Greek Revival |
| Governing body: | Landmarks Preservation Society of Southeast |
| NRHP Reference#: | 78001896 |
| Added to NRHP: | 1978 |
The Walter Brewster House is located on Oak Street in Brewster, New York, United States. It was built in the Greek Revival style around 1850 by Brewster, who founded the village that today bears his name.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Currently it is owned and operated by the Landmarks Preservation Society of Southeast as a cultural center.
The two-story frame structure sits on a brick foundation atop a hill overlooking downtown Brewster to the rear. Four Ionic columns on each side support the portico, which juts out some distance from the house proper, the only such arrangement on a Greek Revival house in Putnam County. It has a dentiled cornice.[1]
On the first floor, the original central-hall plan typical of Greek Revival buildings has been largely obliterated by many different owners' renovation efforts. It is currently one large open space, with the original staircase moved to the northeast corner. The upstairs is more intact, with some of the original decoration remaining, and the original mantel still in each room.[1]
Brewster, a descendant of the Plymouth Colony Brewsters, bought a farm along with his brother and settled in the area around the mid-19th century. The New York and Harlem Railroad was working its way north from New York City, and he not only built a depot, he laid out the village's Main Street and helped found its first hotel.
After numerous owners, who did not appreciate its historical importance, the building became the property of the Landmarks Preservation Society of Southeast[2] in the 1970s. The society renovated it and made it a cultural center, hosting concerts and special events.[3] Mrs Fitchen died in 2009 but thanks to her hard work, the building that defines Brewster lives on.