Village mulls expansion of historic district

Officials are reviewing whether to seek state approval to have Oak Street and Platt Avenue added to the Rhinebeck Village Historic District.

The properties were documented during the past several weeks. A report is expected to be completed for a Village Board review next month.

“What we’re essentially doing is evaluating areas of the existing historic district with an eye toward expanding it,” said Neil Larson, an historian hired to do an inventory of the two streets.

“It essentially encompasses most of the village as it exists and there are a few areas that were excluded back then,” Larson said. “We’re just ... surveying the existing boundary and seeing where it might be adjusted in terms of the National Register criteria.”

The Rhinebeck Village Historic District was designated by the U.S. Department of the Interior on Aug. 8, 1979. It includes about 388 buildings, which officials report encompass a “period of significance” from 1700 to 1930. The district’s oldest buildings are the Beekman Arms and the General Montgomery House on Liv-

ingston Street, which were both constructed before the American Revolution.

A 2009 amendment to village law notes the district “also includes Greek Revival homes, built in the 1800s, vernacular and highstyle Victorian buildings from the 19th century, Italianate structures in brick, as well as Colonial Revival ... Colonial Georgian, Federal, Queen Anne, Second Empire, and Gothic Revival.”

Larson said the expansion is being considered because houses along Oak Street and Platt Avenue contribute to the historic district and represent diversity in the village’s history.

“We’ve grown another 40 or so years,” he said. “Things from the 20th century are achieving significance where they didn’t necessarily have it 40 years (ago).”

Larson said preliminary discussions will be conducted with state Historic Preservation Office officials before submitting an application.

“We’re preparing a review of these boundaries for the state ... to agree with and then we can start working on the nomination,” he said.