Amstel House - New Castle, Delaware
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 39° 39.629 W 075° 33.892
18S E 451545 N 4390227
Historic colonial era house in New Castle, Delaware.
Waymark Code: WMM0MJ
Location: Delaware, United States
Date Posted: 06/27/2014
Views: 1
The AMSTEL HOUSE, N. corner 4th and Delaware Sts., house the museum of the New Castle Historical Society. Architects place the date of erection at 1730 or earlier, and it is believed that the present kitchen wing was the residence in 1706, date of the first recorded transfer.
The locally-made brick are laid in Flemish bond, with a belt course and water table. The house is broad, and heavy in design. No two windows are exactly alike, although two are symmetrically disposed on either side of the narrow fanlight doorway, five above and three in the broad gable. A wide cove cornice spanning the gable repeats the design of the main cornice. The rooms on either side of a central hallway are paneled in wood and furnished with museum pieces. The original Van Dyke furniture is scattered among descendants, but Mrs. Coleman du Pont, a great-great-granddaughter of Governor Van Dyke, had the music room furniture reproduced, and the walls of the room restored to their original soft green found under many layers of later paperings. In this room, standing upon the hearthstone, George Washington kissed the young bride of Kensey Johns, Ann Van Dyke, daughter of Governor Van Dyke, on the afternoon of the wedding, April 30, 1784; and, as Chief Justice James Booth wrote at the time, he kissed all the pretty girls--"as was his wont."
Cut with a diamond on the pane of a second-story window are the lines:
Around her head ye angels constant vigil keep,
And guard fair innocence her balmy sleep.
The author and date are unknown.
Exhibits at the Amstel House include complete kitchen furnishings of Colonial times, and many examples of the art and handicraft of early periods, including costumes, metal work, and paintings. Among the later are portraits of Ann Van Dyke and Kensey Johns, Sr., and a large portrait of Mrs. Jehu Curtis, ascribed to John Hesselius.- Delaware: A Guide to the First State, 1938, pg 245-246.
The house is as described in the Guide. The house continues to operate as a house museum open April 1- December 31 on the following schedule:
- Wednesday - Saturday 10 am - 4 pm. Amstel House tours begin at 10 am, Noon, and 2 pm.
- Sunday, 12-4. Amstel House tours begin at Noon and 2 pm.
(Tours are approximately 40 minutes)
The house is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. The cost of the tour is $6 for adults and $2 for children
The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.