Some Examples of the Brick Architecture of Holland
necessary during the several centuries of the
existence of this historic edifice, the original walls,
several feet in thickness, still stand, and the
venerable building is used regularly at the present
time for church services. Around this old church,
as is also the case with the First Dutch Church of
Flatbush, Brooklyn’s well-known suburb, are
many old graves, marked by slabs of reddish
sandstone, and decorated with curiously carved
cherubs’ heads, the inscriptions upon these slabs
being in the Dutch language. The Flatbush
church, although venerable, is not the original
OLD DUTCH CHURCH AT FISHKILL VILLAGE
structure, but occupies the site of the first build-
ing. In the vicinity of the Fishkill church are sev-
eral old homesteads, built by the earliest settlers,
in several cases with brick brought from Holland.
It is interesting to read of that original Dutch
church of Flatbush that “on the 17th of Decem-
ber, 1654, the Governor ordered a church to be
built at Midwout (Flatbush), to be 60 feet in
length, 28 in breadth, and 14 feet in height below
the beams.” And again of the first Dutch Church
of Brooklyn, built in 1666, that it was “a square
edifice with very thick walls and small, high win-
dows, filled with stained glass, representing large
flower pots at the base of the windows, from which
ran up through the panes, to the top of the win-
dows, numerous vines laden with a profusion of
brilliant flowers of every imaginable hue. On the
top of the church was a short, open steeple, in
which hung a small bell brought from Holland, as
was also the window glass. The inside of the
church was panelled to a great height, and that
work, together with the pews and pulpit, were of
oak and were either very dark from age or painted
some sombre colour, probably the former. This
church continued to be used until about 1810.”
About the year 1685 there were only two Dutch
churches in New York City, one of these being
Governor Stuyvesant’s chapel in the Bowery, on
the site of the present St. Mark’s Church. The
well-known “Church in the Fort” had by this
time passed over into English hands and become
Episcopalian.
Generally speaking, the early architecture of
the Dutch in New York State “is neither Colo-
nial nor had it any influence on Colonial, with
this slight exception: The Dutch in New Jersey,
on Long Island and to some extent in the northerly
parts of Pennsylvania and Maryland, built for
themselves farmhouses with stone and stucco
walls and long, sloping roofs, the first attack of
bungalow fever this country had. These houses
are rarely of large size, and are entirely domestic
in spirit. There has been nothing passed down to
us by the Dutch like the pure style of New Eng-
land and the Virginias, though the so-called
Dutch Colonial is quite charming in its human
expression, and is peculiarly fit for much of our
modern domestic need.”
This fact of its availability has been recognized
by many of our present-day architects. Even
some of our most recent buildings are planned,
sometimes fantastically, it is true, after Dutch
models. In the modern architecture of New
York City, for instance, we have become quite
accustomed to the stepped gables and elaborate
detail work which are usually associated with the
Dutch styles of construction. Such work, indeed,
in the hands of a well-trained and careful archi-
tect, is often delightful and truly representative.
It is most interesting, after an intimate acquain-
tance with the surviving examples of ancient Dutch
building of this country, to visit Holland, and
study at first hand its naive types of architecture.
The curious buildings of that country seem at the
beginning somewhat disappointing; they certainly
seem to lack originality. But this is easily ex-
plained. The country of Holland, its lands bor-
dering upon those of Germany, has always been
more or less subject to the latter’s influence, this
xcm
necessary during the several centuries of the
existence of this historic edifice, the original walls,
several feet in thickness, still stand, and the
venerable building is used regularly at the present
time for church services. Around this old church,
as is also the case with the First Dutch Church of
Flatbush, Brooklyn’s well-known suburb, are
many old graves, marked by slabs of reddish
sandstone, and decorated with curiously carved
cherubs’ heads, the inscriptions upon these slabs
being in the Dutch language. The Flatbush
church, although venerable, is not the original
OLD DUTCH CHURCH AT FISHKILL VILLAGE
structure, but occupies the site of the first build-
ing. In the vicinity of the Fishkill church are sev-
eral old homesteads, built by the earliest settlers,
in several cases with brick brought from Holland.
It is interesting to read of that original Dutch
church of Flatbush that “on the 17th of Decem-
ber, 1654, the Governor ordered a church to be
built at Midwout (Flatbush), to be 60 feet in
length, 28 in breadth, and 14 feet in height below
the beams.” And again of the first Dutch Church
of Brooklyn, built in 1666, that it was “a square
edifice with very thick walls and small, high win-
dows, filled with stained glass, representing large
flower pots at the base of the windows, from which
ran up through the panes, to the top of the win-
dows, numerous vines laden with a profusion of
brilliant flowers of every imaginable hue. On the
top of the church was a short, open steeple, in
which hung a small bell brought from Holland, as
was also the window glass. The inside of the
church was panelled to a great height, and that
work, together with the pews and pulpit, were of
oak and were either very dark from age or painted
some sombre colour, probably the former. This
church continued to be used until about 1810.”
About the year 1685 there were only two Dutch
churches in New York City, one of these being
Governor Stuyvesant’s chapel in the Bowery, on
the site of the present St. Mark’s Church. The
well-known “Church in the Fort” had by this
time passed over into English hands and become
Episcopalian.
Generally speaking, the early architecture of
the Dutch in New York State “is neither Colo-
nial nor had it any influence on Colonial, with
this slight exception: The Dutch in New Jersey,
on Long Island and to some extent in the northerly
parts of Pennsylvania and Maryland, built for
themselves farmhouses with stone and stucco
walls and long, sloping roofs, the first attack of
bungalow fever this country had. These houses
are rarely of large size, and are entirely domestic
in spirit. There has been nothing passed down to
us by the Dutch like the pure style of New Eng-
land and the Virginias, though the so-called
Dutch Colonial is quite charming in its human
expression, and is peculiarly fit for much of our
modern domestic need.”
This fact of its availability has been recognized
by many of our present-day architects. Even
some of our most recent buildings are planned,
sometimes fantastically, it is true, after Dutch
models. In the modern architecture of New
York City, for instance, we have become quite
accustomed to the stepped gables and elaborate
detail work which are usually associated with the
Dutch styles of construction. Such work, indeed,
in the hands of a well-trained and careful archi-
tect, is often delightful and truly representative.
It is most interesting, after an intimate acquain-
tance with the surviving examples of ancient Dutch
building of this country, to visit Holland, and
study at first hand its naive types of architecture.
The curious buildings of that country seem at the
beginning somewhat disappointing; they certainly
seem to lack originality. But this is easily ex-
plained. The country of Holland, its lands bor-
dering upon those of Germany, has always been
more or less subject to the latter’s influence, this
xcm