Past and Present

The John Green House (JGH) is recognizable by its dramatic location near the foot of Nyack's Main street and its beautiful red sandstone brick. The house is going through a variety of architectural and structural restorations. For example, 2023-2025 saw the restoration of two of the exterior sandstone walls, and more. The following features illustrate the "past versus the present" in a series of "slide to reveal" images. Grab and move the white slider to see the comparisons.

Firstly, see below how the 2024 restored North wall (and near completion of West wall restoration) contrasts starkly with the "before" condition.

Use the slider on the image below to see how the state of the house in 2022 (wall supports and all!) differs from the house's idealized condition in the 19th century (as captured in Beverley Bozarth's painting). The house will once again have this pleasing exterior appearance as its restoration continues.

Slide the bar below to see how today's JGH differs from its condition in roughly the 1980's when its outer walls had a layer of stucco. The stucco, in turn, covered up some concrete patchwork on the original sandstone walls. Notice anything about the front (North) door in this era?

The final comparison examines the dramatic unfinished painting by the prominent American artist (and Nyack resident) Edward Hopper, understood to have been painted in roughly 1900, depicting what appears to be the John Green House in the background of a Hudson River scene. We can't be entirely sure, though.. What do you think?

*Edward Hopper "Sailboat with a House on the Nearby Shore" via the Whitney Museum of Modern Art Hopper Collection

The distinctive roof and sandstone walls of the JGH can clearly be made out. And Hopper would often go down Second Avenue to the riverfront to row a boat, sketch, or watch the industrial and shipping activities happening at that time. This could be a view of the JGH. Use the slider on the image to compare (of course the perspective is not perfect due to artistic license taken by Hopper and the difficulty of staging such a photograph today).