Luykas Van Alen House

Built around 1737, the Luykas Van Alen House is recognized as one of fewer than a dozen historically intact Dutch Colonial houses in the Hudson Valley. The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1967.

The Van Alen House and its surrounding farmland are believed to have served as the inspiration for the Van Tassel homestead in Washington Irving’s beloved short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” The property sits on 33 acres and is operated by the Columbia County Historical Society as a house museum illustrating 18th-century Dutch Colonial life.

The property also includes the c. 1850 Ichabod Crane Schoolhouse — a one-room schoolhouse that operated until the 1940s — and the Dutch Farming Heritage Trail, a 1.7-mile walking path connecting to Martin Van Buren’s Lindenwald estate.