Midwood, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States
The Elias Hubbard Ryder House, a quaint early 19th century farm house, is a reminder of local heritage. It is situated in Gravesend, one of the six original townships of Kings County later included in the City of Brooklyn as incorporated on May 3, 1894. Gravesend is unique in being the only English settlement to receive a patent from the Dutch Director General and Council.

Moreover, the patent listed Lady Deborah Moody, the first woman so included. The patent, first granted in 1643, was affirmed by Gov. Kieft in 1645. It also included a proviso permitting free dots of worship "without magisterial or ministerial interference", according to Henry R. Stiles in the History … of the County of Kings … (New York, 1884).

The town of Gravesend grew from what is believed to have been originally the land of forty patentees under the direction of Ladye Moodye, Nicholas Stillwell, and their associates. These independent spirits had chosen to set out and establish a free settlement on land which was part of the Indian Territory known as Keskachogue.

The village of Gravesend was laid out as a sixteen-acre square with two orthogonal roads cutting through it at right angles. The town founders each had a wedge-shaped "plantation lot" for farming radiating out from the center of the town. The original radial portion of the plan was altered as the town grew and expanded in size.

On December 6, 1678, the common lands, in the extreme eastern part of Gravesend bordering Flatlands, were divided into fifteen-acre lots. In 1712 two of these lots became the property of Bernardus Ryder, who was an Elder in the Gravesend Church. His grandson Bernardus, son of Jacobus and Jannetie, inherited the property from his father Jacobus Ryder and in turn passed it on to his sons.

In 1817 Bernardus was appointed one of the original five Trustees of the Town of Gravesend until the first formal election was held. Bernardus Ryder inherited lot number three from his father Jacobus Ryder, according to his father’s will dated August 19, 1774, and passed it on to his son Elias Hubbard Ryder.

In 1822 Elias H. Ryder married Ann Stillwell, a descendant of Nicholas Stillwell, one of the original patentees. According to Alfred H, Ryder, a direct descendant, old family records state: "Gravesend, March 25th in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty Four Elias H. Ryder and his family took possession of his house."

This house is usually described as "Dutch Colonial" and indeed the reference is correct in describing the general style of this type of house; however, the stylistic elements of this so-called "Dutch Colonial" architecture were actually brought over to this country during the 1600s by Flemings and Walloons who had fled before the Spanish invasion of Flanders in the 1620s.

They first arrived in densely populated Holland, only to subsequently emigrate to America where they lived under Dutch rule. This is probably the reason why houses built by the Flemish were referred to as Dutch. One of the distinctive features of the "Dutch Colonial" house is the projected roof eave which may have initially acted as an overhang to give protection to masonry wails from cascading rain water and snow.

Many houses on Long Island made traditional use of this detail despite the fact that most of them were constructed of wood, a material which was plentiful on Long Island. This traditional projected eave also provided shelter for stoops and benches at the entrance doors. With repeated use the projected

The Elias Hubbard Ryder House is a two-story wood frame structure of the 1830s which made use of "Dutch ColoniaI" elements in the vernacular-tradition, it is very interesting that this style survived and continued to be used for nearly two centuries the House was originally built on the edge of the farmland inherited by Elias H. Ryder.

To the east of the farmhouse was Ryder’s Lane which connected the majority of the Ryder family homesteads with Kings Highway to the north and later with Gravesend Neck Road to the south.

When surveys were made for city streets in this section of Brooklyn, the house was found to be located in the middle of the planned roadbed for East 29th Street just off of Avenue S. actually straddling the blockfronts on either side. In 1928 the City acquired title through condemnation to the property and sold back the house, but not the land, to the Ryder Family.

The main body of the house was moved to No. 1926 East 28th Street after two rooms on the west and an end porch had been removed for structural reasons and in order to adjust the house to the dimensions of the new lot. To compensate for the rooms lost, the south porch was replaced with a room, and a bedroom and bath with dormer windows were added at the second floor.

Also a rear second story wing was added to provide another bedroom. The slope of the dormer roof complements that of the main roof.

The front of the house has two simply enframed windows with six-over-six sash paneled shutters to the right of the entrance. This main entrance has a particular handsome leaded transom light designed in the Federal style with two ellipses separated and flanked on either side by four-pointed star forms. The gable end of the house facing onto the street, clearly displays the graceful sloping roof and the projected eaves.

This end had two symmetrically placed six-over-six windows at each floor with shutters, those at the second floor being considerably smaller. The house has rough-hewn wood shingles with over twelve inches to the weather.

The Elias Hubbard Ryder House, a representative of the rural past of Brooklyn and of a long standing architectural tradition, has preserved its original character and picturesque charm.

- From the 1976 NYCLPC Landmark Designation Report

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