This is going to be controversial to some, but a lot of things past US Presidents have done have been highly suspect and blatantly wrong and sometimes unlawful. We believe the “Top Cottage” in Poughkeepsie, New York was not designed or built by Franklin D. Roosevelt. We believe it was built by the Winne family sometime between 1770 and 1810.
To summarize, here are the reasons we believe this is a Winne-built Home:
- The 1858 map of Dutchess County shows it to be directly west of Nicholas Winne’s farm property, approximately 2,400 feet away from the 1822 farmhouse on the eastern edge of the property within the same parcel boundary within the “Nine Water Lots” of the Great Partners Patent.
- The Site Plan from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s TOP COTTAGE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE REPORT from 2002, reveals that the “historic stone wall” surrounding the cottage, comes from the original Nicholas Winne property.
- A letter was written to FDR to suggest purchasing the ‘Old Winne Farm’ which was about 92 acres. If you trace the stone wall boundaries on the property, it equates to roughly 93 acres, give or take a couple
- James Winne, Nicholas’ father, lived in the 1700s and is buried near Nicholas in Hyde Park. We believe this was James’ Farm before it was inherited by Nicholas.
- The house itself is a 1700s style stone house, commonly built by the Dutch and very similar to other Dutch homes in the area that have been built by the Winne family.
- FDR’s crew that renovated the house, hid all the hand-hewn roof trusses that are common within Dutch architecture, underneath some awkwardly placed and shaped ceilings.
- There are no construction photos of the home that we have been able to find.
- FDR took credit for designing the home with zero home designing experience. The architecture of the home has aesthetics that have been passed down to Dutch family Architects and Designers for generations.
- The United States Government has a proven track record of specifically targeting the Winne Family.