EAST GREENBUSH, N.Y. -- The Kospa Farmhouse, built possibly as long ago as the early 18th century by a Dutch farmer, was one of this town's last remaining relics from the patroon settlers who colonized the area more than 300 years ago.
Like many landmarks that fade over time, the historic home just east of the Hudson River was abandoned for years and slowly fell into disrepair.
Now nothing is left but soot and charred wood.
On Aug. 29, police say, four teenagers roaming the 100-acre property spotted some long strands of paper hanging from one of the home's windows. They set fire to the paper, police said, and, in a matter of minutes, the flames consumed much of the farmhouse's dry, centuries-old wooden frame.
"It took right off," Police Chief Christopher Lavin said of the blaze.
The fire burned 30 minutes before it was reported. By the time firefighters from several departments arrived, the colonial landmark had been almost entirely destroyed.
Police on Wednesday arrested the teens they say set the blaze. Three are 15 years old, the other is 16. Lavin said the teens had no idea that the small flames would quickly become an inferno or that the farmhouse had such a historical standing.
"They all expressed remorse," Lavin said.
The three 15-year-old suspects, who were not identified because of their ages, were charged with arson. Their cases will be handled in family court.
The other teen, Thomas Snyder, 16, was charged with arson, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief. Snyder was released to his parents. He is scheduled to return to town court on Sept. 20.
Lavin said none of them had been in trouble with police before.
"(The fire) was set as a prank," the chief said. "I seriously doubt they knew the significance of what they were doing."
The farmhouse was not well known by local historians or preservationists and precisely when it was built is a mystery.
The only proof that the home may date to the early 1700s is an old map of the area that shows the home, Lavin said.
Town historians are certain the house at least predates the American Revolution.
The last member of the Kospa family who lived in the home died about six years ago, Lavin said, and the home had been largely untouched since.
Shirley Dunn, a local historian and author, was unaware the farmhouse existed. She said the Dutch in East Greenbush first settled along the Hudson River near what is now Hays Road and Route 9J in the 1630s. But most of those homes were destroyed by flooding. The majority of the second-generation homes that replaced them in the 1700s were razed in the 1930s during the Great Depression, according to Dunn. People were too poor to maintain the homes, and preservationist movements were not as popular as they are today.
If the Kospa farmhouse was from the Colonial era, it was likely one of the last of its kind in the region, Dunn said.
Copyright 2012 - Times Union, Albany, N.Y.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
