Nathaniel Hill had this house built in 1768 with bricks imported from Britain. Outside of Albany or New York City, the elegant brick house was one of the most magnificent dwellings to be found throughout the colony.
Hill had come to America from Ireland around 1735 and become prosperous making apple jack whiskey. After years of prosperity, Hill looked to build a new house to move into at his old age and purchased this land that stood halfway between Ward’s Bridge (today’s Montgomery Village) and the docks at Newburgh, where his farm produce could be shipped along the Hudson River. At the time, brick was not yet an industry in the colony, so Hill had it imported from England and with it had his Georgian-style mansion constructed. For seven generations, the Hills would occupy the stately home. A later generation updated the house in the Greek Revival style with a rear addition and interior refurbishing.
In 1975, Charles Borland Hill, Jr. donated the house and its contents to Orange County, allowing it to become a historic house museum operated by the County Parks Department. Since 1978, this historic house and museum has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Old Houses of Hanover: Historic Sites of the Town of Montgomery, Orange County, New York