crailo state historic site

A great old house but they don't know much about the actual building which is the part I like the best. There was lots of info about early history of the area but not much history about the actual family who lived there. The house had exhibits in most rooms which the guide narrated. I would have preferred to read the exhibits myself. I find it hard to stand there and listen to the guide for an hour or more when I could be reading it myself. But she knew her stuff.

I was very impressed by the outside of the building and how well it was maintained, and then I got inside. The carpets were filthy and need to be replaced. There are only two period rooms which were not very well done. Most of the building is exhibits that the tour guide narrates. Our guide was very animated but often remarked that she didn't remember some fact. Not recommended.

Approaching the front door of Crailo, a sign on the closed door said to ring the bell. We did, twice. When a young woman finally came to the door she almost scolded us for being late for a tour, one that started ten minutes previously. The tourism information we had did not say there were tours. We joined the tour, but were somewhat disappointed by the young man leading the tour. He seemed to know the information, but was not fluent in his delivery. It seemed as though he would forget his place in his script and have to try to find his place before he went on. His delivery seemed rote. As we finished the tour, about 3:30, the other employees had already gone home and the tour guide couldn't get us out of the building soon enough. We left with the impression of 'state employees' who were simply performing a task. At one point, our guide complained about people 'just walking in the door and looking around.' Wow. Isn't that what historic sites are for? Other places we've visited in the area, we've encountered interpreters and guides who take obvious pride in their knowledge of their period in history and their ability to get visitors excited about it, too. Here, not so much. The house is beautiful, a brick exterior with shuttered windows and stone cased slots through which the van Rensselaers could fire their muskets at intruders. The interior has been largely restored after numerous changes made by residents over the centuries. The displays downstairs were good with many artifacts, charts, and murals. The one room upstairs has furniture representative of the Dutch families of the times. Our tour guide said a new display was soon to be installed in the other upstairs room. The kitchen, in the basement, has many examples of the utensils and implements used by slaves to prepare food for the family and other slaves owned by the van Renselaer family. It was an interesting visit back to the exploration and eventual settlement of the Hudson Valley by the Dutch.

I got a "private" tour as the only guest on a Saturday afternon and the tour guide really knew her history. The tour lasted over an hour and a half and covered the history of the Rensselaers as well as the Dutch and British colonial period. Very informative and a nice location for a picnic just off the river

Our tour guide gave us an insight into the home and Dutch history which we enjoyed immensely. We learned that it is called Fort Crailo because local inhabitants would gather there when under attack; there are musket slots for defense. But don't look for a fort, which we did. We also learned about some of the Dutch customs. Our tour took about one hour. Donation is minimal amount.

A wonderful place to see a well preserved piece of American history. Apparently, it shows a unique part of the Dutch historical significance in the early settlement of the United States that has mostly been torn down for new construction hundreds of years ago. Mighty nifty.

This is a fantastic little museum about colonial Dutch history in New York State. We visited on a Sunday afternoon (there is no parking lot, but we were able to park on the street right in front) and received a wonderful personal tour from James (well, just because we were the only ones that showed up that hour). He showed us a brief video and then spent 1.5 hours walking us through the exhibits. At the conclusion of the tour, you were welcome to walk back through a spend more time with the exhibits, but James was so through that we didn't feel it was necessary. If you bring your lunch with you, there is a stone wall across the street near the water. There are some pretty flowers and a bench behind the house, but there were so many bees near the flowers that I'd probably be pretty miserable trying to eat my lunch there. Definitely worth a visit if you have an interest in this period of NYS history.

If you are interested in the early colonial history of NYS, you will enjoy this museum. Come during nice weather and you can go to the little park on the river, which is across the street.They also host some fun outdoor events. The museum staff came to my Kindergarten classroom recently to teach about colonial life in New Netherlands and the presentation was excellent- the students liked it very much.

The museum itself is small but the people are very informative and present the history of the area an entertaining way. If you can visit durring Crailo day which is Oct. they have a bunch of children and family friendly activities. Very enjoyable.

Lovely atmosphere. Informative staff. A little colonial secret surrounded by busy intersections and a nice historic respite.

We stopped over here on NYS Heritage Weekend as well as the Schuyler Mansion. It was well worth it as the staff are super knowledgeable about Dutch Colonial history in the Upper Hudson/Albany/Rensselaer area. The museum itself (restored Brick Manor House c.1712) was nicely laid out but it would have been nicer if they had some additional period rooms other than basement area. Museum gift shop had some wonderful literature on Dutch Colonial period in general and specific to Albany/Beverwyck.http://nysparks.com/historic-sites/30/details.aspxWednesday-Sunday from mid-May through the end of October.Tours on the hour – first tour at 11:00AM, last tour at 4:00PM.Adult $5 fee