Vassar-Warner...Home is closer than you think!
At close to 200 years old, the historic Greek Revival Vassar-Warner Home building dates to 1835 when it was built as the fourth location for the Dutchess Academy for Boys. In 1870 Jonathan Rowland Warner, a wealthy fur trader who was in rapidly declining health, saw an opportunity to make a lasting contribution to the community. Inspired to create a ârefuge for elderly womenâ, he joined several womenâs church groups with the same mission and purchased the former Academy building for $14,300. In addition, Warner paid $25,000 for remodeling and repairs and provided a $10,000 endowment for the Homeâs maintenance and repair. The Board of Lady Managersâthe delegates from Poughkeepsieâs churchesâwas established to raise funds, furnish rooms, and visit the sick. An all-male Board of Trustees also was established to invest the endowment and maintain the property. Unfortunately, Warner died three months before realizing his dream of seeing Vassar-Warner Home open its doors.
By 1896 the residence, which began as the Old Ladies Home, was fully occupied, with a waiting list of 1,500. Noting the demand, a local philanthropistârenowned Smith Brothers cough drop manufacturer William W. Smithâapproached the Board of Trustees with an offer to fund the construction of an additional 27 new rooms, giving the home its present T-shaped configuration. By the time of his death in 1913, Smith had contributed $140,000 in cash and improvements to the home he referred to as the âVestibule of Heavenâ.
In 1974, the Vassar Home for Aged Men and The Old Ladies Home was incorporated into the Vassar-Warner Home, named after the original benefactors: Jonathan Rowland Warner and brothers Matthew Vassar Jr. and John Guy Vassar, who created the menâs home (that building now is occupied by the Cunneen Hackett Cultural Center). Vassar-Warner Home maintained the two buildings, known as the Menâs Division and the Ladiesâ Division, until 1986 when the men moved into the Ladiesâ Division, which is the current Vassar-Warner Home.
Today, Vassar-Warner Home is the only nonprofit Adult Home and Assisted Living Program in Dutchess County. This allows each resident to be treated as a family member rather than a customer.