This is the third of three structures along Overlook Road/De Garmo Road in Poughkeepsie (See also An old mill? and Lewis Country Farms). In the first post I mentioned that there was a ‘Dutchess County Historic Site’ marker on the road outside. Of the three structures I’m guessing that the historic marker referred to this one.

The facade has a very interesting set of ornate windows and doors, which was once repeated on the rear too (see final picture below). For some reason the rear windows have been replaced with a more modern equivalent. Since the modern windows are much smaller the outline of the old windows can clearly be seen in the brickwork.

I still have no idea what the building is/was though.

Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3.

This is the second cluster of buildings mentioned in the preceding post (An old mill?) and very impressive it is too! It was also much easier to identify largely because its name is above the former entrance and there’s also a sign out by the road. It’s Lewis Country Farms.

Age and Abandon describes it as follows (and also provides many more pictures of both the exterior and interior):

Located at the intersection of Overlook Road and DeGarmo Road in LaGrange, NY, Lewis Country Farms was a local lawn & garden center. The original structure apparently dates to the 1840s. A historic building inventory form from 1986 identifies the site as the Ayrault Place and built in the mid-to-late 1800s and mid-1900s. Bill Lewis opened the business as Lewis Country Farms in 1989 and it closed in the 2000s.

These photos were taken over several visits during different seasons, and are just of the exterior. Photos of the interior can be found here. Work has begun to clean up the site and turn it into luxury apartments.

Also photographed is a building identified as the Lewis Landscaping located about a mile away. As far as I know, the business is not still operating.

WRRV provides additional information in Popular Hudson Valley Farm Market to become Luxury Apartments:

The original structures on the property date back to the 1840s and developers will now be turning the old Lewis Country Farms in LaGrannge into a series of luxury apartments.

A posting on Loopnet.com states that 25 of the 91 units in development will be built in the existing structures. So, while there will be changes to the property, several of the old buildings will remain in place.

According to an old article in the Poughkeepsie Journal, The business opened as Lewis Country Farms in 1989 by owner Bill Lewis who spent nearly $2 million to update and renovate the property.

It’s difficult to find much information on the closure of Lewis Country Farms. They closed down for good in the mid-2000s but did not have a large online presence. Having the already established Adams Fairacre Farms just up the street on Route 44 could not have been good for business.

We put it out to the audience and Tim from Poughkeepsie had this to share regarding the closure.

It was after 2004. My father worked for the Lewis landscaping and Bill Lewis owned both. I remember being there in 2003-04 during my senior year in high school very very seldom then, but I wasn’t there any time after. If my pops was still around I’d be able to know exactly when it closed down. I don’t even know who’s still there from the time my dad was there from 82-2007.

Millspaugh Furniture was also reportedly located on the property for a time. Should these buildings be preserved as is? Or are you OK with the development? Did you shop there? Based on the fact there isn’t a lot of information online we’d love to hear of any experiences you have going there, we’ll be updating this post as new info comes in.

I’m sure that it also suffered from competition from nearby Adams Fairacre Farms, a similar concept but possibly on an even grander scale.

Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3.