THIS IS WAYSIDE.

It is an old house, so old that it is impossible to tell just when it was built, but in 1729 when Abraham Hyatt sold the property on which it stands to Thomas Hadden, the deed read "Ye part of Manor of Scarsdale called Fox Meadow . . . houses, barn, orchard, garden, fences . . . 100 acres for the sum of 1 $0 pounds". Thus it is fair to assume that there was a house located on the plot in 1729, and the rounded shingles and other structural features make some authorities believe that it was built as far back as 1715.

In about 1761 the Varian family acquired Wayside Cottage. The first member of the Varians who lived in this country was Isaac, a butcher in the "Old Slip" Market in 1720. James Varian, one of Isaac's five sons, was born in New York City in 1734. He followed the trade of his father until the capture of the city by the British during the Revolutionary War, at which time he moved to Wayside in the so-called "neutral ground". When the British army moved toward White Plains in October 1776, the Varians, hoping to secure some of their possessions from plunder, removed a favorite cow and the family Bible down into the cellar for safekeeping. Legend says that several sabre marks still remain from one of the many attacks, and it is said that local boys spent one summer picking bullets out of the shingles.

Colonel Rufus Putnam, the chief engineer of Washington's Army, in his account of a scouting trip made before the Battle of White Plains speaks of "riding as far as three or four miles south of White Plains to a tavern and listening to a conversation of Whig farmers". He could very well have been speaking of Wayside. James Varian served as a first-lieutenant and then captain of the Middle Battalion, Westchester County, and later his possessions were despoiled by the "skinners and cowboys" who infested this area. He himself became a helpless paralytic, caused by exposure in the patriot cause. He and his family were driven from their farm by the British and took refuge at Danbury, Conn., from which they returned after the peace was proclaimed.

After James Varian died in 1800, his eldest son, Jonathan, and another son, James, Jr., jointly inherited this property. Jonathan was a drover by trade and probably an innkeeper too, as in some books the house is referred to as Drovers' Inn. At that time drovers used to drive the cattle to Wayside from the West. Both cattle and men could refresh themselves here, the beasts on the rolling plains outside and the men around the large fireplaces inside.

When Jonathan died in 1824, his brother assumed the role of "mine host" and there is reference in early Scarsdale writings to a "town meeting held at the house of James Varian, Innkeeper, on April 7, 1829". James, Jr., was engaged in transporting the Boston mail in the first stage of the route from New York City to New Milford, Conn. There was a large barn south of the house, and the four-horse mail coach used to be driven under this while the stop was made.

Another James, this time the third of this name, took possession in 1841 and presumably he lived there until 1853 when it was purchased by the Butler family. Legend has it that Wayside may have been used during the Civil War as part of the "underground railway" and this could very well be true. Emily Butler was its owner for many years, and she was a kindly soul who let Mrs. Rutz-Reese and her sister live here and teach music, and later allowed Louise Gunning and Martha Washburn to have a tea shop and sell antiques within these walls.

In 1917 the United States entered World I and Miss Butler turned over thirty acres of land as well as the house to the Scarsdale Community Farm, a plan originated by Laura Crane Burgess to take Scars-dale off the food market and make it self-supporting as far as winter vegetables were concerned. Boy Scouts cleared the land, women cut and planted potatoes and many other vegetables. People subscribed to the Community Farm and were paid wages when they worked there.

This experiment was a success, in that people learned to work together side by side. Miss Butler noticed this and wishing to make Wayside permanently available to the people of Scarsdale, Miss Butler deeded Wayside to the Village of Scarsdale in 1919 as follows; "for the purpose of creating an historical park and for the preservation and maintenance of the ancient building for the use of educational and historical purpose; for fostering a public and democratic spirit in the community and providing a center for civic welfare, club rooms or lyceum for the use of the people of Scarsdale."

The Scarsdale Woman's Club was incorporated in January 1919 and the clubhouse, Wayside Cottage, after extensive repairs and renovations, was opened in December of that year. The Woman's Club made few structural changes and did all they could to keep the pre-Revolutionary flavor of the place intact, including furnishing it with authentic Windsor and Brewster chairs, tavern tables and benches.

They had a tearoom here and the Scarsdale Inquirer, under the aegis of the Woman's Club, started in business at Wayside Cottage. As the years rolled by, the Woman's Club outgrew the building and in 1928 they moved to larger quarters and the Scars-dale Library became the next tenants. In 1951 the Library, in its turn, moved to larger quarters, and for a year and a half Scarsdale's beloved landmark was silent and empty.

The Junior League of Scarsdale, Inc., was approached by the Village with a request that, if it were interested in undertaking the project of Wayside Cottage and becoming custodians of the building, it submit a proposal of its plans for approval by the Village. In May 1953 the League, after a thorough study of Wayside's condition and possibilities, submitted such a proposal, which met with the approval of the Village and which was put into effect soon thereafter.

Much costly restoration and renovation was done by the Junior League before Wayside could be used as its headquarters and as a meeting place for other organizations of the village. Partitions on the first floor were taken out in order to create one large meeting room which is called the Emily Butler Room. The flooring and underflooring were removed in order to install concrete beams and slabs, sleepers and underflooring. Antique boards obtained from Rhode Island and Connecticut were laid on top and then the boards were washed, hand sanded, and a beeswax and paste wax finish put on them. A fireplace which the Library had boarded up on the north wall was rediscovered and an antique mantel installed over it. The ceiling was repaired, the entire south end of the building rewired, wainscoting extended around the room, and it was painted along with the entire outside of the building.

A partition was relocated in the kitchen; plumbing, linoleum and equipment were installed, and the room was painted. One window in the Stack Room, an addition built by the Library, was removed and a fire door installed. A soundproof ceiling and new lighting were added. The Stack Room was later decorated as a colonial sitting room and has recently been renamed the Tompkins Room after a prominent local family.

The Harvey Birch Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, completely renovated the room, formerly the Children's Library. It was renamed the Harvey Birch Room in honor of Cooper's "Spy" and his activities in this part of the county. The original fieldstone fireplace was restored by removal of the bricks and plaster, revealing the poplar lintel above and the oven inside. A British half penny dated 1746 fell out of the nibble above the lintel. In this room the ceiling and tile floor of the bathroom above were removed and old beams exposed. The room has been restored and equipped with furnishings appropriate to the pre-Revolutionary age of the building.

A hand rail was installed on the stairs and a door at the top of them. Two upstairs bedrooms were repaired, papered and painted. In the first bedroom a triangular closet was discovered with a space behind it so that one could climb up to the attic and down to the Harvey Birch Room beside the chimney. In the Woman's Club Bulletin of 1919 it says, "There was a secret chamber which could be entered by lifting the riser of the step going up to the center bedroom (now the bathroom). This has since been opened into a closet." Another source states that in the attic in a niche beside the chimney a tiny brick stair led to a tunnel under Post Road which was a means of escape. Yet another account declares that the tunnel went under Butler Field. It is possible that there were two tunnels to which access was obtained by going down alongside the central chimney.

This bedroom has been recently restored to a colonial sitting room by funds collected for the Jane W. Hackett Memorial Fund. Mrs. Hackett, at the time of her death, was Scarsdale's Village Historian, and the room has been named and dedicated in her honor.

A great deal of the restoration of Wayside Cottage has been accomplished by hard working League volunteers. Restoration, continued renovation and yearly maintenance has been costly. To date, over $150,000.00 has been spent by the Junior League on the Cottage. The League has always felt it worthwhile, however, in preserving one of Scarsdale's most historic landmarks.

Two bi-centennial open houses were held at the Cottage in 1976 and many came to learn of Wayside's history. The 250th anniversary of Wayside was celebrated in May 1979 with an afternoon of colonial activities open to the community. The League's efforts on Wayside's behalf were fully realized when Wayside Cottage was included on the National Register of Historic Places. The community of Scarsdale joined the Junior League in their celebration of this long awaited honor at an official ceremony in October, 1981.

The Junior League, as custodians of Wayside, continue to satisfy and nurture the specifications of Miss Butler's original covenant. We are certain Miss Butler would be pleased.

This story was published by the Junior League of Central Westchester, Inc.