What Is It Named After? The Zebra House At The Jay Estate

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — If pressed to speculate how the Zebra House at the historic Jay Estate got the unique moniker — an early agricultural experimental zebra crossbreeding program would not be a likely first guess.

Perhaps the structure was named for a long-forgotten color scheme, or the way the shadows of marshland reeds hit paddock, or an architectural inspiration from another continent or a favorite children's book of the famous residents of the estate.

Sometimes a zebra house is really just a zebra house.

There were zebras at the Jay Estate beginning in the summer of 1906, according to the Jay Heritage Center, which manages the one-time home of John Jay. Owners of the property at the time, Warner van Norden and his wife Grace Talcott imported five rare zebras to crossbreed them with horses to create what they hoped would be superior and long-lived farm animals.

The zebras lived in what was at the time a state-of-the-art home, complete with steam heat and a zebra drinking fountain.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the experiment was reportedly short-lived, but the famous Zebra House built for the out of place and long gone farm denizens remains to this day.

The building now houses the Jay Heritage Center's restoration workshops. The group says the facility might eventually be used as a dedicated children’s center.

We have to admit "The Zebra House Children's Center at the Jay Estate" has a nice ring to it.