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All the United States New York State New York City Haverstraw The House by the Railroad

The House by the Railroad

This house was the subject of an Edward Hopper painting, which in turn helped inspire the design of the Bates house in Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho.'

Haverstraw, New York

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Rachel Adler
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The Haverstraw house that inspired a painting and a film.   Robert Ehrenbeck
The Haverstraw house that inspired a painting and a film.   Robert Ehrenbeck
Edward Hopper’s ‘The House by the Railroad’ (1925)   Edward Hopper/Public Domain
The ‘Psycho’ set house at Universal Studios Hollywood   Diego Delso/CC BY SA
  drwolff / Atlas Obscura User
  drwolff / Atlas Obscura User
21 September 2024   EmilGH / Atlas Obscura User
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About

In 1919, Rockland County Attorney General, Thomas Gagan, bought this house along Route 9W in Haverstraw, New York. His daughter, Amo, lived there for 50 years. According to local history, as a 13-year old, she saw Edward Hopper seated at his portable easel on the gravel sidings of the train track creating the painting that would become a masterpiece of American art and the prototype for an iconic image from American cinema.

The house was built in 1885 and still stands today, with a railroad on one side. Hopper painted The House by the Railroad in 1925 (nearly two decades before he produced his best-known painting, Nighthawks). Like many of his other works, this painting has a sense of loneliness and mystery about it.

That sense of mystery may be why the director Alfred Hitchcock based the Bates Mansion in his 1960 film Psycho on Hopper’s painting. Some details were changed: the Bates house is darker and surrounded by trees, but retains the shape and many of the architectural details of the house in Haverstraw.

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Architecture Art History Film Houses Paintings

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The house is a private residence, please observe from a respectful distance.

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Added By

RachelAAdler

Edited By

Michelle Cassidy, drwolff, EmilGH

  • Michelle Cassidy
  • drwolff
  • EmilGH

Published

January 7, 2022

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Sources
  • https://www.moma.org/collection/works/78330
  • https://dustyoldthing.com/hopper-house-hitchcock-psycho/
  • https://www.moma.org/collection/works/78330
  • https://dustyoldthing.com/hopper-house-hitchcock-psycho/
  • https://www.lohud.com/story/news/premium/2016/09/11/hoppers-railroad-house-haverstraw/87131850/
The House by the Railroad
49 Conger Ave
Haverstraw, New York, 10927
United States
41.1952, -73.970489
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Letchworth Village

Thiells, New York

miles away

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miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of New York State

New York State

United States

Places 807
Stories 45

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Letchworth Village

Thiells, New York

miles away

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Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of New York State

New York State

United States

Places 807
Stories 45

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