The History of
73–79 North Second Street
A Polish immigrant congregation. A papal petition that failed. A chocolatier who made art. A museum counsel. And a 2016 renovation that preserved everything worth saving.
Few properties carry a paper trail this rich.
The chain of title for this building reaches back to 1864. The congregation that built it planted roots on this corner in 1916. What followed was not simply a building's history — it was a building that kept attracting people who saw in it something worth preserving.
A museum curator and design historian. A luxury chocolatier who described his work as art. A name that appears in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's records as one of the longest-serving general counsels in the institution's history. This building has always moved through the art and preservation world.
A century and a half on this corner
Hudson, New York is chartered
Founded by Quaker whaling families from Nantucket and Rhode Island — one of the first incorporated American cities after independence. The industrial waterfront they built would attract the immigrant waves that eventually established this church.
The land — first recorded deed
The church parcel traces its earliest recorded ownership to a warranty deed dated January 5, 1864 — "sold and conveyed to John L. Gaul by Frederick Farrand and Amelia G., his wife." An adjoining lot was conveyed: "to John Cruise by George H. Power and Adeline E. Power, by deed dated October 21, 1872." These two 19th-century transactions are named in Schedule A of the 1993 deconsecration deed as the earliest title in the modern parcel's chain — over 160 years of documented ownership.
The Polish congregation establishes this corner
Hudson's Polish-American Catholic community organizes as the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and takes the corner of North Second and Robinson Streets as their home.
Sacred Heart of Jesus rises
Hudson architect Lucius Moore completes the Romanesque brick church — the building that stands today. The 30-foot sanctuary, stained-glass windows, choir loft, and bell tower are built as Moore intended: to last for centuries.
Timeline continued
1990
Father Paul Pulcher, and the closure
Father Paul — who kept two springer spaniels that attended Mass with him and ran Sunday services as short as fifteen minutes — dies in 1985. In 1990, Bishop Howard Hubbard of the Albany Diocese closes the parish. A town meeting draws more than 1,000 people. Parishioners carry patron saints' statues on their shoulders. One woman stands up and says: "You just can't close that church. My grandfather carved the wheel that rings the bell."
The deconsecration
The Diocese sells the building to Steven Feigenbaum with a restrictive covenant prohibiting the building's use as an adult bookstore, topless bar, or abortion clinic, and anything “materially and significantly contrary to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.” Bishop Hubbard signs it personally, twice!
Kohle Yohannan — design historian, scholar, composer
Feigenbaum sells the church to Joel David Yohannan a/k/a Kohle Yohannan — a name linked to the noted museum curator and design historian whose books include studies of designers Claire McCardell and Valentina. He writes to Hudson's City Fathers: he intends the building as his residence and studio "in connection with my needs as a professional scholar/lecturer and composer of commercial dance music."
Ashton Hawkins — the Metropolitan Museum's longtime counsel
The property sells to Ashton Hawkins — a name shared with William Ashton Hawkins (1937–2022), who served the Metropolitan Museum of Art for more than 30 years as its first full-time in-house general counsel, Secretary of the Board, and Executive Vice President. He is widely credited as a pioneer of art law in America. The building is held through Mission Grange Associates, LLC.
John Christopher Norman Down — chocolatier, fine artist
The building sells to John Christopher Norman Down. Down is the master chocolatier and fine artist behind Christopher Norman Chocolates — a "chocolate as art" enterprise whose work appeared at Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale's, Neiman Marcus, Martha Stewart, and the Smithsonian. Down operates the lower floor as a boutique chocolate factory with the sanctuary as his studio and residence.
The rebirth of Hudson Abbey
The current owner acquires the property and undertakes a complete, meticulous renovation: stained glass restored and Lexan-protected, pendant lights preserved, wood rot and leaks repaired, partitions removed, hand-laid stone columns installed in the lower level, foundation shored, professional chef kitchen installed, new plumbing/electrical/HVAC, new bluestone walkways, custom iron gate, and much more over the last ten years to ensure the property’s well-being—Hudson Abbey as it exists today.
"You just can't close that church. My grandfather carved the wheel that rings the bell." — Hudson Parishioner, 1990 Town Meeting · The Evangelist, Diocese of Albany
The tower still stands. The bell still rings.
Before the 2016 Transformation
The next chapter could belong to you.
Hudson Abbey is in a perfect place to be re-imagined, with endless potential to make each space serve your purpose.
Inquire About Purchasing Hudson Abbey