John Szemansco and Susan Ruckdeschel stand outside Oakcliff Bed and Breakfast located at 78
Church Hill Road in Halfmoon, a home where some famous U.S. statesmen have stayed.
BY JILL NAGY
George Washington didn’t sleep there, but four
other American presidents did: Ulysses S. Grant,
Chester A. Arthur, Rutherford B. Hayes, and James
Garfield, boasts John Szemansco, owner and
host of Oakcliff Bed and Breakfast located at 78
Church Hill Road in Halfmoon.
Szemansco did not host them personally, of
course. That distinction belongs to the second
owner of the home, T.G. Younglove, the first
speaker of the New York State Assembly and onetime
state Republican Party chairman. Younglove
lived in the house from 1850 to 1882 and was
speaker in the 1860s. (The house was built in 1835
by County Judge Duncan MacMartin).
However, the current host can offer guests use
of the Grant Library and rooms named for the
former presidents.
That history has helped attract guests to the
inn.
