Chairman of the Ancram Fire District's Board of Fire Commissioners Terry Boyles told The Columbia Paper Tuesday, January 19, that he would have no comment on the matter until the litigation had run its course. The humble, two-story, grimy-yellowish Stiehle house has stood sentinel at the east end of this hamlet at the crossroads of state Route 82 and county Route 7 since sometime in the first half of the 18th century, according to the website for the Ancram Preservation Group (APG). The only thing that separates the front of the house from eastbound traffic on Route 82 is a metal guardrail. To the passerby, for the past 10 or 20 years anyway, the house seemed forgotten, untended, until the rear part of the structure started to collapse down the side hill above the Ancram Mill about two years ago. That's when the APG stepped in. According to APG President Christopher “Kit” White, the Stiehle house is one of three historic buildings in the center of the Ancram hamlet. The Simons General Store and the Tinsmith house, across the road from the Stiehle house, are the other two. The APG purchased and restored the general store several years ago, and that building is currently for sale.