Clermont State Historic Site Architectural Traditions In The Hudson ...
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neighbors. Huguenot Street, arguably the oldest street in America with its original houses, includes three with portions that date back to the 1690s: the Bevier-Elting, Jean Hasbrouck, and Abraham Hasbrouck houses. The buildings are of local stone, with steeply pitched shingled roofs and Dutch jambless fireplaces. Today, the legacy of the Dutch colonial vernacular is kept alive in more contem- porary historic buildings, many of which were influenced by Franklin Roosevelt. In the 1930s, FDR was involved in the design of six regional post offices, three schools, his own presidential library, and Top Cottage, his retreat at Hyde Park. By promoting native fieldstone construction and using historical models for new designs, FDR helped to preserve an impor- tant architectural tradition in the Hudson River Valley. T he Hudson River Valley is known not only for its natural beauty but its architectural heritage. It was here that architects developed early residential styles, created mountain resorts, and designed spectacular riverside estates. America’s first travel guides touted these architectural wonders 150 years ago. The invitation still holds: Visit the farmhouses of Dutch and French Huguenot settlers; tour the mansions and grounds along the river; and marvel at the creations of some of the country’s greatest 19th-century architects. Dutch, Huguenot Influences The houses built by Dutch colonists during the 17th and early 18th centuries are the only examples of Dutch architec- ture in North America. Farmhouses, such as Pieter Bronck’s brick residence (1663) in Coxsackie, feature distinctive pitched roofs with gable ends, prominent roof beams, and open fireplaces. After the English took charge of the colony in 1664, Dutch building traditions continued and can still be seen at the Madam Brett Homestead (1709) in Beacon and the Luykas Van Alen House (1737) in Kinderhook. The French Huguenots who emigrated to the banks of the Wallkill Creek and founded the settlement of New Paltz built stone houses that combined Northern European and medieval build- ing traditions with those of their Dutch Origins of the Great Estates As second- and third-generation colonists became more prosperous, many early landholdings expanded. Frederick Philipse I, a Dutch carpenter who emigrated in the 1650s, successfully acquired a large amount of land and two mill sites, the Lower Mills in Yonkers and the Upper Mills on the Pocantico River in the village of Sleepy Hollow. The core of Philipse Manor dates back to the 1680s, but its transformation into a country estate began under Frederick Philipse III, who remodeled it into a Georgian-style mansion in the 1750s. Farther up the river, Robert Livingston acquired a royal patent for a vast tract of land in Columbia County, and one of his sons built a Georgian-style country house he named Clermont. Lyndhurst, Tarrytown Steve Turner, courtesy Charles Davey LLC Wilderstein, Rhinebeck Main Building,Vassar College Tom Daley Boscobel, Cold Spring Olana, Hudson Lindenwald, Kinderhook James Vanderpoel House, Kinderhook Vanderbilt Mansion, Hyde Park Richard Cheek Kykuit, Sleepy Hollow Philipse Manor Hall, Yonkers Steve Turner, AerPhoto, courtesy Charles Davey design LLC Madam Brett Homestead, Beacon Steve Turner, courtesy Charles Davey LLC Dutch Reformed Church, Newburgh Tom Daley St. Luke’s Chapel, Clermont Tom Daley Residential Architecture: the Cottage and the Villa During the first half of the 19th century, American architects experimented with a variety of styles, and it was during this period of eclecticism that the valley’s most whimsical and exuberant houses were created. Sunnyside, a “cottage” in Tarrytown designed by writer Washington Irving in the 1830s, evokes this romantic spirit with its fanciful combination of Dutch, Scottish, and Spanish architecture. Foremost among professional architects was Alexander Jackson Davis, a young New Yorker who was a partner in the country’s first architectural firm, Town and Davis. By the 1830s, Davis had com- pleted the Custom House in New York City and the Greek Revival Dutch Reformed Church in Newburgh. He also received a commission for a Hudson River estate, the Knoll in Tarrytown. Bevier-Elting House, Huguenot Street, New Paltz State Capitol, Albany Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, New York www.hudsonrivervalley.com Architectural Traditions in the Hudson River Valley Map & Guide Series Clermont established a new standard for the country house and the prominence of the Livingston family. Federal-era mansions, such as Ten Broeck Mansion (1798) in Albany, Boscobel (1804-07) in Cold Spring, and Locust Lawn (1814) in New Paltz, demonstrated the increasing wealth of the Hudson River Valley. The Knoll was considered the first picturesque villa in America, and in the 1860s it became the heart of Lyndhurst, a much larger, more spectacular residence. It was through the commission for the Blithewood estate in Annandale-on- Hudson that Davis met landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing. Together, Davis and Downing were responsible for developing the two key building types that would define the nation’s residential architecture: the cottage and the villa. The bracketed style was an answer to the quest for a native architectural style, particularly because it could be adapted to a range of incomes. In 1837 Davis introduced this new, romantic style in his landmark book, Rural Residences, which included the Blithewood gatehouse, the first published example of a board-and-batten cottage in America. Over the next 15 years, Davis’ picturesque ideals were interpreted for the public in Downing’s widely distributed books, Cottage Residences and The Architecture of Country Houses. When Davis remodeled Montgomery Place, the Federal-style estate in Annandale-on-Hudson, Downing served as an adviser on the gardens and grounds. Carpenter Gothic: an American Church Style By mid-century, the romantic ideals of Downing and Davis were common knowledge, and the board-and-batten church had become the natural style for Gothic revival church architecture in America. The light and vertical wooden buildings stood in sharp contrast to the heavy stone Gothic structures of England. The architect Richard Upjohn earned a reputation as the most talented designer of board-and-batten churches. Upjohn was so busy by the 1850s that he published Upjohn’s Rural Architecture, which included “do-it-yourself” church plans. A typical example of his work, St. Luke’s Chapel (1857) in Clermont, displays the bell cote and intricate woodwork characteristic of this style, an important contribution to the history of American architecture. At the same time, Frederick Clarke Withers began creating the monumental Hudson River State Hospital in Poughkeepsie, the country’s first use of the High Victorian Gothic style for an institutional design. Calvert Vaux, Andrew Jackson Downing’s successor, and Frederick Law Olmsted designed the innovative hospital grounds. During the second half of the 19th century, some of the country’s greatest architects brought new residential styles to the valley and renovated the old- fashioned estates of their predecessors. Vaux updated the landscape plan for Wilderstein, the Queen Anne estate in Rhinebeck, and worked with Frederic E. Church on his elaborate Persian-style residence, Olana, in Hudson. A Tradition of Rural Leisure The 1870s were an exciting time in the valley. The renowned New York architect Richard Morris Hunt designed the Stick Style Howland Library in Beacon, and his equally famous colleague, Henry Hobson Richardson, was working with a group of other designers on the New York State Capitol. A fire at the Albany City Hall nearby resulted in a new archi- tectural commission, and Richardson created another impressive civic building. At Poughkeepsie James Renwick, Jr., designed the mansard-roofed main building for Matthew Vassar’s new college for women. As urban centers were growing, the Hudson River Valley remained an impor- tant resort destination, and, beginning in the 1870s, visitors could stay at the expansive Mohonk Mountain House in the Shawangunk Mountains. The next generation of prominent Hudson River families called on the New York architectural firm McKim, Mead and White to remodel their estates—Vanderbilt in Hyde Park and Mills in Staatsburg—into more fashion- able countryseats. Two early 20th-century sites represent the extent to which the Hudson River Valley continued to attract some of the country’s greatest estates and to foster the tradition of rural leisure. Kykuit, the Rockefeller estate, boasts stunning gardens and impressive collections of art and sculpture. And in 1917, a little known architect named Herbert Maier designed the first rustic trailside museum at Bear Mountain State Park. The museum became a prototype for rustic buildings throughout the national parks. After the Revolutionary War, Americans celebrated their independence through a new style of architecture that attempt- ed to shed the colonial trappings of the past, but they still clung to the neoclassi- cism inherited from England. Several important houses were destroyed during the war and rebuilt in the Federal style. In its elegant post-war reincarnation, Clermont, Germantown As tastes changed during the 1840s, accomplished architects like Davis and Richard Upjohn were called upon to remodel outdated federal-style houses into more fashionable Italianate or Tuscan villas. Davis worked with Samuel F. B. Morse to create Locust Grove in Poughkeepsie, while Upjohn remodeled Lindenwald, a 36-room mansion in Kinderhook commissioned by President Martin Van Buren. Sunnyside, Tarrytown Trailside Museum, Bear Mountain State Park Montgomery Place, courtesy of Historic Hudson Valley Locust Grove, Poughkeepsie
Transcript of Clermont State Historic Site Architectural Traditions In The Hudson ...
neighbors. Huguenot Street, arguably theoldest street in America with its originalhouses, includes three with portions thatdate back to the 1690s: the Bevier-Elting,Jean Hasbrouck, and Abraham Hasbrouckhouses. The buildings are of local stone,with steeply pitched shingled roofs andDutch jambless fireplaces.
Today, the legacy of the Dutch colonialvernacular is kept alive in more contem-porary historic buildings, many of whichwere influenced by Franklin Roosevelt.
In the 1930s, FDR was involved in thedesign of six regional post offices,
three schools, his own presidentiallibrary, and Top Cottage, his retreatat Hyde Park. By promoting nativefieldstone construction and usinghistorical models for new designs,FDR helped to preserve an impor-tant architectural tradition in theHudson River Valley.
The Hudson River Valley is known not only for its natural beauty but its architectural heritage. It was here that architects developed early residentialstyles, created mountain resorts, and designed spectacular riverside estates.
America’s first travel guides touted these architectural wonders 150 years ago. The invitation still holds: Visit the farmhouses of Dutch and French Huguenot settlers; tour the mansions and grounds along the river; and marvel at the creations of some of the country’s greatest 19th-century architects.
Dutch, Huguenot InfluencesThe houses built by Dutch colonists during the 17th and early 18th centuriesare the only examples of Dutch architec-ture in North America. Farmhouses, suchas Pieter Bronck’s brick residence (1663)in Coxsackie, feature distinctive pitchedroofs with gable ends, prominent roofbeams, and open fireplaces.
After the English took charge of thecolony in 1664, Dutch building traditionscontinued and can still be seen at theMadam Brett Homestead (1709) inBeacon and the Luykas Van Alen House(1737) in Kinderhook.
The French Huguenots who emigrated to the banks of the Wallkill Creek andfounded the settlement of New Paltzbuilt stone houses that combinedNorthern European and medieval build-ing traditions with those of their Dutch
Origins of the Great EstatesAs second- and third-generationcolonists became more prosperous,many early landholdings expanded.Frederick Philipse I, a Dutch carpenterwho emigrated in the 1650s, successfullyacquired a large amount of land and twomill sites, the Lower Mills in Yonkersand the Upper Mills on the PocanticoRiver in the village of Sleepy Hollow.The core of Philipse Manor dates backto the 1680s, but its transformation intoa country estate began under FrederickPhilipse III, who remodeled it into aGeorgian-style mansion in the 1750s.
Farther up the river, Robert Livingstonacquired a royal patent for a vast tract of land in Columbia County, and one ofhis sons built a Georgian-style countryhouse he named Clermont.
Lyndhurst, Tarrytown Steve Turner, courtesy Charles Davey LLC
Wilderstein, RhinebeckMain Building,Vassar College Tom Daley
Boscobel, Cold Spring
Olana, Hudson
Lindenwald, KinderhookJames Vanderpoel House, Kinderhook
Vanderbilt Mansion, Hyde Park Richard Cheek Kykuit, Sleepy Hollow
Philipse Manor Hall, Yonkers Steve Turner, AerPhoto, courtesy Charles Davey design LLC
Madam Brett Homestead,BeaconSteve Turner, courtesyCharles Davey LLC
Dutch Reformed Church, NewburghTom Daley
St. Luke’s Chapel, Clermont Tom Daley
Residential Architecture: the Cottage and the VillaDuring the first half of the 19th century,American architects experimented with avariety of styles, and it was during thisperiod of eclecticism that the valley’smost whimsical and exuberant houseswere created. Sunnyside, a “cottage” inTarrytown designed by writer WashingtonIrving in the 1830s, evokes this romanticspirit with its fanciful combination ofDutch, Scottish, and Spanish architecture.
Foremost among professional architectswas Alexander Jackson Davis, a youngNew Yorker who was a partner in thecountry’s first architectural firm, Townand Davis. By the 1830s, Davis had com-pleted the Custom House in New YorkCity and the Greek Revival DutchReformed Church in Newburgh. He alsoreceived a commission for a HudsonRiver estate, the Knoll in Tarrytown.
Bevier-Elting House, Huguenot Street, New Paltz
State Capitol, Albany
Hudson River ValleyNational Heritage Area, New Yorkwww.hudsonrivervalley.com
Architectural Traditions in the Hudson River Valley
Map & Guide Series
Clermont established a new standard forthe country house and the prominenceof the Livingston family. Federal-eramansions, such as Ten Broeck Mansion(1798) in Albany, Boscobel (1804-07) inCold Spring, and Locust Lawn (1814) inNew Paltz, demonstrated the increasingwealth of the Hudson River Valley.
The Knoll was considered the first picturesque villa in America, and in the1860s it became the heart of Lyndhurst, amuch larger, more spectacular residence.
It was through the commission for the Blithewood estate in Annandale-on-Hudson that Davis met landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing.
Together, Davis and Downing wereresponsible for developing the two keybuilding types that would define thenation’s residential architecture: the cottage and the villa. The bracketed stylewas an answer to the quest for a nativearchitectural style, particularly because itcould be adapted to a range of incomes.
In 1837 Davis introduced this new,romantic style in his landmark book,Rural Residences, which included theBlithewood gatehouse, the first publishedexample of a board-and-batten cottage in America. Over the next 15 years, Davis’ picturesque ideals were interpretedfor the public in Downing’s widelydistributed books, Cottage Residencesand The Architecture of Country Houses.When Davis remodeled MontgomeryPlace, the Federal-style estate inAnnandale-on-Hudson, Downing servedas an adviser on the gardens and grounds.
Carpenter Gothic: anAmerican Church StyleBy mid-century, the romantic ideals ofDowning and Davis were commonknowledge, and the board-and-battenchurch had become the natural style forGothic revival church architecture inAmerica. The light and vertical woodenbuildings stood in sharp contrast to theheavy stone Gothic structures of England.
The architect Richard Upjohn earned areputation as the most talented designerof board-and-batten churches. Upjohnwas so busy by the 1850s that he publishedUpjohn’s Rural Architecture, whichincluded “do-it-yourself” church plans.A typical example of his work, St. Luke’sChapel (1857) in Clermont, displays the bell cote and intricate woodworkcharacteristic of this style, an importantcontribution to the history of Americanarchitecture.
At the same time, Frederick Clarke Withersbegan creating the monumental HudsonRiver State Hospital in Poughkeepsie, thecountry’s first use of the High VictorianGothic style for an institutional design.Calvert Vaux, Andrew Jackson Downing’ssuccessor, and Frederick Law Olmsteddesigned the innovative hospital grounds.
During the second half of the 19th century, some of the country’s greatestarchitects brought new residential stylesto the valley and renovated the old-fashioned estates of their predecessors.Vaux updated the landscape plan forWilderstein, the Queen Anne estate inRhinebeck, and worked with Frederic E.Church on his elaborate Persian-styleresidence, Olana, in Hudson.
A Tradition of Rural LeisureThe 1870s were an exciting time in thevalley. The renowned New York architectRichard Morris Hunt designed the StickStyle Howland Library in Beacon, andhis equally famous colleague, HenryHobson Richardson, was working with agroup of other designers on the NewYork State Capitol. A fire at the AlbanyCity Hall nearby resulted in a new archi-tectural commission, and Richardsoncreated another impressive civic building.At Poughkeepsie James Renwick, Jr.,designed the mansard-roofed main building for Matthew Vassar’s new collegefor women.
As urban centers were growing, theHudson River Valley remained an impor-tant resort destination, and, beginning in the 1870s, visitors could stay at theexpansive Mohonk Mountain House inthe Shawangunk Mountains.
The next generation of prominentHudson River families called on the New York architectural firm McKim,Mead and White to remodel theirestates—Vanderbilt in Hyde Park andMills in Staatsburg—into more fashion-able countryseats.
Two early 20th-century sites representthe extent to which the Hudson RiverValley continued to attract some of thecountry’s greatest estates and to fosterthe tradition of rural leisure. Kykuit, the Rockefeller estate, boasts stunning
gardens and impressive collections of artand sculpture. And in 1917, a little knownarchitect named Herbert Maier designedthe first rustic trailside museum at BearMountain State Park. The museumbecame a prototype for rustic buildingsthroughout the national parks.
After the Revolutionary War, Americanscelebrated their independence througha new style of architecture that attempt-ed to shed the colonial trappings of thepast, but they still clung to the neoclassi-cism inherited from England. Severalimportant houses were destroyed duringthe war and rebuilt in the Federal style. Inits elegant post-war reincarnation,
Clermont, Germantown
As tastes changed during the 1840s,accomplished architects like Davis andRichard Upjohn were called upon toremodel outdated federal-style housesinto more fashionable Italianate orTuscan villas. Davis worked with SamuelF. B. Morse to create Locust Grove inPoughkeepsie, while Upjohn remodeledLindenwald, a 36-room mansion inKinderhook commissioned by PresidentMartin Van Buren.
Sunnyside, Tarrytown
Trailside Museum, Bear Mountain State Park
Montgomery Place, courtesy of Historic Hudson Valley
Locust Grove, Poughkeepsie
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Clermont
MontgomeryPlace
Luykas Van Alen/
Vanderpoel Houses
BronckMuseum
SchuylerMansion
GomezMill House
Vassar College
Boscobel
PhilipseManor
Hall
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Wilderstein
Mohonk Mountain House
Staatsburgh(Mills Mansion)
Olana
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Ten Broeck Mansion
New York State Capitol/Albany City Hall/
St. Peter's Protestant Episcopal Church
Hart-Cluett Mansion
VanderbiltMansion
Top Cottage/Val-Kill
Hudson River State Hospital
Home of FDR
LocustGrove
DutchReformed Church
MountGulian
Madam BrettHomestead/Howland Library
Van CortlandtManor
Kykuit
Sunnyside
Lyndhurst
West Point
St. Luke'sChapel
Harriman
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STAMFORD
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KINGSTON
POUGHKEEPSIE
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WHITEPLAINS
GREENWICH
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PITTSFIELD
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DANBURY
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HACKENSACK
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NEW PALTZ
HYDE PARK
SAUGERTIES
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HUDSON
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Yorktown
Katonah
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PoundRidge
Carmel
Mahopac
Brewster
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Fishkill
WappingersFalls
Marlboro
Middletown
Goshen
Warwick
Mountainville
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Haverstraw
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Hastings-on-Hudson
SleepyHollow
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SpringValley
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Peekskill
Ossining
Croton-on-Hudson
NewWindsor
OrangeLake
Montgomery
Washingtonville
Monroe
Chester
Red OaksMill
Highland
Pawling
Millbrook
Pleasant Valley
Amenia
PinePlains Millerton
Copake Falls
Hillsdale
Austerlitz
EastNassau
DoverPlains
Catskill
Germantown
Tivoli
Annandale-on-Hudson
RedHook
Hunter
Windham
Dormansville
Rensselaerville
Durham
Tannersville Palenville
Woodstock
Kinderhook
Chatham
Old Chatham
RotterdamWaterford
Mechanicville
RoundLake
Kent
Kerhonkson
Monticello
Wurtsboro
Phoenicia
MargaretvilleFleischmans
Prattsville
Sharon Springs
Schoharie
Middleburgh
Grand Gorge
Cobleskill
Stockbridge
Port Jervis
Ridgewood
Englewood
PassaicCaldwell
Ridgefield
Cairo
Canaan
GreatBarrington
Lenox
BallstonSpa
Victory
Cambridge
Cold Spring
Garrison
CornwallBridge
Bethel
Brookfield
New Milford
HighFalls
PortWashington
Glen Cove Huntington
HuntingtonStation
Syosset Woodbury
OysterBay
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Sites reflecting the region's architectural traditions are shown on this map of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area. Many of these heritagesites are closed Mondays or Tuesdays and are likely to be closed January throughMarch. For more information about these sites and other heritage sites and hospitalityin the valley, use this website:www.hudsonrivervalley.com
Hudson River Valley National Heritage AreaThe Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area is a federallyfunded program created by Congress in 1996. The mission ofthe Heritage Area is to recognize, preserve, protect, and interpretthe nationally significant cultural and natural resources of theHudson River Valley for the benefit of the nation. The HeritageArea and the National Park Service funded the production of thismap and guide. Please send your comments or map revisions toHudson River Valley Greenway, Capitol Building, Room 254,Albany, NY 12224; call 518-473-3835; fax 518-473-4518; or email [email protected]
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Hudson River ValleyNational Heritage Areaboundary
Appalachian Trail
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Schuylerville New York State Capitol, Albany, 518-474-2418—This palatial building is a combina-tion of popular architectural styles of theday, including Romanesque and FrenchRenaissance. Three prominent designers—Leopold Eidlitz, Henry Hobson Richardson,and Isaac Perry—replaced the originalarchitect, Thomas Fuller. Over threedecades of construction, the building suf-fered from financial and political difficultiesand the struggles of architectural collabora-tion. Richardson, with his assistant StanfordWhite, designed the restored SenateChamber. The result was a magnificentinterior that Richardson described as repre-senting “simplicity and quietness.” (NHL)
Albany City Hall, 24 Eagle St., Albany, 518-434-5100—designed in the early 1880sby renowned architect H.H. Richardson
St. Peter’s Protestant Episcopal Church, 107State St., Albany, 518-434-3502—Gothicrevival church designed by Richard Upjohnin 1859 (NHL)
Schuyler Mansion, 32 Catherine St., Albany,518-434-0834—18th-century Georgian-stylemansion, home of Maj. Gen. PhilipSchuyler (NHL)
Ten Broeck Mansion, 9 Ten Broeck Place,Albany, 518-436-9826—18th-19th-centuryFederal-style estate of General AbrahamTen Broeck
St. Luke’s Chapel, U.S. 9 (Old Post Rd.),Clermont—19th-century board-and-battenchurch designed by Richard Upjohn
Clermont, One Clermont Ave.,Germantown, 518-537-4240—18th-centuryhome, with 1893 additions by MichaelO’Connor, of seven successive generationsof the Livingston family (NHL)
Montgomery Place, Annandale-on-Hudson,845-758-5461—A Federal-style mansiondating back to 1805, Montgomery Placewas transformed by Alexander JacksonDavis in the 1840s and further altered in1863 in the neo-classical style. The housefeatures an exterior coating of richlydetailed ornament. Davis also designedoutbuildings in the neo-classical, gothicrevival, and “Swiss” styles. The landscapedesign was influenced by Andrew JacksonDowning, who contributed extensiveadvice on the gardens as well as plantsfrom his Newburgh nursery. (NHL)
Wilderstein, 330 Morton Rd., Rhinebeck,845-876-4818—Thomas Suckley commis-sioned John Warren Ritch to design thishouse as an Italianate villa in the 1850s.Three decades later, Suckley’s son Roberthired Arnout Cannon to remodel it into acontemporary Queen Anne estate. Theresult is a whimsical house with an addi-tional floor, veranda, five-story circulartower, and elaborate interiors by JosephBurr Tiffany as well as landscaping byCalvert Vaux. Wilderstein was the home ofMargaret “Daisy” Suckley, distant cousin ofFranklin Delano Roosevelt.
Staatsburgh (Mills Mansion), Old Post Rd.,Staatsburg, 845-889-8851—19th-centurymansion redesigned by Stanford White forOgden Mills
Vanderbilt Mansion (Hyde Park), AlbanyPost Road (U.S. 9), north of the village ofHyde Park, 1-800-FDR-VISIT—This countryhouse was one of the finest residentialprojects of McKim, Mead and White’smature period. Constructed for Frederickand Louise Vanderbilt in 1895-99, the house
Gomez Mill House, 11 Mill House Rd.,Marlboro, 845-236-3126—Oldest Jewishresidence in United States; 18th-centurytrading post
Mount Gulian, 145 Sterling St., Beacon,845-831-8172—Built by a Dutch merchantin the 1730s; 18th-century barn noted forits cantilevered gables
Howland Cultural Center, 477 Main St.,Beacon, 845-831-4988—The HowlandLibrary, designed by Richard Morris Hunt in1872, is a distinctive example of stick stylearchitecture.
Madam Brett Homestead, 50 Van NydeckAve., Beacon, 845-831-6533—Dutch-stylehouse built in 1709 and 1715
Dutch Reformed Church, 125 Grand St.,Newburgh, 845-569-7393—Greek Revivalchurch designed by Alexander JacksonDavis (NHL)
Boscobel, 1601 Route 9D, Garrison, 845-265-3638—This neo-classical mansion fea-tures one of the country’s best collectionsof Federal-era furniture. Designed in 1804by States Morris Dyckman, a loyalist duringthe American Revolution, Boscobel reflectsthe style and detail of impressive Londonresidences. The house, which originallystood about 15 miles to the south, wassaved by preservationists.
United States Military Academy, WestPoint 845-938-2638—The nation’s oldestmilitary school with buildings by RichardMorris Hunt, McKim, Mead and White, andCram, Goodhue and Ferguson (NHL)
Bear Mountain Trailside Museum, BearMountain, 845-786-2701—At Bear MountainState Park, architect Herbert Maier createdthe nation’s first trailside museum, a low,single-story building with a veneer of nat-ural boulders set in a battered, slopingfashion. Visitors follow a path up the hillfrom the boathouse and through thebuilding. The idea of diminishing the barri-er between the park and the museum seta precedent for rustic buildings through-out the National Park System.
Lower Hudson
Mid-Hudson
Upper Hudson
Architectural Traditions in the Hudson River ValleyMap & Guide Series
exhibits the Beaux Arts style in its symme-try, heavy ornamentation, and severe classi-cism. Most of the original furnishings anddesigned interiors remain intact. (NHS)
Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt(Springwood), Albany Post Road (U.S. 9),south of Hyde Park, 1-800-FDR-VISIT—In1915 FDR renovated the Italianate house inwhich he had been born into a Georgianor Colonial Revival style mansion befittinghis presidential aspirations. He alsoexpressed his love of architecture and thelocal Dutch colonial style through thedesign of two cottages on his estate andthrough his work on numerous publicbuildings in Dutchess County. (NHS)
Hudson River State Hospital U.S. 9,Poughkeepsie—Designed by FrederickWithers with landscape by Calvert Vauxand Frederick Law Olmsted. The hospital isnow being remodeled for reuse. (NHL)
Vassar College, Main Building,Poughkeepsie, 845-437-7000—Designed byarchitect James Renwick, Jr., in 1860, thecollege’s main building is an early exampleof the Mansard style in America. (NHL)
Locust Grove, 2683 South Rd. (U.S. 9),Poughkeepsie, 845-454-4500—Samuel F. B.Morse, founder of the National Academyof Design, had achieved a reputation as anartist by the 1840s, but it was his inventionof the electromagnetic telegraph andMorse code that allowed him to purchaseproperty for a new residence. He chose anold friend, architect Alexander JacksonDavis, to assist him in turning an existingFederal-style house into a “Tuscan” villawith dramatic views of the river. (NHL)
Mohonk Mountain House, 1000 MountainRest Rd., New Paltz, 845-255-1000—Mountain resort established in the 1870son Lake Mohonk in the Shawangunks(NHL)
Huguenot Street, New Paltz, 845-255-1660—Arguably the oldest continuallyinhabited street in America (NHL)
Van Cortlandt Manor, South Riverside Dr.,Croton-on-Hudson, 914-631-8200, 18th-century stone house and tavern (NHL)
Kykuit, U.S. 9, Sleepy Hollow, 914-631-9491—Neo-classical home of four genera-tions of Rockefellers (NHL)
Lyndhurst, 635 South Broadway,Tarrytown, 914-631-4481—AlexanderJackson Davis’ most famous early work inthe valley was the Knoll, a Gothic Revivalestate. Completed in 1842, the Knoll intro-duced a new kind of picturesque architec-ture to the region. In the 1860s Davisexpanded the mansion with an asymmetri-cally balanced scheme including a five-story tower. Today, Lyndhurst is consideredthe most significant extant Gothic Revivalhouse in America. (NHL)
Washington Irving’s Sunnyside, WestSunnyside Lane, off U.S. 9, Tarrytown, 914-631-8200—In the 1830s, the author of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” createda romantic landscape and eclectic cottagecombining many architectural styles.Sunnyside exudes the charming qualities ofIrving’s tales and brings to life his literarylegacy. (NHL)
Philipse Manor Hall, 29 Warburton Ave. (at Dock St.), Yonkers, 914-965-4027—ThisAnglo-Dutch Baroque house, constructedin three phases between the 1680s and1740s, boasts the earliest known east coastexample of an in situ papier-mâché Rocococeiling from the 1750s, wood carvings byHenry Hardcastle, and a Gothic Revivalchamber designed in 1869. The Manor Hallwas frequented by George Washingtonand was an inspiration for his MountVernon.
NHL = National Historic LandmarkNHS = National Historic Site
This brochure was produced by historian-writerSarah Allaback; editor Bruce Hopkins; KirilloffDesign; and Mapping Specialists. 2006
Hudson River ValleyNational Heritage Area, New York
Hart-Cluett Mansion, 57 Second St., Troy,518-272-7232—19th-century Federal-styletownhouse with distinctive white marblefacade
James Vanderpoel House, Route 9,Kinderhook, 518-758-9265—19th-centuryFederal-style mansion with elliptical staircase
Luykas Van Alen House, Route 9H,Kinderhook, 518-758-9265—This rareexample of a Dutch 18th-century brickfarmhouse has been carefully restored toits original condition. The two-room 1737house and its 1750 additions include manyfeatures characteristic of the Dutch build-ing tradition. (NHL)
Martin Van Buren Home (Lindenwald), 1013Old Post Rd., Kinderhook, 518-758-9689—Retirement home of President Van Buren;1849 addition by Richard Upjohn (NHS)
Bronck Museum, U.S. 9W, Coxsackie, 518-731-6490—includes several significant17th- and 18th-century structures (NHL)
Olana State Historic Site, 5720 Route 9G,Hudson, 518-828-0135—Frederic E. Churchand the architect Calvert Vaux collaborat-ed on the design for the Persian-style cas-tle at Olana, Church’s estate overlookingthe Hudson River. Church’s artistic visionshaped Olana, which he referred to as hisfinest landscape. Together, Church andVaux created a storybook retreat withviews Church loved to paint. (NHL)
