Page 27 - Antiques and Collectibles September 2019 Historic Hudson Valley
P. 27
While the British held fast to the Hudson Valley for over a hundred years, THE HUDSON VALLEY’S GILDED AGE
the region was also home to one of the more decisive victories for the Patriots
By the late nineteenth century, the Hudson River Valley was a popular
during the Revolutionary War. At the Battle of Stony Point in 1779,
George Washington gained control of the Hudson and captured West Point. summer destination for America’s leisure class. Railroad tycoons, shipping
The soon-to-be first president later established his headquarters in Hasbrouck magnates, and real estate moguls bought up massive amounts of property,
House in Newburgh, staying there from 1782 until 1783 when he issued the rubbing shoulders with the region’s aristocratic elite. These nouveau riche
Proclamation of Peace. families had money and were not afraid to show it,
The Hudson Valley continued to be home for often competing with each other to build the grandest
America’s founding fathers over the course of the and most lavish mansions.
Early Republic period. The marriage of lawyer and politician Ogden
Mills and Ruth Livingston culminated in the
construction of a 65-room, beaux-arts style home in
CULTURE AND COMMERCE
1895 in Staatsburgh, New York. Designed by the
The 19th century marked a divergence of the prominent firm McKim, Mead, and White,
Hudson River Valley into two important streams: Staatsburgh contained a vast collection of antiques
industry and nature. In 1807, Robert Fulton and European decorative arts. Though the family
launched the first commercial steamboat—called only visited in the fall, their country estate became
the Clermont—from the titular estate on the the destination for Gilded Age society. Not to be
Hudson where it traveled upstream from New York outdone, Frederick Vanderbilt hired McKim, Mead,
to Albany. Steamboats soon enabled more people to and White to build his mansion in Hyde Park,
explore the Hudson River Valley, fueling a nascent Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site New York along the Hudson. Equally massive, the
tourism industry and providing a more efficient way Vanderbilt estate was a monument to conspicuous
to transport goods and laborers into the interior. The Hudson became an even consumption, with furnishings from around the world and architectural
more important commercial link between New York City and the Great Lakes features salvaged from sixteenth- and seventeenth-century European homes
with the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825. in disrepair.
At the same time, the region also became a haven for artists, writers, and By the early twentieth century, dozens of wealthy industrialists had their
poets looking to escape the perceived ills of modern society. Thomas Cole homes along the Hudson in what came to be known as Millionaire’s Row.
founded the Hudson River School in 1825, made up of a group of painters John D. Rockefeller had the firm Delano & Aldrich design their Georgian
who popularized the genre of monumental landscapes. Followers of the School Revival mansion Kykuit (meaning ‘lookout’ in Dutch) in Sleepy Hollow. The
combined aspects of European Romanticism and American nationalism. Cole, estate was known for its beautiful gardens in a range of Eastern and Western
along with painters like Asher B. Durand and Frederic Edwin Church, styles, and a massive underground bunker which housed the family’s
idealized the beauty and majesty of the natural world. Through their paintings, world-class collection of modern art.
they hoped to instill in the public an appreciation of the wonders of their Amongst the influx of
country and the value of nature as a resource not to be squandered. wealthy capitalists, the
Frederic Church lived in the Hudson Valley at Olana, the eclectic and Near Hudson River Valley
Eastern-inspired villa he designed in the 1860s. In 1867, the artist recorded remained an important site
his view of the Hudson River at sunset. Titled View of the Hudson River from for American politics and
Olana, the painting captures the beauty of the region. In the foreground, the international diplomacy. In
sight of a broken tree symbolized the unflinching violence of nature and the the shadow of the
encroaching threat of industrialization - a common motif for Hudson River Vanderbilt estate in Hyde
School artists. These paintings received much acclaim and international
Part, Franklin D. Roosevelt
recognition and sparked numerous efforts to preserve the region’s natural
grew up at Springwood, his
environment. (see title image on previous page) family home built in the
early 1800s. Down the
road, his wife Eleanor
Roosevelt found a sanctuary
at Val-Kill, a Dutch FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt
Colonial cottage built in at their home in Hyde Park, 1927
1926. They both opened
their doors to notable figures such as Winston Churchill, Haile Selassie, and
the King and Queen of England. More importantly, the Hudson River Valley
represented a respite from the trials and tribulations of the era. As he
debated running for a fourth term as President in 1944, FDR remarked with
great reluctance:
“All that is within me cries out to go back to my home on the Hudson
River …”
AN ENDURING LEGACY
In the early twentieth century, Americans began to recognize the importance
of preserving the Hudson River Valley’s natural and cultural attractions. The
National Park Service acquired vast tracts of land and property for the use and
enjoyment of the public, including Bear Mountain State Park, Clermont
Estate, Boscobel House and Gardens, and Lyndhurst. As a National Heritage
Area, the Hudson River Valley today tells the story of early encounters,
exchanges, and innovation. As a home to Native Americans, Africans, Dutch
and English colonists, American patriots, and prominent global citizens, the
John Quidor, The Headless Horseman Pursuing Ichabod Crane, 1858. Hudson River Valley also demonstrates the diverse origins of the United
Smithsonian American Art Museum States. It continues to connect people across cultures, backgrounds, and
distances and is ready to be re-discovered by a new generation of visitors.
Writers like Washington Irving also popularized the Hudson River Valley
through commercial fiction. Intended to be somewhat satirical, Irving Erica P. Lome is a doctoral candidate in history and material culture at the
captured the culture clash between the transient, entrepreneurial Yankee from University of Delaware. When she’s not writing her dissertation on reproduction
the city and the long-rooted, traditional Dutch inhabitants of the country. furniture, she’s out hunting for antiques and ephemera.
Writing from Sunnyside, his cottage on the Hudson, Irving’s best-known
works, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle, had an enormous
impact on the public. Tourists soon roamed the peaks and valleys of the Title image: View of the Hudson River Valley
Valley, searching for ghosts and reveling in the nostalgic allure of villages from Olana by Frederic E. Church, 1867,
seemingly untouched by time. Brigham Young University Museum of Art
September 2019 25
the region was also home to one of the more decisive victories for the Patriots
By the late nineteenth century, the Hudson River Valley was a popular
during the Revolutionary War. At the Battle of Stony Point in 1779,
George Washington gained control of the Hudson and captured West Point. summer destination for America’s leisure class. Railroad tycoons, shipping
The soon-to-be first president later established his headquarters in Hasbrouck magnates, and real estate moguls bought up massive amounts of property,
House in Newburgh, staying there from 1782 until 1783 when he issued the rubbing shoulders with the region’s aristocratic elite. These nouveau riche
Proclamation of Peace. families had money and were not afraid to show it,
The Hudson Valley continued to be home for often competing with each other to build the grandest
America’s founding fathers over the course of the and most lavish mansions.
Early Republic period. The marriage of lawyer and politician Ogden
Mills and Ruth Livingston culminated in the
construction of a 65-room, beaux-arts style home in
CULTURE AND COMMERCE
1895 in Staatsburgh, New York. Designed by the
The 19th century marked a divergence of the prominent firm McKim, Mead, and White,
Hudson River Valley into two important streams: Staatsburgh contained a vast collection of antiques
industry and nature. In 1807, Robert Fulton and European decorative arts. Though the family
launched the first commercial steamboat—called only visited in the fall, their country estate became
the Clermont—from the titular estate on the the destination for Gilded Age society. Not to be
Hudson where it traveled upstream from New York outdone, Frederick Vanderbilt hired McKim, Mead,
to Albany. Steamboats soon enabled more people to and White to build his mansion in Hyde Park,
explore the Hudson River Valley, fueling a nascent Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site New York along the Hudson. Equally massive, the
tourism industry and providing a more efficient way Vanderbilt estate was a monument to conspicuous
to transport goods and laborers into the interior. The Hudson became an even consumption, with furnishings from around the world and architectural
more important commercial link between New York City and the Great Lakes features salvaged from sixteenth- and seventeenth-century European homes
with the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825. in disrepair.
At the same time, the region also became a haven for artists, writers, and By the early twentieth century, dozens of wealthy industrialists had their
poets looking to escape the perceived ills of modern society. Thomas Cole homes along the Hudson in what came to be known as Millionaire’s Row.
founded the Hudson River School in 1825, made up of a group of painters John D. Rockefeller had the firm Delano & Aldrich design their Georgian
who popularized the genre of monumental landscapes. Followers of the School Revival mansion Kykuit (meaning ‘lookout’ in Dutch) in Sleepy Hollow. The
combined aspects of European Romanticism and American nationalism. Cole, estate was known for its beautiful gardens in a range of Eastern and Western
along with painters like Asher B. Durand and Frederic Edwin Church, styles, and a massive underground bunker which housed the family’s
idealized the beauty and majesty of the natural world. Through their paintings, world-class collection of modern art.
they hoped to instill in the public an appreciation of the wonders of their Amongst the influx of
country and the value of nature as a resource not to be squandered. wealthy capitalists, the
Frederic Church lived in the Hudson Valley at Olana, the eclectic and Near Hudson River Valley
Eastern-inspired villa he designed in the 1860s. In 1867, the artist recorded remained an important site
his view of the Hudson River at sunset. Titled View of the Hudson River from for American politics and
Olana, the painting captures the beauty of the region. In the foreground, the international diplomacy. In
sight of a broken tree symbolized the unflinching violence of nature and the the shadow of the
encroaching threat of industrialization - a common motif for Hudson River Vanderbilt estate in Hyde
School artists. These paintings received much acclaim and international
Part, Franklin D. Roosevelt
recognition and sparked numerous efforts to preserve the region’s natural
grew up at Springwood, his
environment. (see title image on previous page) family home built in the
early 1800s. Down the
road, his wife Eleanor
Roosevelt found a sanctuary
at Val-Kill, a Dutch FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt
Colonial cottage built in at their home in Hyde Park, 1927
1926. They both opened
their doors to notable figures such as Winston Churchill, Haile Selassie, and
the King and Queen of England. More importantly, the Hudson River Valley
represented a respite from the trials and tribulations of the era. As he
debated running for a fourth term as President in 1944, FDR remarked with
great reluctance:
“All that is within me cries out to go back to my home on the Hudson
River …”
AN ENDURING LEGACY
In the early twentieth century, Americans began to recognize the importance
of preserving the Hudson River Valley’s natural and cultural attractions. The
National Park Service acquired vast tracts of land and property for the use and
enjoyment of the public, including Bear Mountain State Park, Clermont
Estate, Boscobel House and Gardens, and Lyndhurst. As a National Heritage
Area, the Hudson River Valley today tells the story of early encounters,
exchanges, and innovation. As a home to Native Americans, Africans, Dutch
and English colonists, American patriots, and prominent global citizens, the
John Quidor, The Headless Horseman Pursuing Ichabod Crane, 1858. Hudson River Valley also demonstrates the diverse origins of the United
Smithsonian American Art Museum States. It continues to connect people across cultures, backgrounds, and
distances and is ready to be re-discovered by a new generation of visitors.
Writers like Washington Irving also popularized the Hudson River Valley
through commercial fiction. Intended to be somewhat satirical, Irving Erica P. Lome is a doctoral candidate in history and material culture at the
captured the culture clash between the transient, entrepreneurial Yankee from University of Delaware. When she’s not writing her dissertation on reproduction
the city and the long-rooted, traditional Dutch inhabitants of the country. furniture, she’s out hunting for antiques and ephemera.
Writing from Sunnyside, his cottage on the Hudson, Irving’s best-known
works, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle, had an enormous
impact on the public. Tourists soon roamed the peaks and valleys of the Title image: View of the Hudson River Valley
Valley, searching for ghosts and reveling in the nostalgic allure of villages from Olana by Frederic E. Church, 1867,
seemingly untouched by time. Brigham Young University Museum of Art
September 2019 25
