Kiki steele in paris
P. O. Box 287 Rhinebeck, NY 12572
www.hudsonriverheritage.org
Hudson River Heritage
(HRH) is a nonprofit
membership organization
committed to preserving
the unique character of
the Mid-Hudson Valley’s
historic architecture,
rural landscapes and
scenic views through
education, advocacy and
community involvement.
HRH is the federally
designated steward of the
Hudson River National
Historic Landmark
District, a 32-squaremile area stretching from
Germantown, in Columbia
County to Hyde Park, in
Dutchess County.
BOARD OF
D I R EC T O R S
Warren Temple Smith
President
SPECIAL EDITION
COUNTRY SEATS TOUR—FALL 2012
Hudson river heritage country seats tour 2012
20th-Century country seats
T
he architectural design of country homes evolved substantially during the course of the 20th century, reflecting changes both
in taste and society, and our tour this year will highlight many of those changes.
At the beginning of the century, grand country houses were still being constructed much as they had been in the post
Civil War, late 19th century. Large tracts of land, some farmed, some simply maintained as meadows and woods, typically
surrounded such houses. Mansakenning is one of these, built in 1903 for Eugene Tillotson Lynch, a Livingston and Suckley
descendent. Designed in the then popular Classical Revival style, the house originally had wraparound porches, evidence of
which can still be seen in the stonework of the façade.
After World War I, the Great Depression, and especially World War II, everything changed. Revisions to the tax codes
made owning and maintaining such large homes and estates much less feasible. Staff to care for large homes was unavailable.
So estates began to be subdivided and sold off.
A perfect example of a mid-century country house, after the Depression but just prior to the Second World War, Orlot,
built in 1940, illustrates the developing trends. A simplified approach to traditional architecture, with more than a nod to
modernism coming from Europe and Chicago, the house manages to be gracious and expansive without ostentation, and is
designed so the owners can live in it with or without staff.
Fast forward to the 1960s. The economy was growing, and tastes were changing. A new owner of a classic country house
on the Hudson, Chiddingstone, wisely decided to construct a separate party pavilion rather than add on awkwardly to a house
that did not lend itself to expansion. When he went to prison for a bribery and kickback conviction, what was left was a classic
contemporary style house from that period, on a scale larger than most, but with a clearly recognizable form. Out with the old, in
with the new. Soaring ceilings and walls of glass open the house to the landscape in a way that older houses could not.
Another house of the 1960s draws from the classic modern style, with its characteristic flat roof and efficient open plan
interior. This house embodies the changes that
contemporary architects sought to bring to residential
design. The flat roofs are an easy tip-off, but so are the
alternating expanses of wall (with vertical siding) and
(continued on inside page)
Frank J. Cutolo
V ICE P r e s i d e n t
Arvia Morris
S EC R E T A R Y
Ward Stanley
tr e as u r e r
David Byars
Joyce Gelb
Albert J. Gnidica
Laura R. Linder
Richard McKeon
Kiki Steele
EDGEWATER GUEST HOUSE, BARRYTOWN
mansakenning, rhinebeck
ADVISORS
P. O. Box 287
Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Kiki Steele comes to the Hudson River Heritage board with a lifelong love of all things historical. After a childhood
spent growing up in Northport, NY, followed by Emerson College in Boston, she spent the next twenty years in
television production in Los Angeles and New York City, working for five years at Saturday Night Live and ending her
career as a producer for Comedy Central. Settling in the Hudson Valley five years ago, she took time off to raise her
three girls and volunteer in the local community. She is a member of the Rhinebeck Rotary, and will be starting work
this fall with College Planning Connections, LLC. n
COUNTRY SEATS TOUR ORDER FORM
Please cut out this form and mail in an envelope to:
Hudson River Heritage
P. O. Box 287 Rhinebeck, NY 12572
Name____________________________________
Phone___________________________________
(for order confrimation)
TOTAL
E-mail___________________________________
NONMEMBERS
_____@$50
_____@$55
_____@$18
Join hudson river heritage!
MEMBERS
_____@$45
_____@$50
_____@$18
❏ Credit Card
ORDER TOTAL
PAYMENT
❏ Check enclosed
❏ American Express
save on
country seats tour tickets!
ITEM
HOUSE
TOURS
Sat. Oct 13th
Early
Registration
(through
Sept. 30th)
HOUSE
TOURS
Sat. Oct 13th
Registration
(Oct. 1 -15th)
BOX LUNCH
(from Gigi’s)
Pick up at
Tour Center
Check one:
❏ Master Card
(Please make check payable to: Hudson River Heritage)
❏ Visa
Card No.___________________________________
Expiration Date_____________________________
Billing Adress______________________________
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
board member profile: Kiki Steele
newsletter
Joan K. Davidson
Pompey Delafield
John A. Dierdorff
Frank Faulkner
Max Friedman
Gerrit Graham
Drayton Grant
James Ivory
David K. Kermani
Sally Mazzarella
Nicholas McCausland
Derek E. Ostergard
Sam Phelan
Cynthia Owen Philip
Timothy Steinhoff
Vincent Teahan
Lisa Weiss
(845) 876-2474 OFFICE
[email protected]
HALF MOON, RHINECLIFF
ORLOT, RHINEBECK
FALLEN PINES
FARM, MILAN
President’s
Letter
A
s members and friends of Hudson River
Heritage, you already know about our
annual Country Seats Tour, such as the
forthcoming tour of “20th-Century Country Seats”
to be held this year on Saturday, October 13th. And,
you may also have attended one of our Preservation
Forums, such as the one held in April at the FDR
Library’s Wallace Center that focused on the “Evolution of Preservation”. You probably know that
Hudson River Heritage is the federally designated
steward of the Hudson River National Historic
Landmark District, and that we work to protect,
preserve and promote the historic homes, villages,
landscapes and scenic beauty of the mid-Hudson
region. But what does that really entail?
This year, we offered comments at numerous
local planning board and zoning board hearings on
matters that could have a significant impact on the
future of the Landmark District. One of these was a
proposal to adaptively reuse the former Carmelite
Sisters home adjacent to Ferncliff Nursing Home
on River Road in Rhinebeck. The applicants sought
to use the facility as a spiritual retreat for silent
meditation. On the face of it, this was an apparently benign and appropriate plan for an abandoned
facility with few appealing attributes beyond its
location. Some significant zoning variances were
required, however, and the potential impact on the
neighbors adjoining the site was cause for concern.
The biggest hurdle was the management of waste
water from the proposed facility, which could house
up to 66 guests plus several staff members. Plans for
onsite food service further burdened the applicants
with the need to manage that waste stream as well.
An existing informal agreement with the adjacent
nursing home to share its own waste water facility was inadequate for a property passing into new
ownership, on a separate parcel, and with demands
exceeding the capacity of the already stressed system. A stand alone system on the Carmelite Sisters
site was not feasible, given the existing terrain and
other natural constraints. At this time it appears that
the application has been withdrawn.
The position taken by Hudson River Heritage in
opposition to the proposed variances reflected concerns about future development within the Landmark District as a whole, as well as the importance
of precedents established by decisions taken on this
specific application. Not representing any one landowner or group of landowners, our case was made
on behalf of the District and the broader community of those who live in and come to visit this area,
drawn by its remarkable history and beauty. We are
indeed our brother’s keeper in this respect, and will
continue to keep a wary eye on development proposals within the Landmark District.
(continued from front page)
glass. An arbor leads from the parking area to the front entrance. Inside, the simplicity of the plan belies the
careful thought that went into creating it.
Partly because of its limited design vocabulary, along with its self-conscious rejection of many traditional
elements, modern architecture as a residential style never appealed to the general house building public
as much as it did to architects. So while this remains an evolving style still in use today, interest in more
traditional revival styles has never abated. One of the architectural profession’s own reactions to Modern was
Post-Modern, where some traditional forms were consciously evoked or incorporated into design in the 1980s
and 1990s. We can see this at work in the interesting composition at Fallen Pines Farm in Milan. Constructed
around the core of camp cabins from the 1940s, the house has grown with its owners’ family. Multiple
levels and outbuildings have created a compound that is site-specific, carefully structured, but informal in its
demeanor, in part because of the traditional elements and references.
More literal by far is the perfect classical composition that is the Guest House at Edgewater. Built in 1997,
the exterior could have been lifted from a century or two ago. The interior cleverly incorporates modern
conveniences such as a kitchenette and a bathroom flanking the corridor to the main space, along with some
HARTSHORN RESIDENCE, RHINEBECK
concealed closets and semi-concealed beds. Obviously the intent was to defer to the main house, Edgewater,
of 1825, while appearing to be a contemporaneous outbuilding, and this it does very well.
In the same year we have a very different, idiosyncratic house designed by its owners, with the help of their architect son, incorporating another American
architectural strain – this one of innovation and experimentation. Eschewing a particular architectural style, the house nonetheless has a recognizable style of its
own, as any student of Buckminster Fuller, Bruce Goff, or Bart Prince will know. Simply constructed
within and around the shell of a
“Quonset Hut” type structure, the
house showcases the art of craft, and the
craft of art in its numerous details.
The most recent country seat on
our tour, built at the close of the 20th
century, is one that wraps an exterior full
of traditional cues around a thoroughly
modern plan. The board and batten
siding, copper roofs, turrets and
balconies recall both Gothic Revival and
French Country antecedents, while the
large expanses of glass and the siting of
the house on a bluff south of Rhinecliff
takes full advantage of spectacular views
of the Hudson and Catskills. n
weintraub residence, RHINEBECK
See back of newsletter for Country Seats Tour order form.
evolution of preservation was topic for third-annual forum
Warren Temple Smith, R.A.
President, Hudson River Heritage
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
T
Albert’s Corner
Photographs by Albert Gnidica
cars for sale, germantown
patriotic barn, germantown
Hudson River
National Historic
Landmark
District
become a member
of hudson river
heritage!
Email us at:
[email protected]
mills mansion, staatsburg
Flag Day, Hudson
THE PAVILION AT CHIDDINGSTONE, GERMANTOWN
he third in our series of annual forums exploring topics
related to historic preservation, this year’s program was held
on Saturday, April 28th, in the excellent conference facilities
at the Henry A. Wallace Center, part of the Franklin D. Roosevelt
Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York. The day-long forum
brought together knowledgeable
speakers from across the broad
spectrum of preservation, with
a focus on the evolution of our
understanding of and approach to
preservation over the course of the
last century. The forum speakers
explored the results and implications
of this change, and discussed what
challenges and opportunities lie
the wallace center
ahead.
in hyde park
Hudson River Heritage President
Warren Smith welcomed the thirty attendees, followed by HRH
founder Wint Aldrich, who offered his own perspective on the
significance and relevance of the forum’s topic to the field of historic
preservation.
Helene Gillette-Woodard of the Williamstown Art Conservation
Center led off with a fascinating presentation on the conservation
and restoration of decorative objects. Her images of objects ranging
from textiles to sculpture, porcelain to plastics included X-rays,
fiber analysis, before-and-after photos, and the whole contemporary
spectrum of tools used in restoration. Connie Frisbee Houde of the
New York State Museum talked about her own varied experience in
the field of preservation and conservation, focusing on her ongoing
work with Cherry Hill, the Philip Van Rensselaer Mansion in Albany,
where the house and all its contents required an initial inventory and
subsequently a triage approach to preservation. Connie’s talk was
followed by Gwen Spicer, who heads a textile conservation studio
in Albany. Gwen discussed the challenges unique to cleaning and
preserving fragile, historic fabrics, illustrated by several case studies.
After a bountiful catered lunch, with some time to enjoy the
surrounding gardens or pop into the FDR Museum (which granted
free admission with the day’s program), the
afternoon sessions resumed with a talk by
Neil Larson, who heads a consulting firm in
Woodstock, New York. He made the point
that buildings extend beyond their walls
to the surrounding context, which must be
considered in any approach to whether,
where, and how to preserve a structure.
The final speaker, Ned Kaufman, who
heads a New York City-based consulting
firm, gave an even broader “macro” view,
discussing the challenges of preservation
in dealing with large projects in historic
speaker Gwen spicer
districts or national parks. These included
one of the communities on Fire Island, New York, assaulted by
overdevelopment and beach erosion; the venerable Springfield
Armory in Massachusetts, which is suffering from insensitivity,
neglect, and a lack of municipal will (and funds); and the historic
village of Woodstock, Vermont, which is lucky enough to have a
community benefactor to help preserve surrounding open space for
continued use as agricultural land.
All the forum participants agreed that the speakers and their
subjects had made it an informative, wortwhile, and enjoyable day. n