The Frederic Church Center for Art and Landscape A Hudson River School Vision
SPRING 2022
John Eberle, Rye Thrasher Flail, Seed Havers & Mike Eberle, October 1, 1906. Photograph, 4 ½ x 3 ½ in. Olana State Historic Site, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, OL.1987.131.28.A.
John Eberle, Farm Cottage at Olana, September 30, 1906. Photograph, 5 1/8 x 6 3/16 in. Olana State Historic Site, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, OL.1980.1977.
Dear Supporters and Friends, The Frederic Church Center for Art and Landscape will serve as an entry point into Olana’s larger landscape, with Olana’s farm as an essential part of the visitor experience. Farming was at the heart of Church family life at Olana, and restoring their working and ornamental farm and bringing agriculture back to Olana is fundamental to the vision of our Strategic Landscape Design Plan (SLDP). A working and ornamental farm is one where utility and beauty are equal priorities. The timeline on the following pages shows the progress that has been made over the past two decades in restoring key historic farm structures and landscapes. The remainder of this issue focuses on the next crucial step in this process, the relocation of the farm parking lot and rehabilitation of the historic landscape at the core of the farmstead. Frederic Church’s development of Olana began with the purchase of the 126-acre Breezie farm in May 1860, a month before his marriage, and by 1867 he had created a complex of ten distinct structures, including barns, wagon house, and a new farmhouse for his family, known as Cosy Cottage. It wasn’t until the 1880s that the Churches began to refer to their home as Olana, before that it was simply “The Farm.” Church’s correspondence is rich with references to his growing identity as Farmer Fred. His letters to his father, Joseph, back in Hartford, and speak to how central to the Churches’ worldview the idyll of the family farm was. Here Frederic writes in painterly language about the orchards and shares a tender scene of two-year old Herbert: The farm looks better than ever . . . the peach, pear and plums trees are a sight or were, for the blossoms are falling like pink and white snow –. Hebert enjoys the farm as much as anybody – We have a coop of 15 chickens by the house and he feeds them out of hand. . . Frederic Church to Joseph Church, May 13, 1864 Following the tragic loss of both Herbert and his baby sister, Emma, to diphtheria the following spring, Frederic and Isabel sought solace in Jamaica, where he wrote to his farm manager, Theodore Cole, Thomas’ son, that “when I return to the states, I shall hasten up the river to see you all and a great good it will do me too . . . I can not think of the farm and surrounding friends without great longing.” Perhaps the most telling quote both for the importance of the farm to Church’s identity and the subsequent eclipsing of it by art historians is the oft-cited line from Frederic’s letter to his close friend, the sculptor Erastus Dow Palmer, written on July 7, 1869 saying, “Almost an hour this side of Albany is the Center of the World – I own it.” What has been left out of most histories is that it begins “Here I am on my own farm…” and that it was written from the fireside at Cosy Cottage. Active farming continued through to the end of Church’s life, with the large dairy barn constructed in 1899. By this time, Church had turned the management of Olana over to his youngest son, Louis, whose interests were more horticultural than agricultural. Louis built a green house and planted exotic plants and trees around the Main House. 2
One of the most important archival documents for restoring Olana’s farm is the “Plan of Olana” completed by the Churches’ eldest son, Frederic Joseph, for an engineering class at Princeton in 1886. It shows in great detail the farm with the two farmhouses, barn complex, and many outbuildings, as well as the gardens and extensive orchards.
Under his ownership, farming continued but was reduced in scale, and shortly after his death in 1943 the last salaried farmer was let go by his widow, Sally. Through the last 20 years of her life, she allowed tenant farmers use and occupation of the farm in return for supplying her with milk, vegetables, and ice. Led by art historian David Huntington, those who successfully saved Olana in 1964-66 as well as the first NYS Parks Site Director, Richard Slavin, fully understood that Olana was a holistic artist-designed landscape. Through the next 30 years Olana’s public-private partnership advocated for the comprehensive understanding and restoration of the site. It was only with the completion of Olana’s SLDP under the leadership of Commissioner Rose Harvey that a realistically scaled and fundable plan materialized. Our shared plans for restoring the Churches’ working and ornamental farm are to restore the main barn, which consists of the 1899 dairy barn and an older adjoining structure, and to bring active agricultural endeavor back to Olana. This would include the restoration of the Kitchen Garden in the area where the current parking lot is and the planting of a modestly scaled orchard adjoining it. We have no plans to bring livestock back at this time. Once restored, Olana’s farm will hold a special place in the Hudson Valley region as a public farm, interpreted through diverse programming, and accessible to all visitors. Fundamental to this vision is determining who will do the farming and for what purposes. TOP’s goals for the farm are twofold. On one hand, every visitor to Olana will be able to see and understand that agriculture was a fundamental element of Frederic Church’s vision for his property and his family’s life in the Hudson Valley. On the other, we envision the farm as being at the heart of our work as an educational non-profit. We see the farm as being a place where we can collaborate with other organizations, both non-profit and commercial, not compete with them. Our Director of Education & Public Programs, Carolyn Keogh, is already embarked on developing relationships with colleagues working on issues of sustainable agriculture, health and nutrition, and job skills development. She has also taken the first tangible step toward bringing crops back to Olana’s fields by overseeing the establishment of honeybees in partnership with Fox Farm Apiary. I’d love to hear from any of you who would like to learn more about our plans or become more involved as we recover Olana’s rich agricultural past and reshape it for our times and educational mission.
Sean Sawyer, Ph.D. Washburn and Susan Oberwager President
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Olana’s Historic Farm Restoration
WAGON HOUSE RECONSTRUCTED
After
After
Before
COSY COTTAGE RESTORED
During
HISTORIC LANDSCAPE REPORT
2007-2008
Before
2005-2006
During
1996
Completed Projects 2012 -2014
Before After
Farm Fields After
North Meadow Before
NORTH MEADOW RESTORED
North Meadow After
CLEARING FARM FIELDS REVEALING FOUNDATIONS
CROWN HILL VIEW RESTORATION
Historic Farm Complex Restoration: Parking, Drainage,
John Eberle, Charles Frier, Gardener, in the Kitchen Garden at Olana, photograph, September 29, 1906, OL.1987.131.32A Collection Olana State Historic Site, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation
Current Parking Lot on the site of the Historic Kitchen Garden
The next phase in the restoration of Olana’s historic farm complex is not as headline grabbing as the restoration of Cosy Cottage or the reopening of the view from Crown Hill but will lay the foundation for returning agriculture to the site. This phase of the project will focus on infrastructure and includes repairing the dam spillway, removing the temporary dirt farm parking lot, major storm water control improvements, and the construction of a new 54-space parking lot and new vehicular and pedestrian access. The current parking lot was created in conjunction with the reconstruction of the Wagon House in 2008 and occupies much of the site of the historic 1.2 acre Kitchen Garden. Its removal is essential to restoring the garden as well as the agrarian view from Crown Hill. However, Olana is busier than ever with educational programs and daily recreational users, who rely on the farm parking lot. Therefore, a new parking lot will be constructed further to the south, along the tree line, and screened with plantings along its eastern edge, as shown in the plan opposite. The new lot will have ADA parking spaces and electric vehicle charging stations. It will be accessed via a regraded access road from the main vehicular road and will connect to pedestrian only pathways leading to the Wagon House and barn complex and Cosy Cottage beyond. The access road, parking lot, and pedestrian pathways will be paved with a chip-seal finish to ensure that they can be cleared of snow and ice and to eliminate the substantial erosion caused by ever more severe rain events. Discreet dark sky compliant lighting is included, and will expand program hours and public safety, especially in the winter months.
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and Pedestrian Circulation Improvements
Conceptual design for Historic Farm Complex restoration, Strategic Landscape Design Plan, 2015
My garden has been a success -- Mexican Corn 16 feet high -My gardener measures but 5 feet and knocks off the ears with a club. And lately begged for step ladder to pick lima beans... Frederic Church to Erastus Dow Palmer, October 21, 1885 7
“I had more apple blossoms on my farm this season than you ever painted – It has been a marvelous spring for bloom . . .” Frederic Church to Martin Johnson Heade May 26, 1870 Frederic Edwin Church, Apple Blossoms at Olana, 1870, oil on canvas, 11 5/8 x 18 1/4 in. Collection Olana State Historic Site, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation
FREDERIC CHURCH CENTER FUNDRAISING $13.5 MILLION GOAL
$2.4 MILLION
$11.1 MILLION RAISED
THE OLANA PARTNERSHIP CAPITAL CAMPAIGN LEADERSHIP Joe Baker | Betsy Broun | Renee & Steve Clearman Margaret Davidson | David de Weese | Kristin Gamble The Gubelmann Family | Meredith J. Kane Bindy & Stephen Kaye | Cynnie & Peter Kellogg David Kermani | Robin & David Key Barbara & Michael Polemis | David & Susan Rockefeller Emily Sachar | Hara Schwartz & Christopher Buck The Thompson Family Foundation Lucy Rockefeller Waletzky, MD | Sedgwick Ward Helen & Peter Warwick | Kelly Williams & Andrew Forsyth Susan Winokur & Paul Leach
STAFF Sean E. Sawyer, Ph.D. Washburn & Susan Oberwager President ssawyer@olana.org Mark Prezorski Senior Vice President & Landscape Curator mprezorski@olana.org
THE OLANA PARTNERSHIP PO BOX 199 | HUDSON, NEW YORK 12534 - 0199 The Olana Partnership operates Olana State Historic Site in a cooperative agreement with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
OLANA.ORG • 518-828-1872 Cover: View from Crown Hill