Architecture – Writing New Jersey Life

Renoir and the Psalms at The Morgan Library

On November 11, 2025

In Architecture, Art, Arts, Culture, Travel

I like a painting which makes me want to stroll in it. ” Pierre-Auguste Renoir

“View of a Park,” ca. 1885-90, watercolor, The Morgan Library

Step into the eternal spring of Renoir in a new exhibition of his drawings at The Morgan Library and Museum. November brings its own kind of beauty, but the dappled Impressionist light of Renoir’s art is a joyfully irresistible invitation.

The Morgan Library exhibition is an incredible opportunity to enjoy Renoir’s rarely displayed drawings and see the process for several of his great works. The exhibition with the artist’s drawings and paintings in two large galleries features works from museums and private collections around the world. Visitors receive an overview in the room adjoining the galleries that includes two filmed interviews with Renoir from 1915 and 1920. The size of the exhibition is ideal for enjoying his art in pen and ink, pencil, chalk, pastels, watercolor, oil, and even plaster.

“Portrait of a Girl,” 1879, pastel, The Albertine Museum, Vienna

Renoir is an artist whom we all think we know, but the meticulously curated exhibition offered new insights, not just revisits to his beloved works. Some of these prompted more research into Renoir’s life and art.

“Self-Portrait,” 1879, oil, Musee d’Orsay, Paris

Renoir as a decorative artist

Renoir, who was from a family of artisans, originally studied decorative arts and saw himself as a craftsman, not an artist. “To my mind, a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful, and pretty, yes pretty! There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is without creating still more of them.” One of seven children, Pierre-Auguste spent his first few years in Limoges, known for its porcelain and high-end leather goods industries. Around the time of his birth in 1841 and during early childhood, there were riots among the poor workers. (Limoges was the city of the first consolidated French workers’ union in 1895.) When Renoir was a small boy, his family moved to Paris, so his father, a tailor, might find work. Renoir apprenticed at a porcelain factory and was highly skilled at painting decorative flowers. Clearly talented, he got a permit to sketch at the Louvre, which was near his home. Having saved a bit, Renoir took night classes at the Ecoles Beaux-Arts (School of Fine Arts) and painting lessons with Swiss-born Charles Gleyere, who had studied with renowned Neoclassical portrait artist Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. Renoir surprised his serious teacher by sharing, “If painting were not a pleasure to me I should certainly not do it”.

“The Milliner,” ca. 1879, The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond

Renoir joined Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas, and Alfred Sisley, among others, as part of the Anonymous Society of Painters for an independent art exhibition in 1874. The studio owner, Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, known as “Nadar,” a caricaturist, journalist, and photographer, was also an outlier known for taking the first aerial photograph from a hot-air balloon. The artists exhibited outside the established Salon, which was the annual show of the Academie des Beaux-Arts (Academy of Fine Arts). For the Salon, a jury selected the works that the public would see. Following the exhibition, the group’s name came from Claude Monet’s “Impression, Sunrise” and a critic’s comment that it was indeed only an impression, an unfinished painting.

“Boating Couple,” 1880-81, smaller pastel work for “Luncheon of the Boating Party,” Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

After a period of creating sketches as a young artist and student, Renoir adopted the “spontaneous painting” of his fellow Impressionists and began his work directly on canvas. Like the other Impressionists, whose works were originally rejected by the artistic establishment, Renoir enjoyed plein air painting, or outdoor painting “in the open air,” which captured natural light. An innovation with the production of the paints allowed for this, and Renoir and his peers made full use of the opportunity. They often painted with, and influenced, each other.

“Harvest,” ca. 1885, watercolor, white opaque watercolor, graphite, and varnish (unusually), Musee d’Orsay, Paris

“Impressionism” captured the artists’ “snapshot” style and brushstrokes. In addition to natural light, they favored the use of bright colors, another result of improved paints, and did not varnish their works, which was done for a formal look. Such techniques lent themselves to painting nature and the countryside.

“Landscape,” 1899, watercolor, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Regarding subject matter, Renoir painted working-class subjects as well as wealthy patrons, which is how he met his wife, Aline Victorine Charigot, depicted in the portrait below. Aline was working as a dressmaker when Renoir approached her to model for him. When they married, Aline was 20, and he was 38. After 18 years as a painter and 25 years of working in the arts, Renoir had reached career stability, which suggests a strikingly long and difficult trajectory to success.

Aline sitting for “Young Woman in a Blue Dress,” ca. 1885-86, watercolor with opaque watercolor, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Renoir also earned income as an illustrator. Some illustrations were for stories, others reproduced his paintings, like “Dance in the Country” and “Dancing Couple”/“Dance at Bougival” in which Aline was the model for both.

Book illustration

Study for “Dance in the Country, 1883, graphite, Musee d’Orsay, Paris

“Dancers (Bougival)” or “Dance in the Country,” 1883, oil, Musee d’Orsay, Paris

Aline and Pierre-Auguste had three sons who all had careers in the arts: Pierre, an actor, Jean, a celebrated filmmaker; and Claude, a ceramic artist. Renoir’s family was a great source of his happiness, and they were often subjects in his paintings. Aline modeled for “Luncheon of the Boating Party,” most notably, and her cousin and the family’s nanny, Gabrielle Renard, was a frequent model for Renoir, too. Before Aline, Renoir had a relationship with Lisa Trehot, another model, with whom he had a daughter, Jeanne, whom he supported. Despite Renoir’s happiness with Aline, he had affairs during the marriage. Four years before Renoir’s death, Aline passed away after a hospital visit to Jean, who was badly injured in WWI, as was his brother Pierre.

Sketch for “Gabrielle and Jean,” 1895, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

“Gabrielle and Jean,” 1895, oil, Musee de l’Organerie, Paris

(Note: On November 26th, a similar “long-lost” Renoir painting, “L’enfant et ses jouets – Gabrielle et le files de l’artiste, Jean (The Child and His Toys – Gabrielle and the artist’s son, Jean sold for $2 million dollars.)

Chalk sketch of “Jean in the Arms of Gabrielle,” 1895-96, possibly reworking “Gabrielle and Jean” (exhibition note), Collection Foundation Pierre Gianadda, Martigny, Switzerland

“Child with an Apple” or “Gabrielle, Jean, and a Young Girl with an Apple,” ca. 1905, Collection of Leone Cettolin Dauberville

“Madeleine Adam,” 1887, pastel and graphite, Collection of Diane B. Wilsey

Division among the Impressionists

The founding members of Impressionism remained close for years. They supported each other’s work, exhibited their art together, and looked out for each other, including each other’s families. A falling out occurred over the Dreyfus affair. As a quick history refresher, between 1894 and 1906, the guilt or innocence of Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish army captain, divided then predominantly Catholic France. Captain Dreyfus, tried twice and found guilty of espionage, was eventually exonerated. Camille Pisarro, who was Jewish and a Dreyfusard, along with Monet, supported the captain, and Edgar Degas, an anti-Dreyfusard, who was anti-Semitic, did not, which is not to suggest that the national division was about religion and not politics. In Renoir, My Father, Jean attributed his father’s artistic divergence from Pissarro to differing artistic and political views. In Growing Up with the Impressionists: The Diary of Julie Manet, based on the journals of the then-teenaged daughter of Pierre-Auguste’s dear friend Berthe Morisot, Julie wrote about Renoir and his family, with whom she first stayed at 16 after her mother died. (The diary was first edited and published in 1987 by Rosalind De Boland Roberts and Jane Roberts; the latter became a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres, or ‘Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters,’ France’s top honor, in 2011. In 2017, Jane Roberts edited a second, revised edition with 472 footnotes.) Julie, who had often posed for Renoir and was clearly fond of him, noted that he sometimes shared the less generous anti-Dreyfusard opinions of the time. Renoir, however, stayed close to his Jewish sister-in-law, Blanche-Marie Blanc, and later attended the funeral of Pissarro, whereas Degas did not.

“Portrait of Camille Pissarro,” ca. 1893-94, charcoal, Dallas Museum of Art, Wendy and Emery Reves Collection

Having escaped from poverty, Renoir may have resented that he initially relied on Jewish patrons for exhibitions and commissions. Renoir’s early Jewish patrons supported his talent and influenced his early artistic direction. His portraits of these patrons, and especially those of their children, were beautiful. Greater success offered Renoir new commissions and travel around Europe and North Africa, where he saw the art of Raphael, Velázquez, and Rubens; this influenced his style, making it more classical in later years. He remained friends with the Jewish art dealers, Alexandre Bernheim-Jeune and his sons Joseph and Gaston, who curated 16 of his exhibitions. Barbara Ehrlich White, PhD., who wrote Renoir, An Intimate Biography (2017) and Renoir: His Life, Art, and Letters (1984), and also became a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2014, attests that Renoir was the Renoir whom the public knew: warm, sociable, and kind. He loved being around people, which his art reflects. Dr. White based her opinion on her review of 3,000 of his letters, 452 of which were previously unpublished.

A mournful Berthe Morisot, which Renoir sketched after the death of her husband Eugene Manet for a painting memorializing her after her own passing

Renoir’s paintings were one of the first to delight me as a child, not only for their beauty, but for their joy. He depicts children with such sweetness, which helps young viewers connect with his work. This issue concerning Renoir was mentioned on one exhibit label, as far as I noted, out of more than one hundred. It stayed with me, however, and I read more about it. At this point, I leave Renoir’s legacy in this regard to art historians, but I thought that I should mention it.

The artist overcomes arthritis

“The pain passes, but the beauty remains.” Admirably, Renoir continued to paint despite having crippling and painful rheumatoid arthritis, which began when he was 50. In his late 60s, Renoir and his family moved to Cagnes-sur-Mer on the French Riviera for the warmer climate.

“Girls Putting Flowers in Their Hats,” 1894, oil, private collection

“Young Woman Seated,” 1909, oil, The Art Institute of Chicago/Admin. by Musee d’Orsay. Renoir strove for a luminous quality in his later work.

During this time, Renoir was in pain, especially when he tried to sleep, and he became progressively disabled. He did, however, paint more than 400 works, including the masterpiece, “The Great Bathers,” which is in the exhibition along with sketches, and influenced Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. His family and assistants placed his painter’s palette on the arm of his wheelchair and his canvas on a rolling easel. Incredibly, Renoir’s paintings became lighter and more joyful.

The film and newsreel interviews in the exhibition show the deformed joints in Renoir’s hands. Brushes were not strapped to his hands as sometimes noted, but they had to be placed into them. These interview clips were fascinating to watch, and though film was an early art form, Renoir charmed by periodically turning to the camera with a smile.

An arthritic Renoir, painting, [public domain]

On the day of his passing at 78, having painted for several hours, Renoir told his studio assistant, “I think I’m beginning to learn something about it.”

Enjoy seeing “Renoir Drawings” at The Morgan Library, which also offers detailed information about these works on their website, through February 8^th.

“Sing a New Song: The Psalms in Medieval Art and Life“

The illustrated Bibles, many from The Morgan Library’s own collection, are exquisitely beautiful. As the exhibition notes, the Book of Psalms, the most popular book of the Bible, is known as Tehillum, or “Praises,” in Hebrew, and King David is credited as the primary author. The exhibition begins with King David’s composition of the Psalms, or “songs accompanied by stringed instruments” from the Greek “psalmos”.

“King David as Psalmist” (instrument), 1408-10, by Lorenzo (Piero di Giovanni)

During the Middle Ages, psalters, or books with the 150 psalms, were initially the clergy’s prayerbooks. These promoted literacy and the study of Latin. Priests, monks, friars, and nuns had to recite all the psalms daily. The Book of Hours, customized psalters, were most popular among lay people, or non-clergy. The faithful looked to these prayers for hope, comfort, celebration, and forgiveness. Children had their own psalters, or primers, from which they learned to read.

“[St.] Jerome in His Study,” Book of Hours, in Latin, ca. 1440-50, Fastolf Master, England

Glossa ordinaria (Standard Gloss), the complete Bible with the writings of Saints Jerome and Augustine, intellectuals and scholars of the Church, before 1480, The Morgan Library, open to Psalm I: “Blessed is the man.”

“Tree of Jesse” and “Annunciation,” depicting “David as Ancestor of Christ,” Book of Hours in Latin and French, Robert Boyvin, ca. 1495-1593, France

The exhibition concludes with Sir Thomas More’s Book of Hours and Psalter. Visitors can see his handwritten notes in Latin, which are moving to see. As a brief historical note, Sir Thomas More, the respected and beloved clergyman, lawyer, statesman, and humanist, served as the Lord Chancellor to King Henry VIII. Sir Thomas refused to recognize Henry as Head of the Church, a move intended to facilitate the king’s annulment from Catherine of Aragon, and to break with the Roman Catholic Church and Pope Clement VII. Imprisoned in the Tower of London for well over a year, Sir Thomas was executed and later canonized as a saint. Today, some people may know him from the word “utopia,” which came from his sociological and political satire of the same name; this writing was somewhat out of character, though his motives were always honorable. Below: “To think my most enemies my best friends….,” final verses of “A Godly Meditation,” Francois Regnualt, Book of Hours. 1530, Paris/Franz Birckman, Psalter, 1522, noted below.

For more detail on this period and the beautiful exhibition, enjoy visiting upstairs in the Engelhard Gallery through January 4^th, or finding the book in the gift shop.

Other treasures on exhibit are:

From “Lisa Yuskavage: Drawings”

“William Shakespeare, Seated,” 1881, marble, William Wetmore Story, permanent collection

“Jane Norton Grew Morgan,” ca. 1905, oil, by John Singer Sargent, permanent collection. Enjoy another visit to his work via “Travel with John Singer Sargent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art”.

John Pierpont “Jack” Morgan, Jr., ca. 1930 by Fayer of London and Vienna, permanent collection

“Bust of Anne Tracy Morgan,” philanthropist and youngest daughter of J.P. Morgan, bronze, 1937, by Malvina Hoffman, permanent collection

Enjoy seeing the beautiful Gilded Age mansion, designed by premier architect Charles McKim of McKim, Mead & White, and appreciating the breathtaking library. Time did not allow for a revisit this time, but that will be the perfect excuse to return and fully appreciate the 2024 renovations, which everyone can appreciate. Free admission for everyone is available Friday evenings from 5-7 p.m.. College students with IDs may enjoy free admission the first Sunday of each month with a reservation. Fellowships and internships are available at times for college students, and for NYC university students, there is a college ambassador program. There are a a number of teen programs (writing challenge, summer reading, and drawing) and teacher resources.

The Morgan is wheelchair accessible and offers wheelchairs and walkers. Additionally, discounted tickets are available. (Kindly call (212) 685-0008 or email visitorservices@themorgan.org with questions regarding any accommodations.) If visitors plan a longer day at the library, there is an inviting café.

(Sources: The Morgan Library, musee-orsay.com, metmuseum.org, britannica.com, goodreads.com, artinsociety.com, clarkart.edu, openculture.com, 19thc-artworldwide.org, medium.com, nytimes, nationalgallery.org.uk, 19thc-artworldwide.org, apollo-magazine.com, thephilipscollection.org, getty.edu, dailyartmagazine.com, art-renoir.com, adventuresintheprinttrade.blogspot.com, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, latimes.org, bbc.co.uk, harvardartmuseums.org, pasonlinelectures.com, galeriemagazine.com, theatlantic.com, theparisreview.org, shop.themorgan.org, amazon.com, legendarte.shop, Wiki)

The Frick Collection: A Splendid Dream

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On July 24, 2025

In Architecture, Art, Culture, Museum, Travel

“I dream my painting, and then I paint my dream.” Van Gogh

Visiting the newly reopened The Frick Collection is like stepping into an artist’s dream. After an experience that is wonderous and splendid, one wakes upon leaving, startled by unfiltered daylight and the sounds of the city street. Putting iPhones away upon entering the museum, a polite requirement for viewing the collection, visitors immerse themselves in the art. The uninterrupted viewing of the artwork, combined with its location in a former home, creates a feeling of intimacy. Underscoring this intimacy is the exhibition, “Vermeer’s Love Letters” on view only until August 31^st. Comprised of “Woman Writing a Letter, with her Maid,” c.1670, on loan from the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, “Mistress and Maid,” ca. 1664-67, The Frick Collection, and “The Love Letter,” c. 1669-1670, on loan from the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, the exhibition showcases another art not lost at The Frick. Vermeer fans will also enjoy “Officer and Laughing Girl,” ca. 1657, and “Girl Interrupted at Her Music,” ca. 1658, in the permanent collection.

Garden Court designed by John Russell Pope (Visitors may take photos here.)

“Angel” by Jean (Jehan) Barbet (France, 16th century)

To truly appreciate such an incredible collection, visitors must return and make it a cornerstone of every visit to New York City. (What visitors saw before the recent renovation was 25% of the collection; now they can see 47%, a boon for art lovers.) New visitors will be dazzled by the sumptuous décor by English interior designer Charles Allon of White, Allom & Co., primarily on the ground floor, and by Elsie de Wolfe, one of the first American interior designers, mostly on the second floor, which includes ceiling art in the hallway that connects the galleries. Returning visitors will enjoy the improved lighting and relish ascending the formerly roped staircase to the second floor. Though the works of Van Gogh have only graced the museum via exhibitions, the quote was irresistible. Still, the artists’ works on view are beyond imagination (noted in order via “Featured Artists” from The Frick): Bellini, Carreira, van Dyck, Fragonard, Goya, El Greco, Ingres, Monet, Rembrandt, Titian, Turner, and Vermeer. (If visitors are able to turn their gaze away from the paintings, the beautiful Sevres porcelain, antique clocks, and Chinese vases are a few of the other exquisite treasures.) As a complement to the Old Master works, highlights of drawings from the collection are on view through August 11^th, and Vladimir Kanevsky’s porcelain floral art, commissioned by the museum, is on view until Nov. 17^th.

View along Fifth Avenue with a hint of the elevated garden

Partial views of the Russell Page Garden along East 70th Street

The building that houses the collection is magnificent. The three-story Gilded Age Beaux Arts mansion with its limestone facades was originally the home of collector Henry Clay Frick and, strikingly, fills a city block. At various times, premier architects have created, expanded, and renovated the building which include the original architect Thomas Hastings of Carrere and Hastings, 1912-1914, and John Russell Pope, who converted the home to a museum with the addition of the entrance, the Garden Court (formerly the carriage pavilion and where visitors may take photos), and The Frick Research Library, all in 1935, when Frederick Olmsted, Jr. updated the elevated the garden that elegantly sets the building back from the street and complements the serenity of his father and Calvert Vaux’s Central Park across Fifth Avenue. In 1977, the museum added a pavilion and another garden with a rectangular pool along East 70th Street, designed by Russell Page OBE. Annabelle Selldorf of Selldorf Architects designed the most recent renovations, which included enhancing the galleries, creating an auditorium, and adding a cafe and gift shop. Beyer Blinder Belle assisted with the historic preservation. Both the mansion and Frick Research Library are New York City and National Historic Landmarks.

Blooming hydrangeas on the Upper East Side near The Frick

The friendly and professional staff members, who are proud to share such a treasure, warmly welcome visitors, which was a lovely part of the visit. A courteous guard explained to a surprised visitor that people sometimes try to touch the art, especially Mr. Kanevsky’s lifelike flowers. Though most of the visitors seemed awed, delighted, and considerate, kudos to the staff for their patience as this surely happens.

“Lemon Tree” by Vladimir Kanevsky in the Garden Court

Some logistics: Visitors must reserve timed tickets to view the galleries which have accessibility for most types of wheelchairs. (Discounted tickets are available for visitors 10-18, those with disabilities, seniors, and students with valid IDs. Admission is free for care partners and active military with valid IDs. Note: Visitors must be over 10.) Memberships may interest repeat visitors, and donations are always welcome. The art does not have labels, but the museum offers a $5 guide (which has a new book smell) that may be purchased along with tickets, or visitors may enjoy an audio tour via Bloomberg Connects. (My first tour was with a wonderful teacher and friend who suggested a visit; the website offers audio for some artwork, helpful for teaching and study, and tours are available for class trips.) Some discounts are available, particularly on Wednesdays from 1:30 to 5:30, when admission is “pay-as-you-wish” with programs that are open to the public. A charming new café, “Westmoreland,” named after Henry Clay Frick’s Pullman car, and a shop complement the experience. Students and faculty with valid IDs from the City University of New York, the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York University, and Pratt Institute may receive two complimentary tickets. To visit the Frick Art Research Library, first-time visitors must register.

Much beloved, the Frick Collection initially sparked debate over its renovation, but with different perspectives coalescing, the result is a harmonious and inviting city oasis.

(Sources: frick.org, nypost.com, newsart.net.com, artnews.com, www.tclf.org, nps.gov)

Longwood Gardens: Spring Symphony

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On May 3, 2025

In Architecture, Arts, Family, Gardening, Travel

“Flowers are the music of the ground. From earth’s lips spoken without sound.”

– Edwin Curran

Tulips dance to their own music in the spring at Longwood Gardens, which is a prelude to the beauty to come. “Longwood Reimagined” shares a new West Conservatory with a Bonsai Courtyard and a Cascade Garden, which makes it dazzling for new visitors and delightful for returning ones. If the melodic bells of the charming Chimes Tower did not return garden-goers to some sense of reality, everyone would be hard-pressed to say what day it was, much less what time. Though it only takes a few hours to visit the gardens, the experience has the transporting feeling of a vacation. While writing this, images of sunlit flower petals and the fragrance of the stargazer lilies in the Main Conservatory come to mind. Nothing that one could write would top the flowers. The photos will do the talking on this spring stroll with more to come since the gardens are wonderful year-round.

Stunning Cattleya orchids

An endearing aspect of Longwood Gardens is its intergenerational appeal; it is not unusual to see three if not four generations enjoying the beauty together. On this trip, families were visiting during the spring break, happily spending time as a family and having lovely flowers in their family photos.

Lovely lilies in the elegant Lord & Burnham-designed Main Conservatory

Music fills the grounds daily throughout the spring, summer, and fall, a complement to the serene water sounds throughout the gardens. The impressive fountains have their own showcase with jets of water synchronized to music, which begins May 5th. The traditional Illuminated Fountain Performances with synchronized, light-filled jets of water, start this year with a Taylor Swift-themed show, which will delight her fans. Fireworks & Fountains Shows begin July 3rd. Longwood Gardens has a Summer Performance Series that offers every genre of music and entertainment: carillon, classical, pop, folk, and country music, ballet, and comedy. The “flowers bloom in the spring” with Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado performed by the Savoy Company May 30th and 31st.

Landscape architecture firm Reed Hilderbrand designed the new West Conservatory with a Mediterranean-style landscape. Architecture firm Weiss/Manfredi designed the conservatory.

Bonsai garden sneak peek

A glimpse of the cascade garden designed by the “father of modern landscape design,” Brazilian Roberto Burle Marx

Timed tickets and the spaciousness of the gardens allow large number of visitors without anyone feeling too crowded. Surrounded by beauty, everyone’s mood is usually generous regarding photo-taking and interacting.

The 200-acre grounds are accessible with mostly paved paths. Electric scooters and wheelchairs are available on a first-come, first-served basis. There are mobile and print-friendly maps available with suggested routes. A Sensory Tip sheet is available for visitors with autism. Tickets are best reserved ahead for this popular destination. The cost of tickets depends on the season and weekday vs. weekend. Youth (5-18) pay less than adults and children four and under have free admission. Discounts for military, veterans, college students, seniors, SNAP EBT and PA ACCESS cardholders are available. Though there is no re-admission, the purchase of two-day passes offers a 10% discount for travelers who are staying in the beautiful Brandywine Valley.

The talented horticulturists, focused and hard-working, while visitors mill around them, bring this dream to life. Thank you to them and the friendly staff and volunteers.

(Source: longwoodgardens.org)

Cherry Blossom Encore: Atlantic City, Margate, and Moorestown

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On June 23, 2023

In Architecture, Cherry Blossoms, Nature, Park, Travel, US History

A Garden State-proud Facebook follower reminded me of the splendid cherry blossoms along Chapel Avenue, Kings Highway, and Haddonfield Road in Cherry Hill and Haddonfield, both in Camden County, near Philadelphia. Adding a few beautiful cherry blossom photos from this spring from O’Donnell Park, Atlantic City as an encore to “A Cherry Blossom Spring: Branch Brook Park”. Pictured with the blossoms are the Greek Temple Monument War I Memorial near the historic Flemish-style Knife & Fork Inn of that era. Neighboring Margate has begun its own Cherry Blossom Festival which means a must-see visit to the newly refurbished Miss Lucy, who celebrates her birthday July 22nd.

Greek Temple Monument WWI Memorial, one of several war memorials in “All Wars Memorial Park” as noted by the Atlantic City Free Public Library

Atlantic Cape Community College, AC campus

Flemish-style historic Knife & Fork Inn, 1912

Margate Community Church, location of the inaugural Margate Cherry Blossom Festival, with Ventnor Avenue blocked off

Moorestown, Burlington County, near Philadelphia (2022)

The National Arts Club: In Love with the Arts

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On February 15, 2021

In Architecture, Art, Arts, Culture, Fashion, Travel

“There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.” Vincent Van Gogh

The National Arts Club earns a renown for its impressive art, engaging events, and a National Historic Landmark home in Gramercy Park, but its true vibrancy comes from its members. The Club members celebrate, promote, and educate others about the “visual arts, literature, film, architecture, fashion, photography and music” in the warm way of passing along a book that is too good not to share.

The Club that helps keep the arts alive in the city began in 1898 with Charles Augustus de Kay, the art and literary critic for The New York Times. Mr. de Kay’s goal was to look to American artists for inspiration rather than European, which was traditional at the time, and to encourage public interest in the arts and education in fine arts. With the help of philanthropist Spencer Trask, Mr. de Kay and fellow founding members like Henry Frick purchased the Victorian Gothic Revival mansion of Samuel J. Tilden, 25^th governor of New York, for the Club. Governor Tilden, who ended New York City corruption, most notably that of Tammany Hall, had bequeathed his fortune for a citywide New York Public Library. His stately home at 15 Gramercy Park South in the Gramercy Park Historic District was formerly two brownstones joined by a sandstone façade designed by Calvert Vaux, co-creator of Central Park. For the mansion’s exterior, Mr. Vaux used the Aesthetic Movement style that emphasized bringing beauty into all aspects of life, making it the ideal home for the Club. In a 2008 restoration, New York City-Brazilian artist Sergio Rosetti Morosini, active in the conservation of the city’s landmarks, added a bust of Michelangelo above the Club’s entrance. The interior includes magnificent stained-glass panels by artist John LaFarge, who had a studio in Greenwich Village, and a stained-glass dome by Scottish-born artisan Donald McDonald.

“Joyce Carol Oates,” NAC Medal recipient

The building is so elegant and distinctive that filmmakers and television producers have requested it for works like “The Age of Innocence,” “The Manhattan Murder Mystery,” “The Thomas Crown Affair” (1999), “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Billions,” “Gotham,” “Jimmy Choo,” and “Boardwalk Empire”. Even more distinctive is the welcoming of women as members since the Club’s 1898 founding. Historical name dropping of former members includes artistic greats like painters Cecilia Beaux, Frederic Remington, William Merritt Chase, George Bellows, Chen Chi and sculptors Anna Hyatt Huntington, Robert Henri, Daniel Chester French, and Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

With such names, one might mistake the Club as being pretentious, but members are there to share a genuine love of the arts. Crossing the threshold means receiving a friendly greeting not only from other members but long-time staff. The atmosphere is lively for the sociable and serene for artists at work. Dining amidst beautiful artworks, resuming again Tuesday with safety protocols, is another opportunity to connect. Lectures and events cover topics including art, fashion, fragrances, cuisine, dance and movement, film screenings, and concerts featuring jazz, classical, and contemporary music. In the past year, the Club has celebrated its fun traditions virtually with events like this month’s Bonnet Bash hat contest, the holiday concert with the Gramercy Brass Orchestra, the Halloween Gala, and Open House New York.

Membership includes worldwide access to other clubs. Additional membership perks allow access to meeting and event rooms, overnight accommodation, and Gramercy Park, the last private park in Manhattan, all the more relaxing for restricting photography.

Important traditions recognize lifelong contributors to the arts with the National Arts Club Medal and encourage new playwrights with the Kesselring Prize for Playwrighting. Medal recipients, whose portraits adorn the walls, include Anna Sui, Joyce Carol Oates, Frederica von Stade, Patricia Field, Claire Bloom, Ellen Burstyn, Toni Morrison, Nadine Gordimer, Lin Manuel-Miranda, John Turturro, Itzhak Perlman, Ang Lee, Salman Rushdie, Spike Lee, I.M. Pei, Tom Wolfe, Frank McCourt, W.H. Auden, Saul Bellow, Tennessee Williams, Roy Lichtenstein, Philip Roth, Mark Twain, Downing Vaux, Calvert’s son, and more. The Kesselring Prize awarded in honor of Joseph Kesselring, best known for writing “Arsenic and Old Lace,” presently honors playwright Mona Mansour. Selected new artists receive support as Artist Fellows which gives them a membership for one year to enhance their careers.

The National Arts Club has carried on gracefully during this past year underscoring the importance of the uplifting to inspire and connect us. Artists, too, are visionaries, who give us pause to reflect. In a place where a love of art, life, people, and the city all flow together, this nonprofit’s extraordinary and newly renovated galleries are free and open to the public daily, 10 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with reservations presently for safety. Additionally, gallery spaces are available for non-members. (Note: On view as of early 2022: “Art of the Abstract Mark,” Libbie Marks’ collage paintings, the “Will Barnet Student Show,” which welcomes new young artists, “Consequences: A Parlor Game,” which showcases the work of the National Academicians of 2021, and “A Century of American Landscape Art,” some landscape “treasures” from the Club’s permanent collection of more than 600 works of art.) Enjoy exhibition updates and Club news on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, which offers a virtual tour, also available on the NAC website.

“Benny Goodman,” NAC Medal recipient, by fellow medalist and Club member Everett Raymond Kinstler

While living in the city, I had the pleasure of being an affiliate member for a time through an alumnae group, which was an incredible experience. Later, I attended the most welcoming and cordial reception and tour, which included a view of The Players club for the performing arts next door, through another alumni association. A delightful lecture from curators from The Clark Art Institute and French National Heritage for the exhibition “Women in Paris, 1850-1900” marked the occasion of another memorable stop.

“Some Little Talk of Me and Thee There Was,” 1905-1909, by Harry Willson Watrous

On my most recent visit, which fell on Valentine’s Day of last year right before the pandemic began, the Media/Marketing Communications director kindly gave two talented British travel and cuisine writers and myself a morning tour. Such fans of New York City, the couple was here to celebrate his birthday. Having seen a number of the inspirational city sights on other trips, they asked me about a unique and wonderful New York City experience for which the only answer was, “The National Arts Club.” On every visit, I am thrilled by being in the company of people who also value what I love.

Valentine’s Day 2020 was a day of kindnesses, so in keeping with the true nature of the city. Though this valentine meandered en route for a while, it still arrives heartfelt.

(Sources: NAC website and social media, onthesetofnewyork,com, saxonhenry.com (member), the artstory.org, ny.curbed.com, tripadvisor.com, goodreads.com, Wiki)

Partial view of the Club’s historic brownstone home (2017)

Daisy, Fala, and Wilderstein: Rhinebeck Gems

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On May 27, 2019

In Architecture, Art, Travel, US History

The Wilderstein Mansion seen through May blooms

Fair, kind, and true, have often lived alone, Which three till now, never kept seat in one.
Sonnet 105, Shakespeare

From the Kingston Rhinecliff Bridge, the Hudson Valley views are breathtaking and with the array of May green, celebrate spring. Blossoming dogwood trees greet visitors at Wilderstein, the home of Margaret “Daisy” Suckley, a distant cousin of both Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.

The Wilderstein Mansion

The Suckley family home at Wilderstein is incredible, a beautiful model of Queen Anne Revival style, and cheerful with its bright colors. Photography is not permitted inside the mansion, but all the more reason for a tour. You will enjoy seeing elegant rooms ranging in style from English Revival to Louis XIV with stained glass windows by Joseph Burr Tiffany, Louis Comfort Tiffany’s cousin. Interestingly, the first portraits visitors see are of the maternal Montgomery matriarchs, including Alida Livingston, part of the extended Livingston family which includes the first governor of New Jersey, William Livingston, who resided at Liberty Hall. The name of this National Historic Landmark is from a petroglyph, a stone found on the property with a rendering of a figure smoking a peace pipe. “Wild man’s stone” is a term that conveyed fascination with Native American culture in 1852.

The Suckleys (which rhymes with “Book-ley” as articles note) hailed from England, and Daisy continued the tradition of daily tea at 3 p.m. year-round. The family fortune was from shipping, a similar source for a number of prominent Hudson Valley neighbors. Summers growing up on the Hudson River featured parties, sailing, and tennis, a sport in which Daisy won numerous trophies that are on display. Charming, too, among the elegant first floor rooms are a collection of glasses with the New York Giants’ logo. Once the staff at the gas station knew that Daisy was a Giants fan, they gave her glasses on each visit, sweet mementos of both her charm and the warm community. The upstairs with the turret and Hudson River views is undergoing restoration.

The Suckley Hudson River idyll experienced a ten-year disruption. Though Daisy was close with her father, Robert Browne Suckley, his noted profession was “gentleman,” which did not enhance the family fortune. Upon a reversal of that fortune in the 1893-1897 economic depression, the family moved overseas to Switzerland where it was less expensive to live at the time. The Suckley’s resided in a hotel, an isolating experience for children used to playmates. Several of seven Suckley children were born there and felt invested in European life. After their return to the United States, Daisy’s older brother, Henry, with whom she was close, volunteered to drive for the American Ambulance Corps on the French front, known through the writing of Ernest Hemingway and others. Capable and respected, Henry had become commander of the section sponsored by the members of the New York Stock Exchange. A few days before the United States entered World War I, Henry, 31, died in a bombing raid while transporting a wounded soldier, a remembrance of both on this Memorial Day.

As a young woman, Daisy studied successfully at Bryn Mawr College for two years. Her father had championed the completion of a degree for his bright daughter, but Daisy’s mother Elizabeth thought that would make her less appealing as a prospective bride. Nevertheless, Daisy did serve as a nurse’s aide on Ellis Island during World War I and, after her father’s sudden death in 1921, found herself in the role of companion to an aunt and caretaker of her family.

When FDR was recovering from polio that same year at his nearby Springwood home, his mother Sara invited Daisy to tea to lift her son’s spirits. FDR welcomed intelligent and charming company, and this began his closeness with her. Their relationship evolved to the point where he included Daisy in the original planning for Top Cottage, or “Hill-Top Cottage,” which she initially believed they would share after his retirement. FDR’s trust in Daisy remained if not his romantic interest. She not only became the confidante of the president of the United States for twelve years, 1933-1945, but she helped him plan the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, the first presidential library which FDR created to offer public access for documents of U.S. history. Daisy was one of the library’s initial archivists.

From the brief film interview with Daisy before the Wilderstein tour begins, some people might dismiss her as being a character. Daisy had not had the house painted since 1910, and it was then the 1980’s. She wore cat-eye glasses and used “patrician” speech. Beloved by her neighbors, however, who thought she needed help in later years, they suggested that Daisy take in a boarder, which she did, and also rented out the carriage house. As someone on the tour kindly noted, FDR had provided not only the nation but his cousin with Social Security following her retirement. After Daisy’s death at nearly 100 in 1991, it turned out that she had a rainy day fund of $900,000 that she was afraid to spend having experienced the loss of most of the remaining family fortune in the Great Depression. Two relatives received this money, and one, returning the love, put this aside as funds to begin the restoration of Wilderstein after her own passing.

What one also takes away from the video is Daisy’s empathy with FDR as she remarked on how incredibly tired he was before he died at his retreat in Warm Springs, Georgia. He could get away from the public eye, but never the burdens of public life that had weighed on him for twelve years. As his health declined, FDR had asked Eleanor to stay with him as Springwood, but unfortunately too much had passed between them.

As a confidante, Daisy listened without judgment. When Franklin died, Daisy arranged for Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd’s departure to spare Eleanor’s feelings and Franklin’s reputation. After FDR’s death, his daughter Anna found Daisy’s letters to her father; he had saved them in his stamp collection box, which he always had with him. Both the stamps and the letters were sources of comfort and a turn of mind away from office. Whether or not she read them, Anna kindly returned the letters to Daisy. The discovery of these letters in 1991, along with some of FDR’s correspondence and Daisy’s diaries, was a revelation to most as no one knew of the closeness between them. The letters that remain characterize their relationship as a friendship with sometimes romantic overtones, but friendship is what it was though Daisy never married.

Admirably, even after FDR’s death, Daisy never revealed his confidences which ranged from opinions on foreign leaders, Winston Churchill was “an English mayor LaGuardia,” this in one of his letters, to his thoughts about declaring war on Japan. With the perspective of national security of 2019, it is extraordinary to think that at least some, if not all, of their letters traveled through the US Mail. What is even more telling is not necessarily what FDR wrote to her, but the constancy and the intimacy – he shared his innermost thoughts sent from international summits like the Atlantic Charter Conference on the Battleship HMS Prince of Wales in Newfoundland and the White House, where Daisy was a frequent guest. They took drives together in the Hudson Valley when FDR returned to the respite of home and adoration. Daisy took two of the rare photographs of FDR in a wheelchair, both at Top Cottage, another testament to their closeness and his trust in her.

Thank you and credit to our wonderful guide, who noted that Daisy was “smart” and “witty,” with a dash of research added. A nice couple on the tour asked great questions, which always adds to the experience. Thank you, too, to my friend from school, and reader, who shared Sonnet 105 with me, and we pass the gift along to Daisy.

Wilderstein is holding another of its wonderful art exhibitions on the grounds, and it was a pleasure to meet James Meyer, one of the artists who was installing his work “Undercurrent”. The show opens June 1st, 5-7. Be sure to pick up a brochure about the art and artists on your Wilderstein visit.

Dedicated gardeners keep the grounds at Wilderstein in bloom

Another view of the beautifully restored exterior

View of the Hudson River and the lighthouse

Fala

Before Daisy’s death and the discovery of her closeness with FDR, she was known as the cousin who gave the president his beloved Scottish terrier, the darling of both his owner and the nation. At times, Fala was the president’s political avatar as in the famous “Fala speech” of 1944 in which FDR expressed Fala’s disdain for false rumors generated about him by political opponents. Reportedly, the joke stemmed from a suggestion by Orson Welles.

The celebrated Fala was born in 1940 on the Wilderstein estate where Daisy kept kennels, one of her many interests, and she picked out the charmer to lift her cousin’s spirits. FDR named him after an ancestor, “Murray the Outlaw of Falalahill”. Before Fala became a White House resident, Daisy trained him to perform tricks, even appearing to smile, which should have gotten him a place on a ballot. As it was, Fala so popular that he had his own secretary to handle his fan mail. If you, too, are a fan of the adorable dog, you can also read more about him in Margaret “Daisy” Suckley and Alice Daigliesh’s book “The True Story of Fala,” available on Amazon, the FDR Library blog, and “Hyde Park: The Year From the Top”.

Fala’s image is everywhere in the cheery gift shop along with a book by Ken Burns’ collaborator, Geoffrey C. Ward, who wrote many of the award-winning scripts for Mr. Burns’ historical works, including “The Civil War”: “Closest Companion: The Unknown Story of the Intimate Friendship Between Franklin Roosevelt and Margaret Suckley”. His book is the source of information about the FDR-Daisy letters in various articles. Look forward to reading this, and you can also find it on Amazon.

Calvert Vaux and Central Park

Wilderstein grounds planned by Calvert Vaux

If you enjoy Central Park and Prospect Park, both part of New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Wilderstein is another wonderful place to visit that Calvert Vaux designed. Daisy’s father engaged Calvert Vaux, known as one of the Central Park co-designers to plan the grounds in the “American Romantic style” for Wilderstein. The Central Park Conservancy Institute for Urban Parks carries on the generous tradition of Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted. The Conservancy park professionals support their fellow urban park colleagues across the country by sharing best practices for maintaining beautiful open spaces for everyone to enjoy. Central Park’s Belvedere Castle, designed by Mr. Vaux, will reopen soon after its restoration. For news of the restoration, NY1’s Roger Clarke @RogerClark41 on Twitter will have updates.

The Gate House, now the Wilderstein office, designed by Calvert Vaux.

The rains which brought us the beautiful greenery this year made Calvert Vaux’s Wilderstein Trails better suited for exploration on another visit, though it was delightful to have made the hours on this trip (12 – 4 Thursday through Sunday in the summer). Among the structures Mr. Vaux planned for the grounds, the Potting Shed by Lord and Burnham is newly restored. The beautiful plants on the grounds are also a credit to Calvert Vaux’s partner on this project Horticulturalist Samuel Parsons of Queens, New York. Though the original 100-plus acre estate is now three, visitors can walk down to Suckley Cove on the river for more beautiful views and the petroglyph from which the estate gets its name. As they say, the third time’s the charm, an ideal excuse for another visit to Wilderstein.

Calvert Vaux’s original Potting Shed and Greenhouse

Guide to Wilderstein Trails by Calvert Vaux

Hamlet of Rhinecliff

Part of the Morton Memorial Library and Community Center

Rhinebeck

A few photos of charming Rhinebeck with thanks to @RhinebeckGuide for following on Instagram. You can enjoy wonderful photos and remembrances of their Memorial Parade there and on Facebook.

WWI Monument to all who served, known as the “Doughboy” by Allen Newman, 1910 (Poughkeepsie Journal blog, which credits E. M. Visquesney as the creator of the model “The Spirit of the American Doughboy”)

The Rhinebeck Post Office

Avid stamp collector President Franklin Delano Roosevelt opened the Rhinecliff Post Office on May 1, 1939, and Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark placed the cornerstone in this hometown WPA historic marvel of chandeliers, fieldstone, murals, and museum. Present, too, were Treasury Secretary Henry Morgantheau and Postmaster General James Farley with whom FDR sometimes designed new stamps as well as Dutchess County post offices and public buildings. Newspaper photos often pictured FDR serenely working on his stamp collection. As a boy, stamp collecting had introduced Franklin to the world. In the role of president during WWII, the calm and orderliness of his past-time appealed to a shaken public who viewed him as a paternal figure putting the world in order.

FDR oversaw the design of the post office, on the National Register of Historic Places, requesting that it represent “Kipsbergen,” the home of his Beekman ancestors. The name may be familiar from the town’s historic Beekman Arms, also in the are designated as the “Rhinebeck Village Historic District”. Formally designed by architect Rudolph Stanley Brown, the post office is built in Dutch Colonial Revival style, popular in the area and favored by FDR. The building incorporated some of the stones from the original Beekman home that had burned down. Rhinebeck artist Olin Dows, both a painter and chief of the Treasury Relief Art Project, funded by the Works Project Administration, created the murals for both the Rhinebeck and Hyde Park post offices.

Hudson River scene from the Olin Dows mural

Trowel used by Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark

FDR Library and D-Day Exhibit at Hyde Park

This weekend, “D-DAY: FDR and Churchill’s ‘Mighty Endeavor'” opens with ongoing events throughout the summer. The FDR Library will honor friend of the library Ralph Osterhaudt for his service and lifelong commitment to the legacy of his fellow servicemen in World War II. You can sign up for newsletters about the library’s exhibits and events.

Thank you again to the FDR Library for retweeting “Hyde Park: The Year from the Top”. Pictured are some recent photos of the library and the beautiful grounds at Hyde Park where you can also visit Springwood, the resting place of the president and first lady, Top Cottage, and nearby Val-kill, the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, as well as enjoying the delightful town.

Winston Churchill by Oscar Nemon at Freedom Court

Vanderbilt Mansion and Historic Gardens

The nearby Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, with upcoming summer events, features beautiful Historic Gardens, the nonprofit F.W. Vanderbilt Garden Association, Inc., that welcome volunteers.

Hudson River view from promontory towards the park exit

New view of the Pavilion, now the Visitor Center

Culinary Arts Institute of America

Looking forward to a formal visit to the Culinary Institute of America, but had to post these lovely sunset views. Thank you for the kind permission to photograph.

(Sources: Wilderstein.org, FDR Library, fdrlibrary.tumblr.com, PBS “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History,” nytimes.com, tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com, postalmuseum.si.edu, livingnewdeal.org, hrvh.org, hvmag.com, hudsonrivervalley.com, flickr.com, Wiki)

The Great 88: The Empire State Building

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On May 1, 2019

In Architecture, Culture, Travel, US History

The breathtaking views: looking downtown with the Freedom Tower and Statue of Liberty, which caused a flurry of photo-taking excitement among visitors

“Spectacular,” “fun, “romantic,” “amazing”. There are many wonderful places to visit for New York City views, but it is the Empire State Building that has stirred imaginations over successive generations since its launch in 1931 as the world’s tallest building. “King Kong,” “An Affair to Remember,” and “Sleepless in Seattle” are a few of the more memorable films featuring this National Historic and New York City Landmark, “the most photographed building in the world”.

From childhood visits and those with guests from out of town, I think of the cinematic glamour, the breathtaking views, the bracing air, and the warm staff. All were in full measure on trips this spring to comprise what still is a unique experience. The marvel at the top of the building is not just the views, but that one feels so free in a relatively compact space. This is thanks to the building’s design, its management, and the staff.

The Birth of the Modern Skyscraper

What did the Empire State Building mean to people when it opened in 1931? Construction meant jobs during the Great Depression, and it began in good fortune on Saint Patrick’s Day in 1930. As “the largest commercial venture and investment ever,” the Empire State Building was a symbol of commerce in a bleak time. The building also represented a feat of engineering – 4 1/2 floors went up each week with new “fast track” construction. The building of the 102 floors took just over 18 months, completed one and a half months early and under budget by approximately $5 million. The Empire State Building (ESB) ultimately stood at 1,250 feet tall, 1,454 including the metal tower. The tallest building represented the “Empire State” of wealth and power. To feel hopeful and proud, New Yorkers only had to look up.

The 80th floor with the “Dare to Dream” exhibit, and the first opportunity for views, covers the building’s evolution from blueprints to construction with dramatic enlarged photos. For forty-one years, ESB held the title as the tallest building in the world and still is one of the tallest. The main deck on the 86th floor wraps around the spire for views of 360 degrees and 80 miles on clear days. With 1,000 offices, including LinkedIn, the ESB has its own zip code: 10118.

Ceiling guide in the lobby of the Main Deck

Skyline Beauty

Beauty was not only Faye Wray in the classic 1933 “King Kong”. The Empire State Building catches our eye and captures our imagination for its Art Deco design by architects Shreve, Lamb & Harmon Associates. The five-story marble and granite lobby with brushed stainless steel has a gold and aluminum ceiling. Refurbished in 2008, the lobby with its mural is so remarkable that it has separate registration from the building with the New York City Landmarks Preservation Committee. Large bronze medallions on the ground floor commemorate the craftsmen who helped build this icon. Another distinctive feature is the metal tower that is both the 102nd-floor observatory and a zeppelin mooring mast, though only one airship ever docked.

In 2008, the building underwent a $500 million renovation removing changes from over the years and restoring ESB to its original Art Deco glory. As a complement to the burgundy marble in the walls of those restored hallways, ESB guards received handmade uniforms in Art Deco style of the 1930’s that add to the glamour of a visit. The uniforms, by I. Buss, have a logo “the building against a starburst pattern” and chevrons on the sleeves. Those “V’s” are from heraldry and represent building rafters, suitable for wear in the number one edifice on the list of “America’s Favorite Architecture by the American Institute of Architects” and one of the “Seven Wonders of the Modern World” according to the American Society of Civil Engineers.

The bravery in creating this architectural wonder

Why It’s Relevant

The Empire State Building is part of our psyches in ways that we do not realize. Going to work, we see it, while shopping, or visiting the city. While dining at Flatiron Square or ice skating in Bryant Park, it is there over our shoulders, a reassuring presence throughout our lives. Sometimes we do not notice it until we look at our photos. Or until it is out of sight.

Traveling into the city one day from New Jersey via the Lincoln Tunnel, the inconceivable and yet inevitable happened – the Empire State Building disappeared behind a high rise. The drive suddenly felt like trying to run to home plate with one of the bases missing. The skyline view of New York City from across the Hudson River is an iconic one that everyone associates with images of the United States. Even when commuting on the bus to some less than ideal stints in the city, my heart did and still does, soar a bit when seeing that celebrated, unique skyline.

As the Statue of Liberty wears her crown, so is the Manhattan skyline bejeweled in the night sky with the Empire State Building as its centerpiece. No one in New York City or the surrounding area needs reminding about sudden loss, but a loss by degree devastates in its way because we let it happen. Travel pieces are as much about traveling through life as seeing the sights. The new everyplace, anyplace skyline is a topic of conversation on city buses, in coffee shops, and around the city.

Driving home another evening on the New Jersey Turnpike after Notre Dame of Paris had burned, the blue, white, and red lights of the Empire State Building shone through the night across the Meadowlands in solidarity with France. What was apparent to the eye is only a blurry iPhone photo, but words may suffice where photography fails – as much as the Empire State Building is an international travel destination, it is also a beacon that connects us here in its tri-state neighborhood.

Not just a fixture in the New York City skyline, the Empire State Building steps up as a neighbor – it celebrates, comforts, and brings awareness. Prior to the lights for Notre Dame, the building was lit up in honor of Easter Seals‘ 100th anniversary. The LED lights installed in 2012 have featured everything from endangered animal species on the sides of the building to the NCAA Final Four and Championship winners to college commencements. And what other building features Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton rocking, “You Make It Feel Like Christmas” with a choreographed sparkling light show?

At a time when all of us share fewer collective experiences with exceptions like watching the Olympics or “Game of Thrones” (with New Jersey talent: actor Peter Dinklage and writer George R.R. Martin), the Empire State Building with its Tower Lights Calendar connects like a community bulletin board, and inspiringly, it moves us to care. For the informative and the entertaining, you can follow ESB on social media, which is, along with Central Park, one of the most generous New York City accounts with continuous retweets, photo contests, and promotions: @empirestatebuilding. Everything from the sunrise and sunset weddings on Valentine’s Day to launching the careers of new photographers is uplifting.

Indeed glamorous, exciting, and fun – iconic, but evolving, the Empire State Building is always finding new roles. These range from the practical like becoming a LEED-Gold “green” forerunner with a makeover in 2011 to the imaginative and celebratory lighting of the building by stars drawn from Hollywood, Bollywood, Broadway, the World Cup, and NYC sports teams.

The Final Five: Olympic Gold Medal winners of the US Women’s Gymnastics team: Gaby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez from New Jersey, Madison Kocian, Simone Biles, and Aly Reisman on a visit to the observatory

The ESB Inspires

At ESB last week, a mother and son from South Korea delighted in asking other people in line where they were from and chatted in newly practiced English with fellow tourists from Italy and Florida, all excited first-time visitors. For those who remember the ’80’s and tourists bypassing the Big Apple, it is heartening to see people enjoying a visit to this wonderful city. Ideally, they will leave loving it, as we do, both residents and neighbors. The wonder and cordiality of the Empire State Building experience are an important part of that goodwill.

Having left practicality in the rear view mirror many miles ago, I returned for a second visit to ESB for the leafier photos that Central Park deserves, though the views are beautiful year-round, and to see if my words to date were up to task for this American treasure. This trip was by train, throwing off the metaphor, but it offered a nice walk featuring Greeley Park, another of the welcoming New York City Parks.

Looking uptown with Central Park and some of the Reservoir in view

The view uptown towards the Bronx with the Chrysler Building to the east (March)

A return trip was well worth it for witnessing the precision of the staff following the spring break influx of visitors. The informal atmosphere pre-Easter and Passover that allowed for chats with staff members was now all business. This post-holiday organization, however, still includes a warm welcome that extends to those with strollers and wheelchairs. The 102nd-floor observatory is under renovation and closed until July, but special experiences on the main deck like the summer saxophonist, the Sunrise Tour, the Premium Experience, and the All Access Tour are available online along with City Pass with an Empire State Building app for an audio tour. Ever cutting-edge, the ESB offers free WiFi to share those photos and selfies with the amazing views. The Empire State Building is open 365 days a year from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. in the city that never sleeps.

In Chinese culture, 88 is auspicious, symbolizing good things to come. In the Empire State Building’s fortunate 88th year, may the sun never pass behind the clouds.

(Sources: esbnyc.com, archdaily.com, nytimes.com, emporis.com, money.cnn.com, cnn.com, thevintagenews.com, Wiki)

The Freedom Tower and the Statue of Liberty looking towards Staten Island

The Hudson River and New Jersey looking east

The Chrysler Building looking towards Queens and Brooklyn

The New York Life Building (gold tower) looking towards Brooklyn

A closer view of the New York Life Building, the MetLife Building (MetLife Tower) with the clock and gold spire, and Madison Square Park

Classic Cutler mail chutes from early skyscrapers, some now by Cutler are on exhibit in the Smithsonian Institution

A gift shop that has everything including extraordinary Kate Spade bags that light up

The elevator ceiling on the way down from the observatory. Visual and verbal thank you’s in keeping with the style of the Empire State Building. Adding a mutual “Thank you”.

Hyde Park: The Year from the Top

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On February 10, 2019

In Architecture, Culture, Family, Museum, Travel, US History

December and the holidays bring joy and sometimes reflection, but it is January, the heart of winter, that can become the month of rumination. The start of the year, however, is also when the days grow longer, and we appreciate the sun in a bright blue sky glistening on the snow – usually. If accustomed to snow, the absence of it offsets in that inexplicable way that setting the clocks forward and back sometimes does. January can become like this one a month played in minor key depending upon where our paths take us. With travel, like life, we may say that the timing is not right and never go, but think of 2019 as the year of heading out.

One such trip would be to the Roosevelt-Vanderbilt National Parks in Hyde Park, which offer not only history but the beauty of the Hudson Valley. For those interested in history, Ken Burns’ “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History,” brings home the relatable parts of the family story as well as world events: Teddy, a young man who lost both his wife and mother within a day, Franklin, a favorite son of a doting mother and the privileged man struck by illness, Eleanor, a girl who felt that she never fit in with her peers, and Eleanor & Franklin and the dynamics of a marriage.

Franklin, Eleanor, Anna, and Franklin’s mother Sara (Springwood)

Springwood, FDR Library and Museum, and Top Cottage

Springwood estate in Hyde Park, New York is the birthplace and home of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, which the family referred to as “Hyde Park” and the “Big House”. The house is impressive, but the sweeping view of the Hudson River rivals it. One could see why FDR returned to Springwood often during his three terms as president. On the grounds are also the FDR Presidential Library and Museum and the burial site of the president and first lady. The estate is beautiful with trees that FDR, a conservationist like his cousin Theodore, had planted. Top Cottage, the president’s retreat, is about two miles away and accessible via the park shuttle.

Eleanor and Franklin welcome park visitors

Our first visit was on an impromptu stop while traveling to the Berkshires where my friend spent summers as a boy and enjoys returning as we both do. Hyde Park in Dutchess County, part of the Mid-Hudson Valley, however, is a destination in itself with FDR’s home, the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Park and the nearby Sixteen Mile Historic District in Columbia County, all part of The Hudson River National Landmark Historic District, the largest historic district in the continental US.

Side view of Springwood with floral trellises and ivy

On this initial Springwood trip in June, we had a chance to tour FDR’s home. Among the fascinating accounts that the park ranger shared on the tour, a few stood out. Sara, Franklin’s devoted mother who owned the house and Franklin’s New York City home, interestingly, revamped Springwood to look more “presidential” years before Franklin was president with an idea like dressing for the job to which one aspires. Franklin assisted with the designs that transformed the exterior of Springwood from a pleasant “clapboard farmhouse” to Colonial Revival Style. Visitors, many political allies, could easily envision FDR in the White House.

Hudson River view from Springwood, now somewhat obscured by the trees FDR had planted, but still beautiful

The president, the “Great Communicator,” delivered two of his famous fireside chats from Springwood with his Scottish Terrier Fala, a favorite of children across the country, including our mother, by his side. Grown-ups, too, seemed to enjoy Fala. The FDR Library blog shares that sailors got the idea of cutting off locks of Fala’s fur for good luck on one of FDR’s WWII battleship visits. Fala had a habit of dashing off to the decks below to get treats, and he slipped by his “walking officer” on the USS Baltimore. The sociable Fala did not bark while being clipped, but FDR had to put a stop to this as the terrier looked quite shorn.

Fala depicted with FDR at the wonderful Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, DC, sculpted by George Segal (Wiki photo)

Before Fala’s antics, along the tree-lined driveway to his boyhood home, the 39-year-old Franklin pushed himself to walk farther and farther each day after being stricken with polio. Researchers speculate that the president may have had Guillain-Barré syndrome, which is a nerve disorder and not a viral disease, but that did not change what FDR dealt with in 1921. Franklin never made it to the end of the driveway, but he continued to try.

For our mother and many of her peers, FDR was president throughout their childhoods. Our mother recalls that Mrs. Branigan, a Vailsburg, Newark neighbor and an Irish immigrant, got off the bus from work one day and walked along the street sobbing. When Mrs. Branigan passed our mother’s house, she saw the little girl sitting on the porch glider, and between tears, said, “Our president is dead.” Hearing this, our mother, too, burst into tears feeling a family attachment to the man whose voice had come into their homes to reassure them during the Great Depression and World War II.

A familial warmth is part of the delight of visiting historic sites in Hyde Park and the area. Many residents knew the families who were also part of their community, and they shared life stories. After each winning election, neighbors carried torches up to the front of the house at Springwood to wish FDR well. The wonderful feeling of community in Hyde Park remains to this day.

A radiant young Eleanor proud of her accomplishment (Springwood)

An impressive collection of Roosevelt family equestrian prizes

Horses had names like “New Deal,” “Lady Luck,” “Pal O Mine,” and “Patches”

The elegance of the Rose Garden, here blooming with peonies, befits its stately purpose as the resting place of Eleanor and Franklin. The beloved Fala is also buried nearby and daughter Anna’s German shepherd.

FDR bust and FDR Presidential Library, the view from Freedom Court. FDR bust by Walter Russell.

On another visit, we enjoyed exploring the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, the first US presidential library, which we enjoyed exploring ohas the compelling pull of history. Seeing the president’s memorabilia from his White House years has a resonance beyond his delightful boyhood collections and the family photographs in his home. Historic photos come to life in the library. FDR was the first president to donate his letters to the public, leaving them to the National Archives. The innovative design of the entrance celebrates this historic boon. At FDR’s request, the library also includes the letters of the First Lady. The library also has virtual tours. Given park budgets, Top Cottage has limited tours, and after our wonderful library visit, we looked forward to seeing FDR’s retreat another time.

The library notes that Fred Relyea, a Poughkeepsie mechanic, adapted the car for FDR’s use

Top Cottage was the second home that FDR designed with architect Henry Toombs with the thought that the president would retire there after his second term. The fieldstone Dutch Colonial Revival home, in keeping with the historic houses in the area, is one of only two buildings designed by a US president and one of the first in the United States with wheelchair accessibility. Primarily, it was a peaceful getaway. Springwood was often hectic during FDR’s presidency, and well-wishers entered the grounds hoping to see the president, unimaginable with 21st-century security.

Like Springwood, Top Cottage had many famous visitors: Winston Churchill, Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon MacKenzie, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and Princesses Juliana and Beatrix, Norway’s Crown Prince Olaf and Crown Princess Martha, and interestingly, Madame Chiang Kai-Shek. On the first visit to the US by British monarchs, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth were guests at the celebrated Top Cottage “hot dog summit,” where the president introduced the royal couple to American dishes at a picnic and took the king and queen on one of his hurtling car rides. The picnic had a serious and successful purpose in making the British monarchs seem relatable and more democratic as they ate and drank beer with Hyde Park staff. Months later, FDR was able to send supplies to help England after their declaration of war on Germany. All of FDR’s guests appreciated this woodland retreat from the public eye as he did and the warmth of being entertained in a home.

Winston Churchill by Oscar Nemon in Freedom Court

The Four Freedoms: A sculpture based on FDR’s “Four Freedoms” speech that inspired Berkshire neighbor Norman Rockwell. Mr. Rockwell’s famous paintings, now on tour, but based at the Norman Rockwell Museum, raised money for war bonds on exhibit around the country. Speech admires May also enjoy the FDR Four Freedoms Park in NYC.

If we drove like FDR, we may have made it on time to tour Top Cottage, but missing the shuttle bus went from our running joke about timing, somewhat akin to having missed the rocket launch for life, to a lesson in saying good-bye to perfectionism, a good resolution. Travel writing should make people want to go to a place and enjoy it – informative fun does not have to be a dutiful treatise. And yet, we still tried. Top Cottage closes in the winter, another discovery on a different visit, which meant a great excuse to enjoy the beautiful tulip poplar trees outside the library and have lunch in the café before driving home. Other trips to the FDR historic site have brought more walks and gift shop stops for ornaments at the holidays. So a missed shuttle bus here and there has led to making the FDR historic site a regular stop like walking the grounds at the Vanderbilt Mansion.

Posting, too, went the way of the elusive Top Cottage. Even with the buffer of history, a post in the fall of 2016 was not the best time. Over the holidays, rethought this with the idea for Top Cottage as a metaphor for new beginnings, still the timing was not right, but better now with thoughts of spring visits.

Val-Kill, the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site

Stone Cottage, Eleanor’s residence at Val-Kill

Val-Kill, Eleanor Roosevelt’s historic site, is two miles from Springwood and a little over four miles from Top Cottage. Perhaps that is part of how Eleanor and Franklin’s marriage lasted or that the demands of public life required personal space. A warm June sun, chirping birds, and beautiful flowers, show the simple residence as what it was, a haven for the first lady. With the exhibits planned by the park rangers, visitors feel Eleanor’s uplifting spirit. Practically, Val-Kill gave the first lady opportunity to work on her own projects including the development of off-season jobs for local residents, which became Val-Kill Industries. The name “Valley Stream” is from the Dutch for both the valley location and the wonderful stream that offered the Roosevelt family swimming in the summer. The grounds are beautiful with a charming footbridge and a wonderful garden with peonies in season. Val-Kill later went to Eleanor’s son Elliott, who had attended the Hun School in Princeton, New Jersey, a Garden State connection.

Eleanor’s photo at The Poughkeepsie Post Office

Vanderbilt Mansion

If you enjoy history, the tours are where you get the great tidbits. Our park ranger, part of the esprit de corps of rangers like those at Springwood, brought the beautiful mansion to life.

Frederick Vanderbilt, grandson of Cornelius, along with his wife Louise commissioned Charles McKim, a name partner in the country’s top architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, to build their Neoclassical-Beaux Arts home. As the Historic Resource Study for the site notes, the elegant architectural combination was unusual for a country home and is the only one of its kind in the Hudson Valley. With a newly restored exterior, visitors can now enjoy river views from the balcony in warm weather. Completion of the 54-room mansion brought the top craftsmen for woodwork and stone design, many from Italy, Germany, and Switzerland. The interior is incredible as you can see from the photos. Much of the furniture and art was brought from Europe, a trend at the time, and Stanford White was Frederick’s antique dealer. James Greenleaf designed the Italianate garden, which we look forward to seeing on another trip.

The Neoclassical-Beaux Arts mansion designed by Charles McKim

During the two years it took to build the mansion, 1896-1899, Louise and Frederick periodically stayed in the Pavilion, now the Visitor Center, to oversee building. The Gilded Age families were the generation that spent the fortunes that their grandparents had made. In the case of Frederick and Louise, they were generous as opposed to frivolous. Frederick had architect McKim build the Howard Mansion at Hosack Farm across the road for his niece Rose Anthony Post Howard and her husband Thomas Howard, a descendant of the founder of Rutgers University and Revolutionary War general, John Neilson. Rose and Thomas were the maternal grandparents of Thomas Howard Kean, the Governor of New Jersey. Well-liked in Hudson Valley, Frederick and Louise Vanderbilt did not have children and enjoyed giving gifts to those of their staff in addition to showing their appreciation for their work. Though they had their bedrooms designed as if they were European royalty, the fashion of the day, the Vanderbilts were warm and accessible. Louise herself oversaw gift-giving for the staff. They left a great deal of their fortune to charity, loyal staff, and a niece. The ultimate donation of the mansion to the public, like that of Springwood, was FDR’s idea.

The Pavilion was once a guest house for gentleman visitors

Play garden gift from Louise and Frederick. Many gifts generously make their way back to the mansion museum for the public’s enjoyment.

The estate provided local jobs year-round with the mansion, the grounds, garden, greenhouses, dairy, vegetable garden, orchard, and a dock where guests could arrive on their yachts. The ice box is representative of how eco-friendly the property was. Long after the invention of refrigerators, Frederick kept these efficient ices boxes in use. Not only did the ice boxes operate without electrical power, but the staff who maintained the ice remained employed.

The beautiful holiday welcome, done at the initiative of the park rangers, is breathtaking. Like other Gilded Age families, the Vanderbilts had several homes where they usually spent different seasons. The mansion was their country home where they celebrated Easter and visited in the fall, though they did give Christmas gifts to staff. New York City was their primary residence and Newport, Rhode Island, Bar Harbor, Maine, and the Adirondacks, their summer retreats. (Springwood also has Christmas decorations.) In warmer weather, visitors may go out on the balcony, opened after the restoration.

The beautiful decorations by the park rangers

Hyde Park

The Hyde Park Drive-in, opened in 1950, is across the street from Hyde Park. An in-season classic, it is another reason to stay over in the area to enjoy the sites and charm. If you enjoy these drive-in photos, you may want to follow the wonderful Cinema Treasures on Instagram, which documents movie venues all over the country.

The appropriately patriotic diner across the street from Springwood

Poughkeepsie

At the Vanderbilt Mansion, a number of loyal Poughkeepsians talked up their town, which called for a return trip first to enjoy the Walkway Over the Hudson State Historic Park. The views matched “The Queen City of the Hudson,” as Poughkeepsie on the east bank is also known, which is across the river from the charming Kingston. Even on a minus-degree wind chill December day, the Hudson River was spectacular. An active park group takes year-round advantage of the trails and you can connect with them on their social media. During the holidays, the nearby Franklin D. Roosevelt Mid-Husdon Bridge is lit in red and green lights at night.

Hudson River view of FDR Mid-Hudson Bridge from Kingston side of Walkway

The all too brief visit to the City of Poughkeepsie led to stops to admire the fine architecture and an informal tour of Vassar College. Look forward to visiting the charming Mid_Hudson Children’s Museum and more on the next visit to the city, which also has a drive-in, the Overlook.

The charming yellow building is the Children’s Museum

A delight of the December return trip was the holiday cheer and navigational expertise of the area toll takers. GPS is not the same as directions shared with smiles and the admiration of a cheerful holiday pin or Santa Claus gel nails. Our family knows the area from growing up, a story for another day, but these quick chats were not only helpful, but reminders of nice visits and family stories.

Johnson-Iorio Memorial Park and the FDR Mid-Hudson Bridge

Riverside park sponsored by Scenic Hudson, this one dedicated to the conservationist

Teddy Roosevelt display at the Poughkeepsie Post Office. Looking forward to seeing his historic homes.

Vassar College

As a Seven Sisters graduate, it was delightful to visit V assar College campus in Poughkeepsie. Now coed, the beautiful campus has a wonderful atmosphere and delightful shops and restaurants nearby.

Milton

Named after English poet John Milton, the hamlet in Ulster County delights with historic homes, churches, and welcoming shops in a scenic setting. With such a brief visit, look forward to another. A fun tidbit is that Marlon Brando’s “A Fugitive Kind” was filmed here in 1959. Enjoyed spectacular river views from the Milton Landing Dog Park with a truly merry Christmas tree out on the dock.

A delightful surprise on the dock at the Milton Landing Dog Park

Rhinebeck

Rhinebeck charms in every season. The former “Violet Capital of the World,” later renowned for its anemones, Rhinebeck is known for its hospitality, and to this day, a warm welcome awaits visitors. FDR gave campaign speeches from the porch of the historic Beekman Arms, 1766, which hosted everyone from Founding Fathers George Washington and Robert Livingston to New Jerseyans Frank Sinatra and Jack Nicholson. A further New Jersey connection goes back to Robert Livingston’s brother William, who signed the Constitution and was the first governor of New Jersey during the Revolutionary War. William resided at Liberty Hall, Union. Liberty Hall, now part of Kean University, was sold to Kean relatives, family of New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean on his father’s side. Alexander Hamilton was a guest at both Liberty Hall and the Beekman Arms.

German settlers from the Bavarian Palatinate named the beautiful area “Ryn Beck” in 1714, because it reminded them of their Rhine Valley home. Rhinebeck dates back to the Sepasco and Eposus, Lenape Native Americans who were later joined by Dutch settlers in 1686. The Dutch brought the Sinterklaass tradition now celebrated in an annual December nondemoninational festival. Well-known residents like John Jacob Astor IV followed the Dutch and Germans to what became “Rhinebeck”. The village, a National Historic District, is remarkable in that so much of its original architecture remains.

The photos here are from a December trip to the Village of Rhinebeck within the larger town both within the “Sixteen Mile Historic District”.

A well-known resident, Hilarie Burton, who stars in one of my favorite holiday movies, “Christmas on the Bayou,” is an active sponsor of a local charity Astor Services for Children and Families and has invested in a town business, Samuel’s Sweet Shop, both co-starring her husband Jeffrey Dean Morgan and friends Julie Yeager & Paul Rudd. Rhinebeck is also the hometown of Rufus Wainwright, whose performance at the Asbury Park Convention Hall on his tour for “All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu” was so incredible that it was like being transported out of time and place. In real time, however, my friend stepped out for a snack on the boardwalk and returned for the encore. Mr. Wainwright was in competition with the PGA Tour, which is not to slight a true artist who had sold out the venue, but it helps with perspective when putting work out there.

Wilderstein and the Hudson Valley

A brief moonlit stop with just a hint of the “Central Park serenity” of the Calvert Vaux design

The Hudson Valley has so much to see and do that we may never make it to Top Cottage. We look forward to discovering other sights that range from the High Falls Conservation Area to the Culinary Institute of America, which our mother has enjoyed with friends. Wilderstein, where FDR’s cousin, confidante, Fala gift-giver, and one of the first archivists of the FDR Library, Margaret “Daisy” Suckley lived, was and is on the visit list. Though arriving after dark on the most recent Mid-Hudson Valley visit, still took a loyal fan photo at the Victorian mansion with its grounds designed by Calvert Vaux, because all roads lead to Central Park and New Jersey at one time or another.

Home Travels with You

Once in a surprising turn of events, while traveling with a summer study group, we rode in a boat taxi along the Grand Canal at sunset in Venice. The sun splashed a million shades of gold along the colorful palazzi in “La Serenissimo,” the “Most Serene Republic of Venice”. Inexplicably, most of the students were arguing over the rooms, but the wonderful sound of rushing water and the steady hum of the engine could still be heard between sharp words. Looking across the boat, another classmate, like me, marveled at the panoramic beauty before us. She smiled serenely. We did not know each other well. From our remarks in class, we had different opinions on things, but we both had an appreciation for our good fortune. Our classmates missed the sunset, not having noticed, or not having minded. Later, when we all returned to school, work, and occasional turmoil, my fellow traveler and I would sometimes look at each other and smile. We had shared a love of beauty.

People will surprise us. Before going on the trip, our Uncle Ray, a comedy writer for Steve Allen, Bob Hope, and Phyllis Diller, and at times, presidents of both parties, whose favorite movie preferences were lighthearted ones featuring Laurel & Hardy and Hope and Crosby’s “Road pictures,” suggested, “Watch David Lean’s ‘Summertime’ before you go. Venice looks like a dream.'” The film, if you have not seen it, is a visual love letter to the city as much as it is about lost opportunity and timing. For our uncle who was so talented that he did not easily fit in, which ultimately led to full-time work in a factory, the film may have had a particular meaning. Generous, his career advice was his life advice, “Cheap shots are easy, it’s the clever jokes that are hard.”

In a pessimist’s theory of reductionism, Serenissimo is overcrowded, Fala was the invention of wartime propaganda, and Teddy’s bad side is on Mount Rushmore. On a certain level, these assertions may seem true, but it would be like describing Venice without the light. Happy New Year.

Eleanor Roosevelt stamp First Day of Issue, a gift along with a collection from Uncle Ray

Note: Intended for posting in January 2019.

(Sources: nps.gov, fdr.blogs.archives.gov, c-span.org/video/?429257-1/franklin-d-roosevelts-top-cottage “American History TV,” history.com, health.heraldtribune.com, hvmg.com, forbes.com, smithsonianmagazine.com, whitehousehistory.org, ushistory.org, poughkeepsiejournal.com, hrvh.com, rhinebeckchamber.com, rhinebeckmuseum.com, beekmandelamaterinn.com, wilderstein.org, usatoday.com, c-span.org, tripadvisor.com, winstonchurchill.org, providencejournal.com, aboutfranklinroosevelt.com, Wiki)

Greenwood Gardens: Fairy-Tale Enchantment

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On January 27, 2019

In Architecture, Art, Gardening, Lifestyle, Travel

““…daily life…is practically composed of two lives – the life in time and the life by values…” E.M. Forster

Looking up to the Georgian Revival mansion from the Italiante garden

A garden is ever-changing, but perennial at the same time, planned around time to stand outside it. We go then to a garden to enjoy nature’s beauty in time savored. Stepping into Greenwood Gardens takes us into a world of enchantment by adding fairy-tale charm to nature’s beauty. Greenwood Gardens features classical “Italianate gardens” with an “Arts and Crafts Design,” traditional handcrafted décor, resulting in the delight of Alice in Wonderland chess piece sculptures, a magical wrought-iron grille with birds of paradise and golden rabbits, fountains with Rookwood ceramic tiles, a stone teahouse, grottoes, and cascades.

“Greenwood Gardens” began as “Pleasant Days” an estate owned by the Days, Pauline and Joseph, who also lived in Gramercy Park. In 1906, the couple purchased the property from one of the well-known Newark brewers Christian Feigenspan, whose “P.O.N.,” the “Pride of Newark” beer won a silver medal in the Paris Exposition of 1877. Mr. Feigenspan, a Cornell graduate, was a Newarker in an area filled with the country estates of wealthy New Yorkers among the “short hills,” high enough for views, low enough for access for those seeking a direct route to the countryside.

As a new Short Hills resident, self-made millionaire Joseph Day admired the garden of his neighbor, architect William Whetten Renwick and commissioned him to create an Italianate mansion and formal gardens for what would become “Pleasant Days”. Before settling on a plan, Joseph and William toured gardens of Europe for inspiration. William, originally from Lenox, Massachusetts in the Berkshires, contributed to the design of both St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the Church of All Saints in New York City whose principal architect was his uncle James Renwick, Jr.. The Day gardens that he created had a modernized flair from new US inventions like lighting from Thomas Edison whose laboratory was in nearby West Orange and uniqueness with a working farm to fulfill the wishes of Pauline. The beautiful Day home with its view of the Watchung Mountains was a social hub in the 1920’s and 1930’s. During the Great Depression, however, Joseph, a real estate broker, had difficulty in maintaining the 79 acre estate, which went on sale in parcels after Mr. Day’s death in 1944.

Dr. Adelaide Childs Frick Blanchard bought the house and gardens, replacing the worn mansion with the present Georgian Revival house in 1950. Adelaide and her husband Peter Blanchard, Jr. preserved the gardens on the still vast parcel of about 28 acres. Adelaide, a pediatrician, was the daughter of Childs Frick, a paleontologist and trustee of the Museum of Natural History and granddaughter of Henry Clay Frick who founded the Frick Collection. The Blanchards added the incredible limestone chess pieces, several ponds, and the striking London plane and Norway spruce allee along the entrance driveway. The estate, bordering on South Mountain Reservation with its mountain trails, allowed for one of the Blanchard family favorite pastimes, horseback riding. Mr. Blanchard later sold 40 acres of repurchased land to the Township of Millburn where there is a playing field and extensive woodland paths for the public to enjoy as Old Short Hills Park.

The gardens have reflected both the taste of their owners and their respective eras, the Gilded Age and the Colonial Revival. The Day garden favored popular perennials, the Blanchard garden, the “modern” evergreens of 1950’s. After Dr. Blanchard’s death, her husband, who lived many years thereafter, devoted the remaining years of his life to maintaining and restoring their home as a part of ensuring its future for public enjoyment. Carrying on Peter, Jr.’s wishes, Peter Blanchard III and his wife Sofia created a nonprofit to preserve the garden under the national Garden Conservancy trust. Son Peter, a writer, conservationist, and Greenwood trustee often speaks at the garden about which he has written Greenwood: A Garden Path to Nature and the Past, available at the gift shop or by calling (973) 258-4026. Working from archival photos, the Garden Conservancy has restored the original terrace pergolas among several projects. Today, the garden is a combination of perennials and plants with attractive foliage that offers color beyond the season of blooms.

Special flowers, particularly their scent, bring back memories – the rose corsage or boutonnière from a first formal dance, gardenias from a wedding bouquet, and pressed wildflowers from a picnic on one of those idyllic days that seem to have lasted forever. For many in our family, the scent of lilacs brings back the memory of our sweet grandmother Helen who returns to us each year with the first spring breeze.

Even more so than the beautiful flowers, perhaps it is the trees that are most significant at Greenwood Gardens. The visual poetry of the allée of London plane and Norway spruce trees that Peter planted for his wife Adalaide let visitors know that they are about to experience a place so beloved that the Blanchards felt compelled to share it.

Partial view of beautiful London plane and Norway spruce allee

One of the Monarch butterflies in the allee

After descending the steps in each marvelous level of the garden, visitors can travel through Greenwood’s mazes, an encounter with the wondrous. What is around the next corner? Should one go right or left? The boxwood, fragrant at every turn, suggests that no one can choose wrongly. Surprises, some delightful and expected like birds singing and the rustling sound of squirrels darting through the hedges, may reassure us, and some fanciful, like the Rookwood fountain spouts of the enigmatic Dionysus, either smiling or frowning, offer mystery.

Friends who garden share the same qualities of patience, kindness, and good-naturedness. Perhaps that comes from taking the long view, knowing to prepare for spring months in advance and having the vision to imagine a flourishing garden when there is frozen ground. Some friends in this bouquet are “house proud” as the British say. They enhance the loving quality of their homes with fresh flowers and vegetables for their families and instill a love of nature in their children. Others are artists, expressing themselves in the splendor of design. Some are both. Almost all view themselves as grateful caretakers of God’s gift of beauty. Each has a pride from accomplishment over time and the serenity of a joyful gift given to others.

A home of garden lovers, now shared with the public to experience not only nature’s beauty, but a sense of time more deeply valued, Greenwood welcomes volunteers. For more information on their gardens which reopen in the spring, visit Greenwood Gardens, where you can also take an inviting online tour or see what’s in bloom.

(Sources: greenwoodgardens.org, gardenconservancy.org, nybg.org, artprice.com, Arts & Crafts Home and the Revival: artsandcraftshome.com, nytimes.com, amnh.org, pawprinceton.edu, traditionalbuilding.com, hgtv.com, Wiki)

Central Park: The North Woods

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On November 21, 2018

In Architecture, Art, Culture, Gardening, Nature, Park, Travel

Harlem Meer, sunset view from the Charles A. Dana Discovery Center

“Every moment of light and dark is a miracle.” Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman, with New York and New Jersey ties, shares wisdom that lights the way in autumn. At this time of year, the earlier darkness may not be welcome, but the fall offers a different kind of beauty with autumn leaves, a sometime #Snowvember, and a greater appreciation of the day. At night, the stars shine more clearly in the sky.

Nature’s palette in Central Park

Fall splendor and autumn blooms in a celebration of nature’s palette mark autumn in Central Park. And then there are the greens, vibrant after this year’s rain. On a splendid day of second summer in the park, a walk in Central Park North brings the cheers of children playing soccer, strollers on their lunch breaks, friendly chats with fellow park admirers, and the fragrance of the flowers on the last of the warm breezes.

Untermeyer Fountain, Three Dancing Maidens by Walter Schott

Chrysanthemums, daisies, and asters in the Conservatory Garden

A young mother lay on one of the giant boulders with her newborn sleeping on her chest, looking at the sky while her infant slept in a perfect moment of contentment and connection. This sight brought to mind a wondrous thing about Central Park that the Conservancy has revitalized from the park’s original vision: park-goers know that there is no judgment in the park, which is one of the keys to its serenity. On a wonderful early fall tour of the North Woods, park staff mentioned the Bible as a source for Frederick Law Olmsted in creating a pastoral setting, his touchstone for a shared utopia. By looking to Heaven, he connected people with Earth.

Visual poetry

We all have our favorite parts of the park, and the Park Conservancy encourages us to explore and enjoy all of it. The park is, impressively, 843 acres (341 hectares) and a six-mile (9.6 km) around its perimeter, its inception detailed on a springtime visit in “Central Park: A Template of Beauty”. On another visit, while circling somewhere on a wooded path in the North End, when asked which way was a central landmark, a hiker responded with a smile and a shrug that in the nicest way possible expressed, “Why would anyone head where visitors flock when there are these great woods?” She knew the paths of the northern park expertly and shared that knowledge with enthusiasm. Everything is about perspective.

Springbanks Arch

North in the park

The North End includes the North Meadow, Harlem Meer, the North Woods, the Great Hill, in season, playgrounds, baseball fields, and the seasonal pool/ice hockey Lasker Rink. The Conservatory Garden is a few blocks lower than the start of the North End at 100th Street. Designed by Gilmore Clarke, who created the Unisphere at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, it boasts three gardens in English, French, and Italian style. Distinguishing the garden is the Vanderbilt Gate by George Browne Post, who designed buildings for the nearby City College of New York, the Brooklyn Historical Society, and the New York Stock Exchange, and who later lived in Bernardsville, New Jersey. The Conservatory Garden is its own paradise thanks to dedicated gardeners.

A highlight on a recent trip was chatting with people fishing at Harlem Meer. Fishing of bass, perch, and carp is catch and release with respect to NYC fishing regulations, but the sport is no less fun. Our grandfather, an avid fisherman, would have delighted in the fishing and have known the questions to ask. A kidder, however, whenever anyone asked him what was new, he always answered, “New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and New Mexico” often accompanied by a friendly swat on the arm. Straightforward was not his way, but fun was, and through a love of fishing, he made friends easily as his fellow sportsmen at the Meer seem to do, too.

The Ravine

A tour of the North Woods offers a thoughtful combination of art, history, ecology, geology, good company, and a poetry reading, a sublime mix for those who love nature and art. The North Woods, designed to evoke an Adirondacks experience, features rushing cascades, leafy paths, and stone and rustic bridges with inspiration by Maplewood, New Jersey artist Asher Durand whose work embodied the counterpoise of “naturalism and idealization,” seen in “Kindred Spirits”. The tour starts at the northeast corner of the park by Duke Ellington Circle, sometimes referred to as “the Gateway to Harlem” at East 100th Street at the Charles A. Dana Discovery Center. From the center, situated on Harlem Meer, the group traverses the woodland to The Loch, “lake” from Scottish Gaelic like the Dutch “Meer,” the Ravine, and The Pool on the West Side. The water experiences were part of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux’s original “Greensward Plan” for the park. In an impressive feat of engineering, the two created the Pool, The Loch, Harlem Meer, and three cascades from Montayne’s Rivulet, once a passageway for Revolutionary War troops. The Meer surrounds a promontory with the remnants of a lookout from the War of 1812. The Conservancy commissioned the center and restored the area to its original beauty in 1988-1993.

With this fall’s sensation of the sighting of the Mandarin duck, and now the saw-whet owl, it may reassure us at the holiday season to know that people will rush past cynicism to experience simple wonder, which is why the park is so important. The North Woods is also a bird habitat, noted with appreciation to others on the walk who had brought binoculars and shared some of their delightful sightings. All park tours, now also available in Spanish and French, are a way to learn about new parts of the park, to have a deeper appreciation for favorite places or an opportunity for children to discover. Thank you to our knowledgeable guides.

Dedicated park staff members

Finding the way

If you live in New York City, you will experience friendly neighbors waving and calling out your name from across the street, which no one to this day believes in any of my out-of-state retellings. “New York, New York City?” they ask, but the divine wordsmith Nora Ephron always recounted stories in both interviews and her work of how New York is a city of neighborhoods. The apparent effortless serenity of the park, devotedly designed and developed, increases that warmth exponentially in New Yorkers’ splendid front yard where visitors are cordially welcomed.

For those fellow Central Park explorers whose sense of direction needs a little navigational nudge now and then, though the paths are clear, the fallback GPS works in the North Woods. Better to enjoy walks with friends that offer visits on log benches or hikes with a tempo that pick up with camaraderie.

On such visits, we enter the woodland with the known behind us and explore the paths. In the heart of the woods, we look back in thanks and forward in anticipation, a Thanksgiving with a view to a new year.

(Sources: centralparknyc.org, centralpark.org, centralpark.com, nycgovparks.org, metmuseum.org, watercourses.typepad.com, nytimes.com, Wiki)