| A Guide to Antiques in the Hudson Valley |
When
you look beyond the breathtaking beauty that characterizes
the Hudson River Valley and inside the historic
houses and mansions that line the great riverbanks,
you will discover superb collections of antique furnishings.
As early as the 1700’s, the Hudson Valley drew
the attention of successful industrialists, lawyers,
and political leaders who chose the beautiful landscape
to build great estates and homes. Many of these architectural
masterpieces were appointed with lavish gardens, fine
art and beautiful furnishings created by the finest
craftsman and furniture builders in America and Europe.
For those who relish antique treasures,
the heritage sites in the Hudson Valley offer a rare
opportunity to walk through original salons and parlors
and see the furnishings in the settings for which they
were designed. The collections range from historic manuscripts,
photographs and recipes on view in the historic 17th
century homes on Huguenot Street in New Paltz, to examples
of fine furnishings by New York cabinetmaker Duncan
Phyfe and the Parisian cabinetmaker Charles-Honore Lannuier
displayed at Boscobel Restoration in Garrison.
If after visiting the collections
at the heritage sites, visitors yearn to add to their
own antiques collections, there are many fine antiques
dealers and stores in the valley. The Hudson Valley
has one of the largest concentrations of auction houses
in the United States and is considered by some experienced
art and antiques dealers to be the best place to purchase
antiques in the country.
Premier antiques collections
not to be missed include these and many other
historic homes in New York’s Hudson Valley |
Historic
Cherry Hill
523
1/2 South Pearl Street, Albany
518.434.4791 |
Historic Cherry Hill is
an 18th-century Georgian-style house that
was the home of Philip and Maria Van Rensselaer,
a prominent five-generation Albany Family.
The house and its contents were bequeathed
by the last surviving family member, Emily
Rankin, to benefit the people of New York
State. Built in 1787 as a farmhouse on 900
acres, Cherry Hill today sits on the crest
of a five-acre wooded hill overlooking the
Hudson River in the South End of Albany. The
vast collection at Cherry Hill includes 30,000
manuscripts, personal and business correspondence,
bills and receipts, legal documents, itineraries,
maps, school records, diaries, recipes, and
more. The collection also includes an amazing
7,500 textiles, 1,500 pieces of ceramics,
750 pieces of furniture, 3,000 examples of
silver and decorative arts, 600 paintings
and other fine art, 2,500 household implements,
5,000 books, and 3,000 photographs. |
Huguenot
Historical Society
18
Broadhead Avenue, New Paltz
845.255.1660 |
Huguenot Street, a National Historic Landmark
District, is a collection of colonial and
early National period stone houses owned and
operated as historic house museums by the
Huguenot Historical Society. The district
was created to preserve the oldest continuously
inhabited street in America with its original
houses, a wonderful collection of Dutch vernacular
architecture and furnishings. The town was
founded in 1677 as the original home of a
group of French Protestants who fled northern
France because of political and religious
persecution. The principal houses on Huguenot
Street were built surrounding the turn of
the 17th into the 18th centuries, from 1680's
through the first decades of the 18th century.
Today, each house is presented in a different
time period from the 18th through the mid
20th century. Three of the houses, the Bevier-Elting,
Jean Hasbrouck and Abraham Hasbrouck Houses,
whose original portions were built in the
1680s, are furnished and interpreted as they
would have appeared in the 18th century. The
Federal-style LeFevre House, built in 1799
by Ezekiel Elting, is presented as an early
19th-century home, and the Queen Anne-style
Deyo House is an 1894 renovation of a colonial
home whose original portion dates from the
1680s. The Freer House, which dates from the
early colonial period, was remodeled in the
1940s to reflect the current Colonial Revival
tastes. Also on the site are the DuBois Fort
(1705), and the French Church: Crispell Memorial,
a 1972 reconstruction of the 1717 original,
with its adjacent burial ground. |
Locust
Grove - Samuel F.B. Morse Historic Site
2683 South Road, Poughkeepsie
845.454.4500 |
Locust Grove is a graceful
country manor that was once a 100-acre farm
belonging to the Henry Livingston family.
It was acquired in 1847 by Samuel F.B. Morse,
the 19th century painter and inventor of the
telegraph and the Morse Code. The estate has
been preserved as it was in Morse's time and
contains works of art and decorative arts
from both the Morse and Young families. Diverse
collections of 18th and 19th century furniture
and decorative arts acquired over the generations
by the Young family are displayed in period-room
settings. Morse family silver and porcelain
are shown along with important pieces collected
by the Youngs, including two Duncan Phyfe
settees, numerous other Phyfe pieces (c. 1820),
a rare Chippendale card table and chairs (c.
1750), and a collection of mid-18th century
Dutch marquetry furniture. The fine arts collection
includes paintings by Samuel F.B. Morse, works
by George Inness, Sanford R. Gifford, Henry
Farrer, and the Canadian artist Cornelius
Kreighoff, as well as a rare bound collection
of Birds of America by J.J. Audubon. |
Senate
House State Historic Site
312
Fair Street, Kingston
845.338.2786
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In 1777, a simple limestone building in Kingston
housed the first meeting of New York's newly
organized State Senate. Built in 1676, only
12 years after the British assumed control
of New York from the Dutch, the house reflects
both the building traditions of the original
Dutch colonists and the gradual acceptance
of English construction styles. In October
of 1777, after meeting in the Senate House
for only a month, the Senate and the rest
of the newly formed State government fled
Kingston when a British force sent north from
New York City began plundering the Hudson
Valley. On October 16, 1777, British forces
swarmed through and set fire to every house
in town as punishment for Kingston's role
in supporting the Revolution. Over 100 years
later, both Kingston and the Senate House
were rebuilt. The Senate House has since been
restored to depict the building as it would
have looked in 1777 and exhibits a wide range
of artwork, documents and historical objects
donated by local residents. A two-story museum
built next door in 1927 displays much of the
collection. |
Boscobel
Restoration
1601
Route 9D, Garrison
845.265.3638 |
At Boscobel, one of the nation's leading museums
of the decorative arts of the New York Federal
period, both the architecture and the furnishings
reflect the neoclassical style, popular in
the early 1800s. Outstanding examples of Federal
furniture have been collected to complete
the period room settings. Graceful details
decorate mantels and the moldings, providing
a beautiful backdrop for examples of some
of the finest cabinet making of the nineteenth
century. Included are pieces attributed to
Duncan Phyfe, Michael Allison, and Charles-Honore
Lannuier, the Parisian cabinetmaker who brought
the newest French fashions to New York where
he worked for 16 years. Paintings by Benjamin
West and John Watson, English prints, and
period silver, china, and crystal are also
displayed in the rooms. Visitors can see and
experience the furnishings and decorative
arts of the Federal period as they were designed
to be used and enjoyed. |
Van
Cortlandt Manor
South
Riverside Avenue, Croton-On-Hudson
914.631.8200 |
Situated on the banks of the Croton River,
Van Cortlandt Manor is a working estate and
elegant country house. The well documented
manor house contains primarily original furnishings
rarely seen in house museums. A National Historic
Landmark, the 18th-century stone manor house
is the centerpiece of the property and features
a collection of Georgian and Federal period
furnishings. An extraordinary kitchen is located
on the ground floor, with original hearth,
beehive oven, and extensive collection of
cooking equipment and utensils. Also on the
grounds is an 18th-century tavern located
at the site of a ferry crossing over the Croton
River. The tavern showcases an extraordinary
collection of vernacular Hudson River Valley
furnishings and evokes fascinating tales of
travel and transport in the post-revolutionary
period. Guides dressed in the clothing styles
of the Federal period escort visitors through
the property. |
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Unique to the Hudson Valley
are a few locations where the antiques business
has concentrated. These towns are world reknown
for the selection & quality of the antiques
to be found and the people that have made their
lives around selling antiques. Take a day, or
two, and visit one of these really special places.
If you are an antiques lover, you'll be glad you
did!
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The five very walkable
downtown blocks of Warren Street are lined
with over 50 antiques shops and dealers.
Their offerings range from the sublime to
the spectacular, from everyday objects to
one-of-a-kind masterpieces, from American
Primitives to the furnishings of European
palaces, and quite literally everything
in-between, and them some. No matter what
you are searching for, from Danish Modern
to Beidermeier, from 50's kitch to 18th
century American, you'll find it in Hudson.
The dealers all welcome you to drop in and
browse their shops, ask questions, bargain
a bit and leave happy. Most shops are open
Thursday to Monday from 11am until 5pm,
closed on Monday to Wednesday. But there
are exceptions, so call ahead.
Surrounding these many
antiques shops are art galleries, boutiques,
specialty stores and charming cafes serving
delicious and innovative fare. When you
tire of the antiques, browse home accessories
or paintings, try on some fashion or just
sit back and relax sipping a soothing drink.
You'll have a wonderful time in Hudson and
want to come back often.
To find Hudson, just go
to our Interactive
Map and make your selection on the Pull
Down Menu on the left below the map. A map
showing you where Hudson is will pop into
place!
While in the area, make
sure to visit Olana,
the home of Frederic Church, one of the
leaders of the Hudson River School of Art.
Olana is his personal vision of heaven,
perched atop his hill. For a quick preview
of what you'll see, view our Olana
Panorama!
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Lining both sides of Partition
Street and around the corners are a collection
of nearly 30 antiquest shops offering their
collections to you. They run the gamut from
Primitives to High Art, from collectibles
to one-of-a-kind. Art galleries, book shops
and cozy cafes mingle in with the antiques
dealers making your exploration of Saugerties
fun. Our favorite book shop is Hope Farm
Press just around the corner on Main Street.
Drop in and say hello to Richard, he can
find just the book you are in search of.
To
find Saugerties, just go to our Interactive
Map and make your selection on the Pull
Down Menu on the left below the map. A map
showing you where Saugerties is will pop
into place!
While in Saugerties, consider
a leisurely walk out through the nature
preserve to visit the historic Saugerties
Lighthouse. It's a delightful stroll
and the views from the lighthouse, quite
literally right out in the middle of the
river, are spectacular. The Saugerties Lighthouse
is the only lighthouse on the river that
you can walk to. For a quick preview of
what it's like, view our Saugerties
Lighthouse Panorama!
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