River Valley
Panoramic view of Olana by Beth Schneck Photography
The southern terminus of the Hudson lies in New York City
Harbor, but for our purpose I begin a short distance north
in Westchester County at one of the most charming; the
restored home of Washington Irving. He was the first Amer-
ican author to be internationally recognized as a result of the
publication, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
His home sits in a romantic landscape and is the most
charming house filled with his furniture and artifacts. One
can visualize Irving occupying the rooms and strolling the
beautiful grounds overlooking the river shore. The house was
named by Irving and is called Sunnyside. It sits in the town
of Tarrytown, nearby Sleepy Hollow Cemetery where Wash-
ington Irving is buried along with Andrew Carnegie, Walter
Chrysler and seventy other Revolutionary War soldiers.
A visit to Sunnyside is quite a romantic adventure and will
interest children of all ages along with their accompanying
adults who come away wanting to ret urn.
Thomas Cole’s
Art Studio
Slightly further north in Garrison sits a meticulously
restored neoclassical mansion called Boscobel. This house
was built in early 19th C. by Stats Dyckman and is considered
an outstanding example of the Federal style of architecture
augmented by Dyckman’s extensive collection of period deco-
rations and artifacts. The grounds are beautifully landscaped
and an outstanding rose garden has been established. An
interesting note about the mansion is that it was saved from
the wrecking ball primarily through the largesse of Lila
Wallace whose family owned Reader’s Digest magazine. Part
of the joy of visiting Boscobel is its location on a high point
overlooking the Hudson River with a wonderful view of West
Point, the oldest military academy in the U.S.
A visit to West Point with a guided tour of the huge campus
leaves most visitors with a lump in their throats as you walk
the same paths so many of our outstanding Generals and of-
ficers who led and fought in the wars and conflicts our nation
suffered over its storied history. One of the thrills of visiting
West Point is looking in its museum and being on campus
when the cadets are marching with the accompanying band
on the parade grounds.
While the previous site is located on the western side of
the river, it seems the eastern shore has the edge in number
of sites. But another worthwhile site on the western shore,
is the home and studio of Thomas Cole, in Catskill. This site
is yet another example of a building saved from destruction
by a group of passionate art lovers in the 1970’s. This was
extremely important because Cole and his artwork mark the
origination of a style of painting called the Hudson River
School. Thomas Cole is considered the founder of this school.
He painted a series of landscapes that were representative of
Cole’s unclouded view of the Hudson River area as it was on
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