The Home Of The Founder Of The Hudson River School - Cedar Grove

Historic Sites

Aug 12

Cedar Grove, the home of Thomas Cole, is located in the upstate New York village of Catskill. Cole was an English painter, known for his landscape paintings, and founder of the Hudson River School, an American art movement that flourished in the mid-19th century. He first arrived in Catskill in 1825 on a sketching trip. He returned subsequent years in the summer, eventually boarding here, at this property, in a cottage (now demolished). Cedar Grove was a farm owned by John A. Thomson, a local merchant. Cole made Cedar Grove his permanent home when he married one of Mr. Thomson’s nieces, Maria Bartow. Cole urged people to value and preserve the wild and natural beauty of the landscapes depicted in his paintings. He wrote, “I cannot but express sorrow that the beauty of such landscapes is passing away”.

Cole died here in 1848, and his widow, her three unmarried sisters, and the Cole children remained at Cedar Grove. The property stayed in the family into the twentieth century, but due to financial issues, they had to sell off parts of the original property.

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The Main House is a three-story Federal-style structure of painted brick, built in 1815.

The stairs to the wraparound porch

The Catskill region nurtured Cole’s artistry, and he especially enjoyed the mountain views from his house on a hill.

Front entrance stairs

The painted floor cloth in the entrance hall. The rooms in the house served multiple purposes in that day. The entry hall served as a transition from outside to inside, a receiving parlor for guests and a gathering place, a dining room and a children’s playroom.

Entrance hall lighting fixture

The east parlor, where a presentation on Cole is viewed during the tour.

The west parlor, or sitting room

A polite way of telling visitors not to sit in the west parlor

The restored west parlor with the artists’s painted borders

Looking down the staircase

The upstairs private sitting room with a beautiful Catskill Mountain view.

The upstairs sitting room

Music was enjoyed by the family in the upstairs sitting room

Family entertainment in the upstairs sitting room

Prior to moving to the “old studio” in 1836, Cole worked in the main house

This is “old studio” with the main house in the background. The “old studio”, restored in 2004, is a barn-like building where Cole created many of his iconic works.

This view is inside the “old studio”. It afforded Cole the space he needed to frame, stretch canvases, and grind pigment into paint.

Cole painted in the “old studio”, for seven years until 1846.

The storage area in the entrance - “old studio”

Cole’s original “new studio”, built on this site in 1846, was torn down in 1973, after falling into disrepair. This reconstructed “new studio” opened in 2016.

This reconstructed “new studio” features a museum gallery with changing special exhibitions of Hudson River School masterpieces.

Eleven to fourteen people lived in house including Cole, his wife Maria, her three unmarried sisters, three of the Coles’ children, John Thomson and several hired servants.

The property includes the Visitor’s Center and the old studio, the new studio, and the main house.

The property is run by the Trustees of the Thomas Cole National Historic Site and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965, designated a National Historic Site in 1999 and is affiliated with the National Park Service.

What you should know:

One price includes parking, guided house tour and self-guided grounds tour.
Tickets should be bought online.
There are restrooms.
Open seasonally; check the website for days and hours of operation.
You could spend a couple of hours here.
In 2019, a partnership with the New York State Bridge Authority and Olana State Historic Site, the Thomas Cole National Historic Site opened the Hudson River Skywalk, a pedestrian walkway across the Rip Van Winkle Bridge to connect the two artists’ homes.
Location: 218 Sprint Street, Catskill, NY 12414
For more information: The Thomas Cole National Historic Site

Why not visit nearby Hudson or Saugerties while you are in the area?