Rustic Architecture

Highways Cottage // 1902

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One of the more unique and enchanting historic summer “cottages” I have seen in my travels is this early 20th century rustic example in the Onteora Park colony. Built in 1902 for John S. Stanton Sr. (1837-1933), this residence was later the summer home of Dr. Edward Ahrens and his wife, Gertrude, who founded the Mountaintop Arboretum nearby. The house stands 3 1/2-stories tall and features horizontal log siding on the ground floor and cedar shingle siding above. The facade is dominated by the broad gable end roof that extends downwards to the first floor at flared eaves on the sides and over the windows.

Former Bear and Fox Inn // 1888

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Once the heart of the Onteora Park colony in the Catskills Mountains, this large building was known as the Bear and Fox Inn. The inn was built in 1888 from plans by young architect Dunham Wheeler (1861–1938), the son of the founder of the colony, Ms. Candace Wheeler, along with three cottages, while Ms. Wheeler’s Associated Artists interior design company provided the upholstered furnishings. Candace’s daughter, Dora (Wheeler) Keith, painted an inn sign depicting a bear and fox dancing by the light of the moon. In the early development of Onteora Park, there was no sewer or water system, and the original cottages had no kitchens built within the homes. As a result, the Bear and Fox Inn provided a space where cottagers would meet daily for meals. By the 20th century, cottagers would add kitchens inside their homes, and some dinners and events were moved to the Field House. The Bear and Fox Inn was altered with the removal of the large dining room, and converted to a private residence, which remains to this day. The structure is an excellent example of the Arts and Crafts style in a rustic finishes, typical for Upstate New York summer cottages.

Sans Souci Cottage // 1894

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Tucked away in the town of Hunter in the Catskill Mountains of New York, the summer colony of Twilight Park has stood as an exclusive and private resort community established in the late 19th century. Twilight Park was born out of the Twilight Club, a Manhattan social club in the late-19th century and brought to life by founder, Charles F. Wingate. Mr. Wingate traveled to the mountaintop in 1887, and became enamored by its natural beauty. He arranged for the purchase of a former sheep’s meadow and led the construction of the first cluster of cottages in what would become a large community of over 100 summer homes. Cottages were laid out on roughly parallel roads at different elevations and on old connecting paths that later became roads with all lots built on ledges overlooking the Catskills. The first cottages were log cabins, and quickly followed by larger, Queen Anne style “cottages” as others invested in the development. This cottage, known as Sans Souci Cottage, was built in 1894 in Twilight Park, during the “rustic” period, where Queen Anne Victorian styles made way for a more rustic, Arts and Crafts mode. The cottage was built for owner John McClure and it is notable for its varied siding, diamond-pane windows and large porch overlooking the Catskills.

Cosy Cabin // 1887

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Tucked away in the town of Hunter in the Catskill Mountains of New York, the summer colony of Twilight Park has stood as an exclusive and private resort community established in the late 19th century. Twilight Park was born out of the Twilight Club, a Manhattan social club in the late-19th century and brought to life by founder, Charles F. Wingate. Mr. Wingate traveled to the mountaintop in 1887, and became enamored by its natural beauty. He arranged for the purchase of a former sheep’s meadow and led the construction of the first cluster of cottages in what would become a large community of over 100 summer homes. Cottages were laid out on roughly parallel roads at different elevations and on old connecting paths that later became roads with all lots built on ledges overlooking the Catskills. The first six cottages were log cabins, with this example, likely in the first batch. From maps and a report on the area, this early cottage appears to have been named “Cosy Cabin” and was first occupied by Mr. Wingate, the founder of the Twilight Club and Twilight Park. The cottage is unique for its vertically laid logs still containing their bark, and the rustic porch balustrade and detailing.

Babcock Library – Knowlton Memorial Hall // 1924

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In the 1840s, Archibald Babcock (1780-1862) from Ashford, Connecticut, went west to engage in the California Gold Rush to seek his fortune. He did well and upon his return, moved to Charlestown, Massachusetts and began purchasing property for redevelopment. Upon his death in 1862, Mr. Babcock bequeathed $3,000 to the Town of Ashford start a “free” library there. For the next 60 years the library was located in a variety of private homes and country stores in town until the 1920s when this stone structure was built to house the town hall and library. Construction was made possible by a gift from Charles Knowlton, whose family had lived in the area since the 18th century. When built, it featured a number of modern innovations, including electrical service (generated on site), and steam heat. In addition to town offices and the library, the building also has an auditorium which is used for town meetings. Architect Herbert Loud furnished plans for the building which is rustic Arts and Crafts in style with randomly laid fieldstone walls with wide mortared joints. The roof eaves show exposed rafter tails below the shallow hipped roof.

C. B. Taylor Cottage // c.1892

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Men from Philadelphia and New York gathered to establish the Gouldsboro Land Improvement Company in the late 1880s with the goal to develop an alternative, more quiet summer colony to rival Bar Harbor on Mount Desert Isle. Two of the early investors (and summer residents) were J. Bonsall Taylor and Carter Berkeley Taylor, brothers from Philadelphia. John Bonsall Taylor’s cottage (last post) and this cottage, built for C. B. Taylor, were constructed around 1891-2 and are typical examples of upper-middle-class summer cottages in Winter Harbor. Philadelphia architect Lindley Johnson designed John’s cottage, so it could be hypothesized that he was also architect for C.B. Taylor’s here. The house as originally built was enlarged in the early 20th century, but maintains the rustic quality and charm that so many of these Shingle style cottages possess. And that red trim really pops!

Dorset Playhouse // 1929

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During the spring of 1927, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Goodman, devotees of the performing arts, were able to interest a number of Dorset residents in producing a play. In April 1927, a three-act play entitled ’39 East’ was presented in the Dorset Town Hall for the benefit of the PTA and was received with great enthusiasm. From this, a movement took off. Many summer residents and artists in town formed a group, the Dorset Players, who would continue performances for the town. They realized that the space in Town Hall was not suitable nor permanent enough for the goals of the group. May Goodman purchased land at the edge of the village and the group held two years of performances in nearby towns to gather funding to erect a playhouse. Ernest West, a member, offered two barns on his property in town and it, plus one more barn, were incorporated into the new playhouse. The auditorium was built so that the weathered sides of the barn boards were on the inside and hand hewn timbers 12 by 12 inches were used to achieve a rustic effect which draws many favorable comments from those visiting the Playhouse. It remains a cultural center of the town and greater region to this day.

Church of the Holy Transfiguration // 1891

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Highlighted by the establishment of the Catskill Mountain House in the 1820s, and furthered by the construction of subsequent resorts and boarding houses, the Catskill Mountains enjoyed a lively seasonal tourist industry that continued largely unabated throughout most of the nineteenth century. Mead’s Mountain House was representative of the smaller, less ostentatious boarding houses that sprang up in the region to serve a more middle-class clientele of tourists. This church, the Church of the Holy Transfiguration was originally constructed in 1891 in association with Mead’s Mountain House as a modest place of worship for guests of the Mead family’s boarding house and those of the nearby Overlook Mountain House. The chapel was constructed in 1891 and modestly built, constructed with a wood balloon frame above a fieldstone foundation with detailing reminiscent of the rustic aesthetic, popular in the Adirondacks to the north. In the 1960s, Father Francis, the much-beloved “hippie priest”, here welcomed hippies who had congregated in town during those years that culminated in the famous art and music festival. Fr. Francis began the practice of this lesser known branch of Catholicism, which acknowledges the Pope as an earthly spiritual leader but, unlike classical Roman Catholicism, does not consider the Pope to be supreme or infallible. The small chapel remains as a quirky and important piece of local history.