Post Card from Olana State Historic Park, Greenport, New York!
Olana State Historic Site, in Greenport, NY, was the creation and home of Hudson River School painter, Frederic Church. The mansion itself was largely designed by Church and his wife, Isabel, after they traveled to the eastern Mediterranean. The finished result is a striking and whimsical mixture of Victorian, Moorish, and Italianate themes, while the inside, as I remember it from a tour on a previous visit, is largely furnished in a more East Indian motif.
On a recent overcast Friday afternoon my job took me down to Hudson, about 30 miles from our village near Albany, for a short conference. Mary and I madean outing of the trip, and took a short detour to see Olana again. We didn't take the tour of the interior this time, but were blessed by the sun coming out while we were there. Seeing the mansion again was a pleasure indeed, and the sweeping vista of miles of the Hudson River to the north and south, and the eastern range of the Catskill Mountains to the west of the Hudson River was really a treat.
If you are interested in the Olana Historic Site or the artist and his role in the development and promotion of the Hudson River School of art, the Olana website is quite good, and offers some outstanding drone-captured video panoramas of the mansion and the location.
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