View With a House . . . Breathtaking Landscapes, Exuberant Interiors

Olana, the personal, eccentric, intriguing home of 19th-century landscape artist Frederick Edwin Church in Hudson, NY, is like no other house you will have ever visited.  Unless you have read its history or seen photographs of Olana, you’ll be surprised — and I think enchanted — by its siting above the Hudson River and its unexpected Persian style.

   Throughout his long life, Church traveled frequently. Two trips to South America resulted in the enormous “Heart of the Andes,â€� now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And Church, in the 1860s took his wife and children to Europe and the Middle East, where he was entranced by Persian art and architecture.

   In 1870 Church hired Calvert Vaux—he of Central Park fame — to design the house he planned near the summit of his property overlooking the “living landscape paintingâ€� of the Hudson and the Catskill Mountains in the background.  Church planted  thousands of trees and created an artificial lake over time. Years later he would add a studio wing entirely of his own design.

   Church was consumed with details of every aspect of his house. (And it is his house; little hint of his beloved wife’s influence is seen, except for the exceptionally low, tiny desk in her writing room. She was quite short.)  Even the road up to the summit was laid to focus on the setting and to keep the house itself hidden until the last turn.  And with that last turn you see an exotic exterior created from an amazing array of materials:  tiles from Europe and China; painted cornices, ornamental brickwork, even Japanese teapots used as finials.

   Inside, everything — furniture, fabrics, window placement and design — is exuberant, colorful, a little dizzying.  Olana is a 19th-century house, of course, so rooms are crowded with objects both necessary and decorative.  Some windows are pale yellow and amber in color.  Some appear to have lattice designs in them, actually meticulously cut black paper sandwiched between colored and clear glass.  And Church took care to let lots of natural light into many of the public rooms.  Only the dining room seems Victorian gloomy.

   What is surprising is that there is only one Church painting in the house.  There are many studies, however, including one for his famous picture of Niagra Falls.  And there are numerous worksby other artists, most rather dark.  Interestingly, Church habitually “improvedâ€� these canvases by painting out or adding to the works himself.  (I doubt Church would have encouraged the same treatment of his work). 

    There is no wonder that Olana is the most visited property in the Hudson Valley.  The landscapes are breathtaking, the house exotic and fascinating and the tour guides friendly and knowledgeable.  This is a day trip you should take.

     Olana State Historic Site, 5720 State Route 9G, Hudson, N.Y.  Grounds are open daily at 8 a.m.  House tours Wed.-Mon.  Call  518-828-0135.

     On Sat., Oct. 24, Olana joins nine landowners and two other historic sites for the 2nd annual Viewshed Tour, a self-guided walk across estates, meadows, orchards and hills — some rarely open to the public — all providing views of Olana itself.  Visit the Olana Web site or call the number above for tickets and information.