Looking at a rather unusual coloured facade of this building, you can imagine that living here is some kind magician. And, in fact, such thoughts are not too far from the truth. Olana, the estate belonged to the famous artist Frederic Edwin Church, who was called one of the key figures in the school of Hudson river, which embraced the landscape painters of the nineteenth century. All artists – little wizards, so at home they should be special, become the owner.
source: wikimedia
The main house of the estate is a building eclectic – combining elements of different architectural styles and there are so many that it is difficult to identify all. The house has great views of the Park and working farm, also designed by the artist, the Hudson valley, the Catskill mountains and the Taconic mountain range. Church and his wife, Isabel, named the estate in honor of the ancient fortress of the Treasury, who was in the great of Persia (modern Armenia), which also overlooked the river valley.
source: wikimedia
Together with the host, over the main mansion was architect Calvert In, the most who were directly involved in the creation of Central Park in new York. The collaborative brainchild of artist and architect was the Villa of stone and brick, the main stylistic motif of which is a mixture of Victorian, Persian and Moorish motifs. The interior of the estate remains the same as in the days of the Church is decorated with exotic furniture and decorated with various items brought by the artist from many travels, as well as 40 paintings by Church and his colleagues. The house not only looks unusual, its layout is also pretty confusing. The Church he created drawings based on impressions from trips to the middle East. Wife Church affectionately called their house «Cosy cottage».
source: flickr
source: olana
source: olana
Famous, talented and influential people visited the estate olana. In the guest book at home on the writer Charles Dudley Warner and his wife, the pianist Susan, author and artist Susan Hale, sculptor Erastus Dow Palmer and his wife Mary Jane, industrialist William H. Osborn and his wife Virginia, and writer mark TWAIN.
source: olana
source: olana
source: wikipedia
The estate olana is in the South part of GreenPort, new York, in Columbia County, South of Hudson and East of Catskill. By car it is accessible via highway Route 9G, heading South from Albany. The closest train station is Amtrak in the town of Hudson. The area is open to the public all day during the year. Tours of the residence, usually available from Tuesday to Sunday and on those Mondays that are public holidays, from April to October. From November to March, tours are held Friday through Sunday. Tickets will cost you $12.
