Top Cottage
Top Cottage | |
Franklin Delano Roosevelt | |
Architectural style | Dutch Colonial Revival |
---|---|
NRHP reference No. | 97001679[1] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | December 9, 1997 |
Designated NHL | December 9, 1997[2] |
Top Cottage, also known as Hill-Top Cottage, in Hyde Park, New York, was a private retreat designed by and for Franklin D. Roosevelt.[3][4][5] Built in 1938 to 1939, during Roosevelt's second term as President of the United States, it was designed to accommodate his need for wheelchair accessibility. It was one of the earliest such buildings in the country, and the first significant building designed by a person with a disability.[4]
Although it was meant as a retreat, FDR also received notable guests at the cottage, including Britain's
This building is the only building designed by a sitting U.S. president other than Thomas Jefferson, who designed several at his home in Monticello, Poplar Forest, the University of Virginia, and the Virginia State Capitol.[4]
Building and site
The cottage is in the Dutch Colonial Revival architectural style, built of fieldstone. It is one of several buildings in Hyde Park and surrounding communities that FDR ensured were built in that style, which he hoped to revive in the region. It is located at the end of Potters Bend Road, a residential street in a rural area of Hyde Park, at the top of the 500-foot (152 m) ridgetop unofficially known as Dutchess Hill where Roosevelt had played as a child.[3] In FDR's time, it had commanding views of the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains, now obscured by trees.[6]
History
Although Roosevelt built a vacation house in Georgia at the end of his term as governor of New York (near the hot-spring estate in Bullochville, Georgia that he had bought in 1927 and renamed
Two years later, Roosevelt and his cousin Margaret Suckley spent some time together on the top of the hill, with a view over the Hudson River to the Catskill Mountains, and were both impressed by the possibilities. He would refer to it as "Our Hill";[9] she as "the nicest Hill in Dutchess County".[10] In October of that year he suggested it would be the perfect spot for "a one-story fieldstone two-room house ... one with very thick walls to protect us." She responded enthusiastically, with a sketch that looks similar to the finished building.[9]
Roosevelt at first envisioned it as where he would live after his presidency, and bought the 118-acre (48 ha) hillside parcel in 1937, after
Roosevelt began submitting sketches to architects in 1938.[4] He commissioned architect Henry Toombs to help finish the design, who suggested Roosevelt be credited as architect despite his lack of professional training or experience,[12] angering some Republican architects when an article about the cottage doing exactly that ran in Life magazine.[13] There are some indications that Toombs was the architect but suggested he be listed only as the associate with Roosevelt being credited as the architect.[4] Crediting Roosevelt as the architect brought criticism from others, including John Lloyd Wright, son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright said, "awaited 'pictures of 'Doctor' Roosevelt performing an appendectomy.'"[4]
At the time when houses cost $1,000 the cottage cost $16,599, but in the end, it is thought that Roosevelt never spent a single night at the cottage; despite being designed after becoming disabled, his mother's larger home was more suitable for Roosevelt's disability.[4][7] The design had many other problems; the ventilation was faulty, the bedrooms were too small, and it had only one bathroom and no closets. Nonetheless, when guests visited Hyde Park, Roosevelt always showed them Top Cottage first.[7] Modern renovations to the cottage, allowing it to open to the public, cost $1,500,000, including $750,000 to buy the cottage.[4]
The next year it would be host to the famous picnic where Roosevelt cooked and served hot dogs to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth on the first state visit to the United States by a British sovereign.[14][15][16][17][18][19][20] It was during the King and Queen's visit that Roosevelt broke protocol and proposed a toast to the Queen. She reportedly became flustered at the break in protocol and drank to herself.[4]
His original intention to use it as a retirement home were put on hold when
After Roosevelt's death, his son
Location and further information
The cottage is located in Hyde Park, New York. It is open only to those with reservations.[4][21] Although the original furnishings were lost, in 2011 the Park Service furnished the main area with reproductions and antiques which match the original contents.
The cottage was subject of a review book, The President as Architect: Franklin D. Roosevelt's Top Cottage, was compiled by John G. Waite Associates, an Albany architectural firm specializing in restorations.[4] It is also prominently featured in the 2012 film, Hyde Park on Hudson.
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007. Archived from the original on October 2, 2007.
- ^ a b "Top Cottage". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. September 7, 2007.
- ^ a b c d Rothbaum, Rebecca (August 4, 2002). "Top Cottage was FDR's hideaway". Poughkeepsie Journal. Retrieved December 7, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m The New York Times, June 14, 2001. Ralph Blumenthal, A Pied-à-Terre Designed By a President; F. D. R. Never Slept Here, But Entertained Dignitaries And Enjoyed Rendezvous
- ^ "Home - FDR Presidential Library & Museum". www.fdrlibrary.org.
- ^ a b John F. Sears (July 1, 1997). "National Historic Landmark Nomination: Top Cottage". National Park Service and Accompanying 9 photos, exterior and interior, from 1996 and 1937-1939 2.93 MB
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- ^ a b c Gunther, John (1950). Roosevelt in Retrospect. Harper & Brothers. pp. 107–108.
- ^ "Where did ER and FDR live?". The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project.
- ^ a b c Ireland, Barbara (September 9, 2007). "At the Home of F.D.R.'s Secret Friend". The New York Times. Retrieved December 7, 2007.
- ^ "Top Cottage". Retrieved December 7, 2007.
- ^ "Top Cottage". The Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt Institute. Archived from the original on December 17, 2007. Retrieved December 7, 2007.
- ^ Toombs, Henry; Margeurite LeHand. "Henry Toombs Suggests FDR Should Be Listed As Architect For Top Cottage, With Reply". Disability History Museum. Retrieved December 7, 2007.
- ^ Rhoads, William. "FDR left mark on nation — and area's buildings". Poughkeepsie Journal. Retrieved December 8, 2007.
- S2CID 159572988, archived from the original(PDF) on July 25, 2011, retrieved August 30, 2010
- ^ Thornton, Willis (June 5, 1939), "Royal tour confirms reality of 'King of Canada' idea", The Palm Beach Post, p. 5, retrieved October 14, 2010
- ^ Library and Archives Canada (2007). "The Diaries of William Lyon Mackenzie King". Queen's Printer for Canada. pp. 247, 413–414.
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(help) - ISBN 1-55002-065-X.
- ISBN 1-55002-151-6
- ^ Lanctot, Gustave (1964), Royal Tour of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in Canada and the United States of America 1939, Toronto: E.P. Taylor Foundation, ASIN B0006EB752
- ISBN 9781459700840
- ^ "Guest Rooms View All". November 3, 2011.
External links
Media related to Top Cottage at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
- Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) No. NY-5666-A, "Val-Kill, Stone Cottage, State Route 9G, Hyde Park, Dutchess County, NY", 3 measured drawings, supplemental material