[[Tarrytown, New York]]Although the neighboring village of [[Irvington, New York|Irvington]] was named after Washington Irving, and Sunnyside was long considered to be located there, Tarrytown incorporated first, in 1870, two years before Irvington did, and when the boundaries were drawn, Sunnyside ended up on the Tarrytown side of the line. [http://www.irvingtonhistoricalsociety.org/nrhp/nrhp01.html \"Sunnyside, Washington Irving Residence\"] on the Irvington Historical Society website"},"nearest_city":{"wt":"[[White Plains, New York|White Plains]]"},"coordinates":{"wt":"{{coord|41|02|51.2|N|73|52|11.6|W|display=inline,title}}"},"locmapin":{"wt":"New York#USA"},"area":{"wt":"10 acres (4 ha)"},"built":{"wt":"1835"},"architect":{"wt":"George Harvey"},"architecture":{"wt":"[[Dutch Colonial Revival]], [[Gothic Revival Architecture|Scottish Gothic]], [[Tudor Revival architecture|Tudor Revival]], [[Romantic Revival|Romantic]]"},"designated_nrhp_type":{"wt":"December 29, 1962{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=424&ResourceType=Building|title=Sunnyside (Washington Irving's Home)|date=2007-09-18|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805153931/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=424&ResourceType=Building|archive-date=2009-08-05}}"},"added":{"wt":"October 15, 1966{{NRISref|2007a}}"},"visitation_num":{"wt":""},"visitation_year":{"wt":""},"refnum":{"wt":"66000583"},"mpsub":{"wt":""},"designated_other1":{"wt":"New York State Register of Historic Places"},"designated_other1_number":{"wt":"11950.000325"},"designated_other1_num_position":{"wt":"bottom"},"designated_other1_abbr":{"wt":"NYSRHP"},"designated_other1_date":{"wt":"June 23, 1980"}},"i":0}}]}" id="mwBw">United States historic place
Sunnyside | |
Location | West Sunnyside Lane Tarrytown, New York [1] |
---|---|
Nearest city | White Plains |
Coordinates | 41°02′51.2″N73°52′11.6″W / 41.047556°N 73.869889°W |
Area | 10 acres (4 ha) |
Built | 1835 |
Architect | George Harvey |
Architectural style | Dutch Colonial Revival, Scottish Gothic, Tudor Revival, Romantic |
NRHP reference No. | 66000583 |
NYSRHP No. | 11950.000325 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 [2] |
Designated NHL | December 29, 1962 [3] |
Designated NYSRHP | June 23, 1980 |
Sunnyside (1835) is an historic house on 10 acres (4 ha) along the Hudson River, in Tarrytown, New York. It was the home of the American author Washington Irving, best known for his short stories, such as "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820).
This cottage-like estate, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962, [4] reflects Dutch Colonial Revival, Scottish Gothic, and Tudor Revival influences, [5] with its wisteria-covered entrance and jagged crow-stepped gable.
In some sense, Sunnyside began almost 200 years before Irving with Wolfert Acker (sometimes spelled Wolfert Eckert), a Dutch-American inhabitant of the region. His property, Wolfert's Roost, was part of the Manor of Philipsburg. Among other buildings, Wolfert's Roost contained a simple two-room stone tenant farmhouse, [5] built about 1650. [6]
The property came into the hands of the Van Tassel family, who were married into the Eckert family and owned it until 1802. That year, 150 acres (61 ha) were deeded to the family of Benson Ferris, one-time clerk of the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow, whose wife, Maria Acker, was a descendant of Wolfert Acker's. [7] Irving would immortalize the Van Tassel family name in his short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820). [8]
In 1832, Washington Irving visited his nephew Oscar Irving who lived near the old stone farmhouse. [9] Irving had recently undertaken a substantial trip through the prairies of the Arkansas and Mississippi Rivers, and the frontier lifestyle made him lament his lack of a home of his own. [10] He was also frustrated because he had lived most of his adult life as a guest in other people's homes. [9] As Irving wrote, he was eager for a home and was "willing to pay a little unreasonably for it". [11] Irving finally purchased the property on June 7, 1835, for $1,800; [12] he would later, through the years, add to the property to expand the estate.
Irving wrote a story, "Wolfert's Roost", about Acker and the site. In a letter to his brother Peter, he described it as "a beautiful spot, capable of being made a little paradise... I have had an architect up there, and shall build upon the old mansion this summer. My idea is to make a little nookery somewhat in the Dutch style, quaint, but unpretending. It will be of stone." [7] Irving requested that his friend and neighbor, English-born painter George Harvey, [13] become his aesthetic collaborator and foreman in the house's subsequent remodeling and enlargement, and the landscaping of the grounds in Romantic style, which included creating a pond Irving called "The Little Mediterranean", with a waterfall that led to a babbling serpentine brook.
The result is a "cottage" that was widely known even at the time, appearing in Harper's Weekly and in guidebooks to the area. [5] Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. said that Sunnyside stood "next to Mount Vernon, the best known and most cherished of all the dwellings in our land." [14] The public interest in the home, and in Irving, America's first literary star, drew numerous visitors throughout the year, hoping to catch a glimpse of Irving working. Irving's neighbor Nathaniel Parker Willis joked, "Could not Sunny-side 'pay' to be got ready for a boarding-house?" [15]
In 1842, Irving accepted a nomination as Ambassador to the Court of Isabella II of Spain. He left Sunnyside in the care of his brother Ebenezer, who lived there with his four grown daughters, who supervised the running of the household. Irving wrote of his appointment, "The only drawback upon all this is the hard trial of tearing myself away from dear little Sunnyside." [16] He returned to New York on September 19, 1846. [17] Shortly after his return, in 1847, he added to the cottage the "Spanish Tower", influenced by Spanish monastic architecture and the Alhambra in Granada. [5] It added four bedrooms to the house.
In his late years at Sunnyside, Irving completed what he considered his "crowning effort", a five-volume biography of his namesake, George Washington, which the author completed only weeks before his death. [18] Irving died of a heart attack in his bedroom at Sunnyside on November 28, 1859, at age 76. [19]
According to historical linguist Laura Wright in her book Sunnyside: A Sociolinguistic History of British House Names (2020), Irving came across the name "Sunnyside" on an 1816 visit to Sir Walter Scott's castle Abbotsford. Nearby there was a farm on a hill called "Sunnyside". [20]
The Irving family continued to inhabit the cottage until 1945, when Louis Irving sold it to John D. Rockefeller Jr., [5] who purchased it as part of his efforts in historic preservation. It was restored – including tearing down a Victorian style northern addition – and was opened to the public in 1947.
Sunnyside is now operated as a museum by Historic Hudson Valley, which charges an admission fee. Tours are led by guides in period costume. [19] The museum contains a large collection of Irving's original furnishings and accessories; in particular, all furniture and most accessories in his writer's study are original. The study, dining room, parlor, kitchen, as well as most bedrooms, are open to the public and contain many of the original furnishings owned by the Irving family, with some period-appropriate furnishings from other sources.
Sunnyside was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1962. [3] [21]
There is a partial replica of Sunnyside in the Washington Irving Memorial Park and Arboretum in Bixby, Oklahoma, with a statue of Irving seated on the side porch.
A replica of the house stands at Liberty Square at The Walt Disney World Resort's Magic Kingdom; the building serves as a quick service restaurant. [22]
Washington Irving was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820), both of which appear in his collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works include biographies of Oliver Goldsmith, Muhammad, and George Washington, as well as several histories of 15th-century Spain that deal with subjects such as the Alhambra, Christopher Columbus, and the Moors. Irving served as American ambassador to Spain in the 1840s.
Sleepy Hollow is a village in the town of Mount Pleasant, Westchester County,
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is an 1820 short story by American author Washington Irving, contained in his collection of 34 essays and short stories titled The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Irving wrote the story while living in Birmingham, England.
Irvington, sometimes known as Irvington-on-Hudson, is a suburban village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, 20 miles (32 km) north of midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a station stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line. To the north of Irvington is the village of Tarrytown, to the south the village of Dobbs Ferry, and to the east unincorporated parts of Greenburgh, including East Irvington. Irvington includes within its boundaries the community of Ardsley-on-Hudson, which has its own ZIP code and Metro-North station, but which should not be confused with the nearby village of Ardsley.
Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately 25 miles (40 km) north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line. To the north of Tarrytown is the village of Sleepy Hollow, to the south the village of Irvington and to the east unincorporated parts of Greenburgh. The Tappan Zee Bridge crosses the Hudson at Tarrytown, carrying the New York State Thruway to South Nyack, Rockland County and points in Upstate New York. The population was 11,860 at the 2020 census.
The Tappan Zee is a natural widening of the Hudson River, about 3 miles (4.8 km) across at its widest, in southeastern New York. It stretches about 10 miles (16 km) along the boundary between Rockland and Westchester counties, downstream from Croton Point to Irvington. It derives its name from the Tappan people of the Lenape, and the Dutch word zee, meaning a sea.
The House of the Seven Gables is a 1668 colonial mansion in Salem, Massachusetts, named for its gables. It was made famous by Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1851 novel The House of the Seven Gables. The house is now a non-profit museum, with an admission fee charged for tours, as well as an active settlement house with programs for the local immigrant community including ESL and citizenship classes. It was built for Captain John Turner and stayed with the family for three generations.
Wolfert Acker (1667–1753) was a colonial-period American who is featured in Washington Irving's short story collection Wolfert's Roost and Miscellanies (1855). His name was recorded in all combinations of Wolfert or Wolvert as given name, and Acker, Echert, Eckar, or Ecker as surname. He was born in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York and died at his sizable home, "Wolfert's Roost" near the site of what is now Irvington, New York in Westchester County, New York. On December 20, 1692, on land belonging to Frederick Philipse, he married Maretje Sibouts.
Felix Octavius Carr Darley, often credited as F. O. C. Darley, was an American illustrator, known for his illustrations in works by well-known 19th-century authors, including James Fenimore Cooper, Charles Dickens, Mary Mapes Dodge, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Washington Irving, George Lippard, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Donald Grant Mitchell, Clement Clarke Moore, Francis Parkman, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Nathaniel Parker Willis.
Lyndhurst, also known as the Jay Gould estate, is a Gothic Revival country house that sits in its own 67-acre (27 ha) park beside the Hudson River in Tarrytown, New York, about a half mile south of the Tappan Zee Bridge on US 9. The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966.
Irvington High School (IHS) is a public high school in Irvington, New York, United States. It is part of the Irvington Union Free School District in Westchester County.
The Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow (Dutch: Oude Nederlandse Kerk van Sleepy Hollow), listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Dutch Reformed Church (Sleepy Hollow), is a 17th-century stone church located on Albany Post Road (U.S. Route 9) in Sleepy Hollow, New York, United States. It and its three-acre (1.2 ha) churchyard feature prominently in Washington Irving's 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". The churchyard is often confused with the contiguous but separate Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.
Historic Hudson Valley is a not-for-profit educational and historic preservation organization headquartered in Tarrytown, New York. The organization runs tours and events at five historic properties in Westchester County, in the lower Hudson River Valley.
The Walt Whitman Birthplace State Historic Site is a state historic site in West Hills, New York, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The site preserves the birthplace of American poet Walt Whitman.
Monte Cristo Cottage was the summer home of American actor James O'Neill and his family, notably his son Eugene O'Neill. It is a National Historic Landmark located at 325 Pequot Avenue in New London, Connecticut.
The Washington Irving Memorial is located at Broadway and West Sunnyside Lane in Irvington, New York. It features a bust of Irving and sculptures of two of his better-known characters by Daniel Chester French, set in a small stone plaza at the street corner designed by Charles A. Platt. It is near Irving's Sunnyside estate.
The McVickar House is located at 131 Main Street in Irvington, New York, United States. It is a wooden frame house built in the middle of the 19th century in the Greek Revival architectural style with some Picturesque decorative touches added later. In 2004 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Peter Irving was an American physician, author, and politician who was the brother of Washington Irving, William Irving and John T. Irving.
The Pocantico River is a nine-mile-long (14 km) tributary of the Hudson River in western central Westchester County, New York, United States. It rises from Echo Lake, in the town of New Castle south of the hamlet of Millwood, and flows generally southwest past Briarcliff Manor to its outlet at Sleepy Hollow. Portions of the towns of Mount Pleasant and Ossining are within its 16-square-mile (41 km2) watershed.
There are numerous nationally and locally designated historic sites and attractions in Westchester County. These include architecturally significant manors and estates, churches, cemeteries, farmhouses, African-American heritage sites, and underground railroad depots and waystations. There are sites from pre-Revolutionary and Revolutionary times, as well as battlegrounds. Westchester County also played an important role in the development of the modern suburb, and there are many associated heritage sites and museums.
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(help) and Accompanying 8 photos, exterior, from 1975. (3.17 MB)Bibliography
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