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 unnyside stands on the banks of the Hudson River in
Tarrytown, NewYork, and was purchased by Washington Irving in 1835 for $1,800. The house was originally a two-room Dutch farm house, and its earlier colonial
history appealed to Irving. However, the farm house was too small to accommodate his large extended family. Irving also wanted to create a home that reflected his own ideas about beauty. Over the
next fifteen years, with the help of an artist friend George Harvey, Irving redesigned and added to the original house. The end result of their efforts is the Sunnyside that exists today, which includes many
examples of Irving's interests and findings from his travels.
Irving and Harvey designed Sunnyside in the American Romantic style. This meant that a variety of styles could be
matched together as long as the final result was beautiful. The landscape was also arranged in a particular way to give the effect of a peaceful environment.
Irving was particularly interested in adding historical architectural elements such as a stepped-gable roof and weathervanes to the farmhouse that he called "the cottage." These
were typical features of Dutch homes that Irving saw while growing up in Manhattan. (During his childhood, many Dutch structures still existed in New York City from the 1600s when the
Dutch established the area as New Amsterdam.) Throughout the years he lived at Sunnyside, Irving added more rooms and other features. Some of his ideas came from interesting buildings that he
saw in Europe, such the world-famous Alhambra in Spain which was the inspiration for the three-story tower of Sunnyside. Irving also outfitted his home with the most advanced technology of the
period, such as a refrigerator (ice box), a cast iron stove, and indoor plumbing. Irving paid special attention to the landscape that surrounded
the cottage. He wished to have it not only look beautiful, but also serve a practical purpose. For example, Irving transformed a small pond into a larger body of water that was pretty to look at and
provided water (and ice in the winter) to the residents of the cottage. Irving enjoyed spending time in the outdoors and he encouraged his family and friends to join him on walks throughout his property. Sunnyside was always filled with guests and relatives who often
would gather in the parlor for lively discussions, dancing, tea, and music. Irving enjoyed being host to many artists, politicians, writers, and other influential people. The people who shared his home on a
permanent basis included Irving's brother and five nieces, as well as Irish servants who had escaped the Potato Famine of the 1840s.
When Irving died in 1859, his brother and nieces inherited Sunnyside. Other family members lived in the house until 1945 when it was purchased by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. In 1947,
Sunnyside was opened to the public; it was named a National Historic Landmark in 1966. Rockefeller, a supporter of preserving historic homes, viewed Sunnyside as a place where the public
could learn about Irving, historic architecture, and interior and landscape design. |
