Great Camp Sagamore was built by William West Durant and bought by Alfred Vanderbilt in 1901 to be his family's Adirondack retreat. Vanderbilt and his wife, Margaret, welcomed family and friends, who enjoyed its sprawling grounds and buildings for decades. After Margaret's death, though, the camp changed hands and began to decline until it was rescued by preservationists and then became a National Historic Landmark in 2000. Today, visitors to the camp participate in maintaining its grandeur, learning about and preserving the past. Read the remarkable story of one of the most unique places in the Adirondacks, written by Sagamore's director, Beverly Bridger.
The author does a thorough job in explaining the beginnings of rustic architecture and why it has a permanent place in the culture. The mix of social background and the history of the early Adirondack camps provides a designers guidebook.
In this book Kornhaber and Woodward explore the vital connections which link generations to each other and expose a new social contract that destroys the emotional bonds between grandparents and grandchildren., This is the first book which reviews, in a careful ethnographic manner, the relationship of grandchildren to grandparents and the place of love at one end and abandonment at the other by grandparents. The authors probe the deep, unexplored emotional histories of hundreds of grandparents; how they feel about themselves, their grandchildren, and their loss of function within today's nuclear family., With sharp increases in the number of broken families and working mothers, grandparents are more vital than ever and also more available than ever. This basic research document shows how grandparents recover their natural role as elders of the family and of society. The author's basic premise is that to exist is to be connected, and that no matter how grandparents act, they affect the emotional well-being of their grandchildren, for better or for worse, simply because they exist., In an age when mounting economic and social pressures make it increasingly easier to split a family than to sustain one, the authors alert us to a forgotten source of family strength, the power of grandparents to enrich the lives as a whole. The case studies reported in this volume represent a first effort in an area left unexplored by developmental researchers. There are lessons here for social scientists, but even more for our alienated society.—Urie Bronfenbrenner, Cornell University
Known as the “Father of the Outdoor Movement,” William HH Murray’s writings have been appreciated by generations of readers looking to nature as an escape from our daily lives as well as a portal to our past, perhaps none more so than his classic Adventures in the Wilderness: Or, Camp-Life in the Adirondacks. Published in 1869 and widely hailed as the first book on recreational camping ever published in America, this groundbreaking resource informed readers how to live in the woods: what equipment to bring, where to set up camp, how to cook, fish, and hunt, and most importantly insights on the profound connections to be made between humankind and the outdoor world around us. Besides introducing readers to the great outdoors, the book would go on to lay the foundation for the conservation movement. With a Foreword by Laura Rice, the Chief Curator of the Adirondack Experience Museum, this edition of Adventures in the Wilderness revisits Murray’s timeless tips and stories of north country camping with modern-day context and clarity, showing that the profound power of nature has only grown.
This is the definitive book on the style, architecture, design, and natural beauty of the Adirondack Great Camps. The Adirondack Great Camps as well as their furnishings are some of the most iconic of American architecture and design. Harkening back to nineteenth-century tycoons and continuing today, this style is driven by the call to a simpler life in harmony with these mountains. Approximately forty of these camps both historic and contemporary and their glorious environments represent this celebration of one of America's true regional treasures. An afterword by a curator of The Adirondack Museum highlights the craft tradition of the Great Camps. The wild beauty and serenity of the Adirondacks have always attracted those who sought a simpler life and a connection to nature. This is a land of spectacular beauty, with iconic elements such as the sugar maple and white birch; bobcat, beaver, and moose; majestic loon and great blue heron. It should come as no surprise then, that the robber barons and business tycoons of the 1800s turned to this leafy haven to escape the urban jungle. They constructed compounds in and around Raquette Lake as rustic getaways, and these grand structures became known as the Great Camps of the Adirondacks. Each Great Camp was more beautiful than the next. The rough-hewn, timber exteriors contrasted the elegant interiors, which included complex stonework and hand-carved furniture. Natural elements such as tree roots, fungi, twigs, and bark, often played an integral part in the décor--the simple yet elegant Adirondack chair has become an international symbol of leisure. Today, approximately 40 Great Camps have survived, including 10 that are National Historic Landmarks. Some are open to the public as landmarks and lodges, while others remain in private hands. These structures echo the greatness of their past and enhance the natural beauty of the region, while providing us with a link to our nation's rich history of environmental preservation balanced with economic growth. Just the list of camp names reads like a history of the Adirondacks: Sagamore, Hedges, Pine Knot, Waldheim, The Point, Santanoni, Top Ridge, White Pine, Clear Lake, Prospect Point, Northbrook, Whiteface Lodge, Carolina, Regis/Applejack, Gull Rock, Huntington, Pritz, Three Star, Wononah, Wellscroft, Birch Point, Pinebrook, Hemlock Ledge, North Point, Bluff Point at Raquette Lake, Lake Placid Lodge, Moss Ledge, Wildair, Winnetaska, Boulder Isle, Sekon, Kildare, Uplands, Minnowbrook, Uncas, Covewood, Big Moose Chapel, Potluck, Albedor, and Paownyc.
Finalist for the 2017 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award in the Regional category The Adirondack Architecture Guide, Southern-Central Region provides a professional and insightful survey of the built environment of a unique area within New York's Adirondack Park. This book is the first field guide to the architecture of the Park, revealing the ordinary and the extraordinary, the remarkable buildings by prominent designers, as well as the hidden, unexpected gems few know exist. Based on more than seven thousand miles of fieldwork and years of research, the guide comprises more than seven hundred sites traversing the geographic range, socioeconomic strata, and historical span of the region from the late 1700s to the present. Organized according to clearly marked travel routes and fourteen tours on the ground and on the water, it features detailed maps and coordinates for each site, along with many beautiful photographs. Also included are eleven companion essays drawing on the expertise of professionals, local historians, and Adirondack residents that delve into the what, where, and why people built in the Adirondacks.
A comprehensive social and architectural history of camps in the Adirondacks, from primitive bark shanties and cabins of trappers, loggers and guides to the great camps where the rich played at roughing it in the company of servants and personal guides.
An Elegant Wilderness: Great Camps and Grand Lodges of the Adirondacks, 1855 - 1935 by Gladys Montgomery, recounts the story of the private retreats of the Gilded age industrial rich who traveled north from New York City to experience wilderness. Light
