Part III: A Founding Father's House In Harlem

A bust in the entry hall of The Grange portrays Alexander Hamilton as a Roman senator

Photo: Chronica Domus

Several years ago, while rummaging around the shelves of a second-hand book shop, I stumbled across a pristine hardbound copy of Houses of The Founding Fathers by author Hugh Howard.  The book contains lavish color photographs and information on the private residences and domestic lives of the men that founded The United States of America.  Of course, I snapped up the book with alacrity and have since spent many happy hours poring over each detail of the beautiful photographs and text contained within. In fact, I took so much pleasure in the book that it inspired me to go on a bit of a pilgrimage, attempting to visit as many of  the houses featured in the book as possible.

So far I've had the privilege of visiting George Washington's Mount Vernon, Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, a particular favorite of mine, and his second residence Poplar Forest, James Madison's Montpelier,  George Wythe's house in Williamsburg, Virginia, and most recently Alexander Hamilton's country house, The Grange, located in Harlem, New York.

The facade of Alexander Hamilton's house, The Grange, spoiled by the unsightly modern barrier at the foot of the front entrance which is closed off to the general public (Note to NPS: Please, please do consider installing a more aesthetically pleasing, period appropriate solution in keeping with the excellent restoration work achieved thus far, thank you)

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Visitors gain access to The Grange via the doorway beneath the front stairs (notice the on-going repair work below the porch to the right)

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Wait a minute, did she just say "country house", for isn't Harlem in the midst of one of the most crowded cities on the planet?  The Grange, designed by John McComb Junior, was indeed a country house, for when it was completed in 1802, Harlem was very much removed from the madding crowd and entirely rural.  Situated within Hamilton's thirty-two acre estate, The Grange would provide the type of gentlemanly country life to which Mr. Hamilton aspired, a life to be shared with his wife Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton and their many children. Tragically, he would reside there for a mere two years before his untimely death by duel.

The Grange, which is the only house Alexander Hamilton ever built, has been moved twice in its history.  From 1802 until 1888, it stood at its original location near the center of Hamilton's property. Then, the house was moved to 141st and Convent Avenue, where it sat quite unceremoniously wedged between an apartment building and a church.  It was not until 2008 that the National Park Service moved it to its present location in an operation involving nothing less than military precision and a watchmaker's eye for detail.  The progression of the house can be seen in the image below, which I photographed at the visitor center of The Grange.

Points 1, 2, and 3 on this map identify The Grange's locations and positioning through the passage of time

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Today, the house has been set within more appropriate surroundings, atop a sloping hillside within a small park-like setting.  It remains, nonetheless, jarringly juxtaposed with several looming buildings, a somewhat less than ideal backdrop for such a national monument.

The City College of New York is one of the nicer buildings to share a vista with The Grange's covered porches

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If visitors were to enter the house through the front door, as they did when The Hamiltons lived here, they would find themselves in this beautifully appointed entry hall, with an oilcloth simulating marble and stone, and a door surrounded by an elegant fanlight and sidelights.  Unlike most Federal era houses, the hall does not continue through to the back of the house.  Instead, it leads visitors directly towards the two angled octagonal-shaped public rooms to the rear.

The beautiful entry hall of The Grange

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Guests of The Hamiltons would have admired a painting of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart, a gift bestowed upon Mr. Hamilton by a wealthy merchant.  They would not have seen the painting that hangs in the entry hall today, which is but a recent copy of an original painted of Mr. Hamilton by John Trumbull in 1792.

A portrait of Alexander Hamilton is prominently displayed in the entry of The Grange

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As I peeked through the doorway to the right of the painting, I saw a beautiful set of stairs, complete with a striped runner, leading to... nowhere! Unfortunately, no record of how the bed chambers upstairs were decorated exists, or of who occupied which room, so the top floor is off limits to visitors. Additionally, there is of course the sticky business of having to uphold modern fire code regulations, and as the house lacks a secondary exit, the fate of the upstairs floor is pretty much a closed book as far as present and future visitors are concerned.  'Tis a great shame I say, for it took me considerable will power to resist the temptation of making a mad dash up the stairs, of which I am certain our pleasant National Park Service guide would not have approved.

The stairway to... nowhere!

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Not to worry, I thought, as there was still plenty to see.  I'd long admired the two public rooms of The Grange that were included in Houses of The Founding Fathers, which had after all sown the seeds for my expedition to Harlem.  Below is a photograph of the page from my book showing the drawing room.

The drawing room as seen in the book Houses of The Founding Fathers

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Stepping into the bright sunlit drawing room, I was startled to see how much of a transformation the octagonal room had received. I barely recognized it.  Yes, the Louis XVI chairs and games table were still there, along with the piano-forte, which is not shown in the photograph above but was an item shown in the book, and one that is original to the house.  Today, the room's walls have been painted a rich buttery yellow, the floor-length curtains replaced with fringed swags, and the carpet is now peppered with leaves atop a dark green ground, a color matching that of the upholstery.  I'm not quite certain what prompted these decorative changes outside of the new wall color, which came to light as being original through paint analysis of the walls when the house was moved to its present location.

The drawing room as it appears today

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The drawing room was not the only room in the house to have received an update.  Below is a photograph of what the dining room looked like when it was photographed for the book in 2007.

The Grange's dining room as seen in Houses of The Founding Fathers

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Today, it is painted the same buttery yellow as the drawing room, affording it an airier feel. The shield-back dining chairs have been replaced and upholstered in what looked to me to be a black horsehair fabric appropriate for the period.  The curtains have met a similar fate to the ones in the drawing room and have also changed color.  Finally, the dark floral carpet has been swept away and replaced with a smaller design incorporating foliage in shades of grey and red.  There was just one other small change I noticed; the mahogany sideboard had been switched out for a serpentine front example with two lower central doors. Again, I am puzzled by this change as the sideboard in the above photograph seems just as appropriate for a room of this period.

The newly decorated dining room

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The remaining room accessible to the public is Mr. Hamilton's study-cum-library, which is painted an attractive grassy green, unlike the version in the book which was devoid of any color.  Once again, paint analysis determined this was the original rich verdant green shade, a pigment which no doubt would have cost The Hamiltons dearly in its day. The three books resting on the table top belonged to Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton.

Alexander Hamilton's newly painted study-cum-library

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My visit to The Grange was enriched through the enjoyable experience of  the visitor center, located in the basement level of the house, where much more information about the fascinating life of Alexander Hamilton can be found.  This is also where the wonderful introductory video that our knowledgeable park ranger, Mr. George Tonkin, played for us before our house tour commenced.

I highly encourage you to add this national treasure to your itinerary and to make the trek uptown when next in New York city.  Incidentally, if you arrive early, as we did, you might be as fortunate as us and find yourself part of a very small tour group.  Aside from our family of three, there was but one other gentleman to join in on the fun, which made for a very cozy tour indeed.  At peak times, the house tours can swell to a maximum of fifteen people so this was indeed a special treat, allowing us to absorb as much of the fine detail of the house as possible.  Besides, we had the undivided attentions of poor Mr. Tonkin, whom we bombarded with questions, and what a good sport he was!

Hamilton Grange National Memorial is located at 414 West 141st Street, New York, New York.

Oh, and don't forget to saunter on down the hill once you've completed your tour and visit Grant's tomb, which I wrote about here.

Part II: A Parisian Déjà Vu In New York

The architectural gem we stumbled upon tucked within Riverside Park

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The title of this post has absolutely nothing to do with Ladurée's Manhattan outposts, nor the obligatory queue of macaron lovers spilling into the streets of every city in which Ladurée has a presence.  Rather, today's post pertains to a grand monument commonly overlooked by the hordes of travelers to New York who typically gravitate toward the more recognizable icons of the city.

Indeed, it was by happy accident that my family and I stumbled across this eclectic edifice of classical architecture while on our merry way to viewing another site off the beaten track, about which I am planning a separate post.

Its unexpected discovery was made during a cab ride to Harlem early one chilly morning, while driving along picture perfect Riverside Drive, where we spotted what looked to be something rather special. Built of grey granite and situated high upon a mound by the Hudson River, our curiosity was piqued. Several hours later, having completed our tour of what we had ventured to see in Harlem, we meandered back down the hill, through squirrel-happy Riverside Park, until we once again came upon the resplendent structure which had previously caught our eye.

Our paths crossed with many darting squirrels in Riverside Park

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To our great surprise and delight, it came to be that we were marveling at North America's largest mausoleum, which happened to be the final resting place of America's eighteenth president, Ulysses S. Grant, and his wife Julia Dent Grant.  Not only that, but a fleeting moment of  déjà vu was forefront in my mind.

General Grant National Memorial reminded me of ...

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... L'Hotel de Invalides where Napoleon Bonaparte is entombed

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How was it that upon entering the General Grant National Memorial I was reminded so much of another tomb I had visited in Paris, that of Napoleon Bonaparte at L'Hotel de Invalides?  The similarities were so striking that I instinctively knew my way around the building, which I will confess, is a most surreal and slightly unsettling experience.  I even felt the same sense of cocooned stillness befitting both honored places of rest, aided perhaps by the soaring scale of the dome and the acoustical qualities of its hard marble surfaces. 

Of course, Grant's tomb was considerably more severe in it's paucity of decoration, a result of eliminating many of the elaborate sculptural adornments from the architect's original plan due to lack of funding. However, both spaces share many architectural similarities.  For instance ...

... Looking up into the dome of Grant's tomb ...

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... and looking up towards the dome of Napoleon's tomb

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The design elements mirrored in each tomb continue downstairs into the marble lined circular crypt where the twin sarcophagi of President and Mrs. Grant are situated. Made of red Montello granite mined in Wisconsin, the sarcophagi, weighing eight and a half tons a piece, resemble that of Napoleon's which was carved of another reddish-colored stone known as porphyry. The plinths at both locations are similarly constructed not only in their stepped design, but also in their choice of stone. 

Sarcophagi sit side-by-side at the General Grant National Memorial

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The sarcophagi at Grant's tomb, and their situation, bear a striking resemblance to Napoleon's tomb in Paris

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Napoleon's porphyry sarcophagus and green granite plinth

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The photographs below clearly illustrate how much Napoleon's crypt, completed thirty-five years earlier than Grant's, had influenced the American architect John Hemingway Duncan when seeking inspiration for the general's memorial.  The square marble pillars are almost identical to those used in Paris.  I wonder if Mr. Duncan's vision had included statuary at each pillar before reaching the limits of his funding.

The marble pillars of Grant's tomb ...

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... and those of Napoleon's tomb

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Our discovery of this important and beautiful national treasure left us a little perplexed as to the circumstances of it being erected in New York of all places (many of the presidential memorials are located in Washington D.C., the nation's capital, where in fact, we recalled viewing a small bronze statue commemorating President Grant on our visit there several years ago).  We were, nonetheless, delighted to have stumbled upon this grand memorial and would encourage anyone with an interest in architecture or history to make the trek uptown when next in New York city to view this stately and hallowed structure firsthand. Oh, and if the weather is clement, a picnic amid the pleasant environs of the park, and its many squirrels, would surely top off an enjoyable excursion.  Do plan your visit carefully and check the opening times and dates so as not to be disappointed, here.

Nota bene: While researching this post, I discovered that Mrs. Grant had written to New York's mayor with her justification for why her husband's national memorial should be located in New York and not Washington D.C., as was the prevailing consensus of the time.  Published by the mayor for all to see, she states "Riverside was selected by myself and my family as the burial place of my husband, General Grant.  First, because I believe New York was his preference.  Second, it is near the residence that I hope to occupy as long as I live, and where I will be able to visit his resting place often.  Third, I have believed, and am now convinced, that the tomb will be visited by as many of his countrymen there as it would be at any other place. Fourth, the offer of a park in New York was the first which observed and unreservedly assented to the only condition imposed by General Grant himself, namely that I should have a place by his side".

Mrs. Grant also made it known that there should never be a public restroom in her tomb, and to this day, there is none.

Part I: Welcome To New York

 A slice of New York's skyline from Central Park

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My family and I have recently returned from our travels to a grand metropolis that I can only describe as one of the world's most beautiful, sophisticated, glitzy and glamorous cities.  Yes, New York is all of the above and much, much more. Architecturally and culturally rich, with ample open space to enjoy between the hubbub of city life, New York has more than a little something to delight the senses of all who pass through.  The city looks particularly glamorous at this time of year when dressed to the hilt in its festive finery, and believe me, practically everyone gets into the spirit here. Even the city's trees are not immune to a little decoration.

Every branch is covered in white lights that must have taken hours to install

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Urns and window boxes present yet more opportunity to don a seasonal frill

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The festive sight that greeted us upon our arrival at the beautiful St. James' Church on Christmas morning

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Nine days is simply not long enough to visit everything we had intended to see, but we made a valiant effort and saw a dizzying amount between the miles of walking and cabbing.  New York is a city of walkers, which suits me just fine, as I love to pound the pavements in whichever city I find myself.  It really is the best way of getting one's bearings and also seeing things which might otherwise be missed when traveling by car or train.  When one's feet begin to grumble, it is easy to hail one of the famous yellow cabs for the remainder of the journey.  It seemed as though every other vehicle on Manhattan's streets was painted yellow.

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Our refuge in the city was The Carlyle hotel, an impossibly glamorous old-school beacon of elegance where supreme comfort and service is the name of the game.  The excellent staff anticipates a guest's every need and no request is ever too great. Simply put, The Carlyle is heaven on earth and a dreamy bolthole away from the clamors of city life. The downside, of course, is that one must eventually take leave of this pampered existence, which makes for a bittersweet separation when the time arrives to bid this temptress adieu, no matter how much you love home sweet home.

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Stepping into the lobby through the revolving doors for the first time reminded me so much of Claridge's in London, and no wonder.  I soon came to discover that Thierry Despont has had a hand in both storied hotels.

The view as one enters the hotel

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Old-world glamour infuses every detail

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A more complete view of the elegant lobby with a fabulous geometric carpet

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I adore the vivid goldenrod color of this little corner of tranquility

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A magical tree befitting the glitz and glamour of The Carlyle

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No detail was ever overlooked, including the festive arrangements of flowers which were always impeccably fresh.

One of two large amaryllis arrangements as photographed upon our arrival

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A week later, the arrangements were replaced with nearly identical crimson versions

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If you have not guessed it already, things are done the old-fashioned way around here, including the operation of the two guest elevators which are staffed by a small army of white-gloved operators.  I was wild for the old-style brass letterbox located on the ground floor, complete with it's chute which passes through each of the hotel's floors. Posting a letter was never so glamorous.

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Across the way one finds this cozy sitting area, complete with fireplace all aglow.  I could have sat here all evening watching the world go by.

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However, Bemelmans Bar is just around the corner which is always a good remedy to sooth the soul after a day's worth of sightseeing.

The evening's entertainment at Bemelmans Bar

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One of the many charming features of the bar is the little lampshades adorned with Ludwig Bemelmans' illustrations from the Madeline books

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Every corner of the bar is decorated with Mr. Bemelmans' beguilling child-like murals painted during his year and a half residency at The Carlyle

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Wouldn't you agree that sashaying down these incredibly gorgeous stairs could make anyone feel like an old-school Hollywood starlet?  I loved everything about them from the iron and brass railings to the black and white curve of the marble and stone.

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And, just so we don't forget where it is that we've been lucky enough to find ourselves, the soaps in our suite looked like this, demonstrating once again that no detail is ever left to chance, which adds to the singular experience of a stay at The Carlyle.

Mmmm ...the aroma of this soap was divine, a perfect balance to suit both masculine and feminine sensibilities - how do they do it?

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Over the next several posts, I plan on sharing some very special places we visited, places that might be inadvertently overlooked due to their lesser prominence in comparison to New York's more iconic landmarks.  I do hope you return and follow along as I hot-foot it across town on my adventures.

Nota bene: I am neither paid nor do I receive recompense in exchange for applauding products or services within my blog.  I do so because I enjoy them.  If you are a kindred spirit, you too enjoy recommending nice things to fellow good eggs.

New Year, New Beginnings

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As I sit here at home, with all the madness of Christmas behind me, and having recently returned from a wonderful action-packed winter holiday, I cannot help but ponder what the new year has in store for my loved ones and me.

Tonight, we shall spend a quiet evening at home, enjoying a celebratory home-cooked dinner, seated around our dining room table.  I know this will be a real treat on the heels of enjoying more than a little fine cuisine and quite a bit of imbibing during our recent adventures (too much of a good thing, and all that!).

At the stroke of midnight, we'll clink our flutes and toast the dawn of a new year, full of glorious hope and eager anticipation of new beginnings.

I wish you all a joyous and wonderful year ahead and may we all share in another opportunity to get it right, or as right as we are able, which for me means no resolutions, just new beginnings.

How do you plan to celebrate this evening and do you tend to make and/or keep resolutions?

The Golden Glow of Christmas

In our household, we have always decorated an evergreen tree for the years we celebrate Christmas at home.  My family and I enjoy the scent and appearance of real trees, excitedly brought into the house a week or so before Christmas day, and trimmed shortly thereafter with my ever-expanding collection of vintage glass ornaments.  Aside from the tree, various seasonal evergreen boughs are tucked within the tops of picture frames and mirrors, or hung in garlands around the front door.  Of course no Christmas is complete without a few wreaths of fragrant laurel or cedar.

As we shall be far from home during the Christmas holidays this year, we have opted to forgo our traditional evergreen tree and instead decorate only our small ivory colored goose feather one.  I purchased the tree about fifteen years ago, when I came across a catalog by The Feather Tree Co., a small American family-owned business that makes replicas of German goose feather trees by hand. These artificial trees were popular Christmas items in nineteenth century Germany and offered a solution to the rampant problem of deforestation.  A few years after my daughter was born, I ordered a second feather tree so that she too should have one to use in her own home when her time comes to fly the coop.  I'm so glad I did as the husband and wife team who labor over their creations recently announced their retirement and are no longer supplying their happy customers with these enchanting diminutive heirloom-worthy trees.

Our feather tree takes pride of place in the drawing room this year

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We dressed the tree in shades of gold, silver, and green, and used a selection of ornaments in the form of pine cones, berries, and nuts.

A vintage glass walnut appears quite realistic

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I've long had a weakness for pine cone ornaments and have collected quite a number of them in various designs and sizes over the years.  I have found little plump squat ones and slender elongated examples, dusted with crushed glass so that the cones twinkle when caught in just the right light. I am especially fond of those made during the 1940's in occupied Japan, and have found those in the colors you see upon our tree, as well as in vibrant turquoise and pink.  I adore how they are embellished with white paint to simulate freshly fallen snow.

Golden Japanese pine cones and green 

berries drip from feather boughs

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Yet more pine cones fill a Paris porcelain punch bowl in a corner of the drawing room, collected on my walks and coated in clear glitter affording them a frosty appearance

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To continue the color theme, I placed several variously sized balls in a pair of Anglo-Irish cut glass footed bowls either side of the tree.  I love the way they look grouped together. 

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I'm not certain what these little snowball-like ornaments are supposed to be, but I think them quite charming.  They are made of spun cotton and crushed glass which makes them glisten in the candlelight.  They remind me of the icy snowballs I used to hurl at my sisters when we were all rather silly girls playing in the snow outside our house in Kent.  In fact, we are still rather silly girls, but a little older and possibly a little wiser, but that is, of course, debatable once you've come to know us.

Hmmm... I see a snowball fight coming

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Our tree has been placed in a nineteenth century black basalt bucket-shaped vessel that I found in England.  I've not seen another quite like it and don't exactly know what it's intended purpose is.  It is so large, one could chill a bottle of champagne in it.

To secure the tree firmly in place, I filled the vessel with an assortment of real silvered walnuts and pine cones.  I think they look marvelous alongside their glass imitators.

Silvered walnuts and pine cones fill a black basalt vessel

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A dainty silvery-grey satin ribbon, a trio of miniature glass balls, and a home-made pipe cleaner star crown the top of this year's tree.

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But wait a minute, aren't you all wondering about those small wax candles attached to the tree's branches by the little tin clips?

To light, or not to light, that is the question 

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Yes, I must confess, it would be a huge thrill for this author if she were to see our little confection of a tree all aglow in candlelight.  However, in the interest of marital harmony, I have promised my dear husband that I shall refrain from my pyrotechnic fantasies and keep the matchsticks far away from the candles.

Alas, the only allowable flames are those that flicker from our blazing fireplace

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Except, that is, for maybe... just... this... one.

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Wherever you may find yourself this Christmas, I wish you and yours glad tidings and a very merry Christmas.

What do you eat on Christmas Day?

An English Christmas pudding ready to be doused in brandy and set aflame

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Ask most Brits to describe what they'll be feasting upon as part of their Christmas day celebratory dinner and the answer will likely involve the following: a plump roasted turkey, sage and onion stuffing, little Chipolata sausages wrapped in bacon, cranberry sauce, roasted potatoes, Brussels sprouts, carrots or parsnips, gravy, Christmas (plum) pudding with hard sauce or cream, and a good Stilton cheese with crackers, all washed down with port wine.  Oh, and lest we forget, delicious little mince pies.

English mince pies and German Stollen are excellent sweet treats on Christmas day

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Ask an American the same question and you will likely be as surprised as I am to learn of the plethora of answers you will receive. Unlike Thanksgiving day, where American food traditions waver little across the miles, I don't think I've ever come across two families that share the same Christmas day food traditions.

Please help me unravel the mysteries of a traditional Christmas day meal in your country of residence by letting me know what it is that you enjoy eating on Christmas day, and whether or not your menu is dictated by either national or family traditions.

An Unusual Glass Ornament Steeped In British Folklore

My green 19th century "witches ball" photographed alongside a German silver kugel ornament, and two miniature Japanese green baubles dating from around World War II

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I've been busy excitedly rummaging through boxes of ornaments selecting those that will grace our Christmas tree, which will be decorated within the next week.  I try to be organized about such matters as the storage of my hundreds of vintage and antique glass ornaments which I've amassed over the period I've been living in the United States.  I endeavor to sort them by color, wrap the larger ones in tissue paper (acid free if possible), and then place them all in large plastic storage boxes until they are needed the following year.  You will be hard pressed to find another plastic item in our household but these boxes are the best solution I've come across for safe storage.

Over the past two decades, I've been agog at the sheer volume of vintage glass ornaments that I've been fortunate enough to unearth from places like local flea markets, antiques shops and shows, as well as from thrift stores. I've concluded that such ornaments were probably destroyed by the thousands during the German bombing campaigns of World War II in England, hence their rarity there.  Why else have I had such a difficult time locating them?  One can find newer reproductions, of course, but the more fragile older examples are as rare as hen's teeth.

The majority of my collection dates from the 1920's to 1940's, with a few later examples and even several earlier ones.  Most were produced in Germany at the famous glass factories of Lauschen by mouth blowing glass into molds.  I've also collected many Japanese examples dating from America's occupation of Japan after World War II, and some later ones (1950's) from the other famous European centers of glass production, Poland and Czechoslovakia.

I remember my mother adorning our family tree with similar ornaments when I was a young girl so perhaps that is why I'm drawn to decorating my own tree with these beguiling ornaments which have mellowed to a wonderful dull sheen over the years.

Several summer's ago, when ambling through the covered antiques market in Covent Garden, London, I came across a monumental green glass ornament that reminded me of a much smaller silver example in my collection.  I'd never seen anything approaching the scale of this heavy glass orb.  I asked the stall-holder about it and he explained to me that it was a "witches ball". The huge bauble, which is six inches in diameter, came complete with the original decorative brass hanging chain, embossed with baskets of flowers, and twisted little connecting rings, crowned with a brass cap and a large round hanging loop. I was further informed that according to British folklore, these witches balls, typically made in green, silver and gold, were hung in windows or in front of looking glasses during the 18th and 19th centuries to ward off evil spirits and ill fortune. I was fascinated by the history of this glass treasure and could not pass it up, even if it meant that I had to carefully hand-carry it across the pond on my journey home.

I am delighted I did so, as each year when unwrapping my ornaments to decorate the house at Christmastime, the enchanting witches ball always takes my breath away. Although its folkloric origin is far removed from Christmas traditions, which also happens to be the case with many other symbols of a modern Christmas, this witches ball fits in seamlessly holding court over my large collection of more diminutive ornaments.  I've since learned that the balls are rather rare, and the chain even more so.

Have you a favorite or meaningful ornament that you enjoy displaying during the Christmas holiday season?  Do please tell me about it.