For the first time since 1963, the Fred J. Johnston House will be decorated for the holiday season. The first floor rooms, stairwell and bay window of the historic c. 1812 Federal style house will be festooned by community groups and individuals including the Stockade Garden Club, Ulster Garden Club, Old Dutch Church “Beavers,” Burgevin Florist Inc., Gargoyles LTD., Linda Hopfenspirger, Thomas Mangne, Linda O’Keefe and Renate Soyer. The public is invited to tour the house on Friday night, December 9 from 5 to 9 p.m and on Saturday, December 10 and December 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There is no admission fee, but donations, which will be applied towards the preservation of the historic house, would be welcomed.  Since 1997, the Fred J. Johnston House has been maintained by the Friends of Historic Kingston as a museum featuring the noted antiques dealer’s decorative arts collection in eight elegant room settings he designed.

The site will also host a holiday sale next door in the Friends of Historic Kingston Gallery during the Johnston House tour hours and, additionally, on Saturday, December 3 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The sale will feature handmade silver jewelry, antiques and many other gift items of regional origin and interest including an 1880 bird’s eye view map of the City of Kingston.  William B. Rhoads, author of the newly published book, “Ulster County New York, The Architectural History & Guide, will be present in the gallery to sign copies on Saturday, December 3 and Saturday, December 10 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.  The book, which features 325 sites, retails for $24.95 plus tax.

The Fred J. Johnston House and the Friends of Historic Kingston Gallery are located on the corner of Wall and Main Streets.  For information, call (845) 339-0720 or visit www.fohk.org.

Broad Canvas Encompasses the Majestic and Modest, the Beautiful and Bizarre

The first book to offer a comprehensive history of the architecture of Ulster County will debut on November 19 at 1 p.m. at the Friends of Historic Kingston Gallery.  “Ulster County, New York, The Architectural History & Guide,” written by William B. Rhoads, showcases three centuries of architecture from 1660 and the early European settlers’ simple limestone cottages to the Modernist glass structures of the mid-1950s. Featuring 325 sites with 340 illustrations, the book reveals the vast diversity of building styles and structures to be found on Ulster County streetscapes and landscapes. The author will sign copies of the book to 4 p.m.

The launch event includes a slide presentation at 2 p.m. on Ulster County architecture by author Rhoads, professor emeritus of art history at SUNY New Paltz. A special photo exhibit based on the book will also be featured in the FHK Gallery.

Rhoads’ all-encompassing concept of architectural heritage includes the expected Colonial, Federal and Victorian style houses and historic buildings, but it also includes unexpected entries such as diners and drive-ins, a “school bus house” and a vacation resort built from old Kingston trolley cars. Grand mountaintop hotels, baronial hunting lodges and Gilded Age mansions are presented side by side with eccentric hermits’ cabins and the rotting huckleberry pickers’ shacks in the Shawangunks.

Histories of the architects, builders and owners give historical and social context to the featured sites. In sum, the book provides a view of “the whole economic and social development of a region,” according to Winthrop Aldrich, former NYS Deputy Commissioner for Historic Preservation, The book will retail for $24.95, plus tax.

Rhoads is also the author of “Kingston New York, The Architectural History & Guide, published by Black Dome Press in 2003. He lectures widely on Hudson Valley and Colonial Revival architecture.

The Friends of Historic Kingston Gallery is located on the corner of Wall and Main Streets in the Stockade National Historic District of uptown Kingston.  For more information, call (845) 339-0720, or visit www.fohk.org.

Join the Hudson Valley Seed Library in the FHK Gallery  on Saturday, November 5,  4-8 p.m. for the unveiling of their new art packs for the 2012 season.The one-night event will launch the Seed Library’s traveling exhibit of 23 newly commissioned artworks and include a reception for the artists,a seed swap and holiday sale. Bring your own leftover seeds to swap and buy “green” gifts for the holidays. A portion of the sale proceeds will go to support the preservation efforts of the Friends of Historic Kingston.The seed library works to preserve New York’s garden heritage. The show will move to the Storefront Gallery at 93 Broadway for the month of December.

For more information, call Ken Greene: (845) 204-8769 or e-mail:ken@seedlibrary.org.

2009 HUDSON-FULTON: TAKE TWO

Felt Replica of "Half Moon" by Susan Basch

As part of New York State’s Quadricentennial celebration, 10 artists were invited to create contemporary responses to memorabilia from the 1909 Hudson-Fulton observance. The mixed media exhibit was curated by FHK Board Member and artist Ken Gray.

BOOK SIGNING  AT FHK GALLERY SATURDAY DECEMBER 10, 11-1

Ulster County New York: The Architectural History & Guide

Explores 325 sites built over 300 years

Author William B. Rhoads will sign copies of his new book, Ulster County New York:  The Architectural History & Guide at the FHK Gallery on Saturday, December 10, 11-1. Copies of the book, $24.95, plus tax, will be available during the FHK Holiday Sale hours 10-2.  The sale continues next Saturday, December 17, 10-2 when the Fred J. Johnston House will also be open for holiday tours.

Three sites in the city of Kingston recently received the 2011 Preservation Awards given annually by the Friends of Historic Kingston.

Elizabeth and Taylor Thompson were recognized for their restoration of the circa 1890 house at 194 West Chestnut Street, built for Frank Griffths, owner of a large feed and grain business in Rondout. It was designed by Calvert Vaux, the noted nineteenth century architect and co-designer of Central Park, but due to years of neglect, required a total restoration when the Taylor’s bought it in 1977. They also restored the landscape with its sweeping vista of the Hudson River.

Contractor Emerson DuBois was recognized for his restoration of an apartment building at 60 Elmendorf Street. The original part of the wood frame house was built as a single family residence circa 1860 in the post and beam style. Following several additions, it eventually became an illegal three-family apartment house. Dubois installed new plumbing, wiring, boilers and insulation, and removed siding exposing the original clapboard. All of the original flooring, windows and most of the doors were retained. Two large sun-filled apartments now occupy the space.

The third citation was awarded to Dr. Wilson Meaders and Suzanne Zissu for their restoration of the landscape at 93 Wall Street. The expansive gardens in the rear of the residence were originally designed in 1938 by the director of the Harvard Landscape School for a well-known Kingston pediatrician, Dr. Bibby. In the 1960s, the gardens were restructured by Herbert Cutler, but by 1995 when Dr. Meaders and Suzanne Zissu purchased the property, the lines of the original design were lost and the gardens were in ruin. Self taught gardeners, they restored the landscape which now features a linden tree allee, boxwood maze, cutting garden, long rectangular garden bordered by perennial beds and an orchard.

The citations were presented at the Friends of Historic Kingston’s annual meeting on April 10. The Friends of Historic Kingston are headquartered on the site of the two museums they maintain on the corner of Wall and Main Streets in the Stockade District. For more information, call (845) 339-0720 or visit www.fohk.org.

The Friends of Historic Kingston membership elected Dr. William Rhoads and Dr. Peter Roberts to a three-year term on the board of directors at the preservation organization’s annual meeting on April 10.

Dr. Rhoads, Professor Emeritus of Art History at SUNY New Paltz, is the author of “Kingston New York: The Architectural Guide,” published by Friends of Historic Kingston and Black Dome Press in 2003. He lectures extensively on architecture in the Hudson Valley and is currently working on an architectural guide to Ulster County.

Dr. Roberts, a lifelong Kingston resident and KHS graduate, class of 1963, grew up in one of Kingston’s historic eighteenth century stone houses. After medical school, he returned to Kingston where he practiced medicine for 28 years. Dr. Roberts does volunteer work for Friends of Historic Kingston as a walking tour guide, and gives slide presentations to groups as part of the organization’s community outreach.

The membership also elected the 2011 executive committee: Patricia Murphy, president; Giovanna Righini, vice-president; Jeannine Tully, secretary; and Dr. Peter Roberts, treasurer.

The Friends of Historic Kingston, a volunteer membership organization, works to preserve the history and heritage of the city. At their headquarters on the corner of Wall and Main Streets, the organization maintains two museums which open for the season on Saturday, May 7 at 1 p.m. For more information, call: (845) 331-5212 or visit www.fohk.org.

The work of Kingston artist Anton Otto Fischer (1882-1962), noted for his stunning seascapes that graced 50 “Saturday Evening Post” covers, will be showcased in the FHK Gallery during the 2011 season. The exhibit opens Saturday, May 7, 1 p.m. and will run thru October 30. Viewing hours: 1-4 p.m. Click here for full details.

Modest by comparison to its mansion-size neighbors, the little limestone Tappen House at 10 Crown Street in Kingston proved to be a “pot of gold” this past year for Mira, a fifth grade student from Berkeley, California. Assigned to do a project on colonial history, Mira began a search on the internet that transported her from the coast of California across the country to the Tappen House, tucked in among the twenty centuries old stone buildings still standing in Kingston’s 1658 Stockade National Historic District.

Originally Mira planned to research the New England colonies but when she learned about the widespread religious intolerance there, she shifted her gaze southward to the more open-minded Middle Colonies. Her search eventually led her to the Library of Congress web site which contains the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) data, including the HABS survey of Kingston’s Stockade District. She chose the small saltbox style Tappen House because it was the only building whose descriptive data included illustrations of the facades of all four sides. For her project, Mira made a 1/8″ = 1′-0″ scale cardboard model of the house, plus read and put all of the descriptive data sheets and photos of the house in a project binder. After reading about the history of the house, “it wasn’t just a couple of drawings anymore,” says Mira.

The Friends of Historic Kingston recently posted Mira’s project on their web site to illustrate what a valuable resource is readily available to area educators. “Kingston’s Stockade District is like a living history laboratory,” says Friends of Historic Kingston President Patricia Murphy, adding she hopes that Mira’s project will inspire teachers to take advantage of this resource. Projects need not be as complex as Mira’s, she points out. They could be as simple as a student researching who lived in a particular house in the Stockade District at the time of the American Revolution, or the different architectural styles of Kingston’s stone houses.

Mira’s model house and accompanying data can be viewed at www.fohk.org/for-educators/. On the FHK web site “For Educators” page, teachers can download another educational tool: an 18-minute DVD entitled, “George Clinton: Founding Father of New York State.” Produced by the Friends of Historic Kingston, the DVD demonstrates the critical role played by Clinton in the formation of New York State and the nation. The site also offers information on “Footprints in Stone,” an interactive walking tour of the Stockade District designed especially for fourth graders.

Last August, Mira and her family came to Kingston and toured the interior of the Tappen House through arrangements made by the Friends of Historic Kingston with the current owner. Among the many aspects of the house that amazed her was the thickness of the stone walls. “The Tappen House inspires me to learn more about American history so I may have more awesome adventures like this one in the future, “Mira said.
Friends of Historic Kingston promotes preservation of the city’s heritage through education projects and maintaining two museums in the Stockade District. For more information: (845) 339-0720 or visit www.fohk.org.

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A lithograph featuring a bird’s-eye view map of Kingston circa 1880, reprinted by the Friends of Historic Kingston in 2010, is still available for sale. Copies may be obtained by mailing a check for $35 which includes the tax and mailing costs. For further information, call (845) 339-0720.