Lyndhurst

The house from the carriage house

The towers on the mansion

The carriage entrance–the main entrance to the mansion

On Friday, I took a tour of Lyndhurst, a Gothic Revival country house that overlooks the Hudson River in Tarrytown. According to the web site, the house was decorated for “A Very Dutchess Holiday,” so I was curious.

In the carriage porch looking towards the doors into the vestibule

The sleigh in the carriage porch

One of the two decorated trees in the carriage porch

Lyndhurst was owned by three families: the Pauldings, the Merritts, and the Goulds, before it was turned over to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Unlike Philipsburg Manor or the Rockefellers’ Kykuit which are part of the Historic Hudson Valley, a local historic organization, Lyndhurst was turned over to the National Trust upon the death of Anna Gould, the Duchess of Talleyrand-Perigord, in 1961.

A bust of George Washington in the vestibule, with him pictured in a toga

The mirror in the vestibule, decorated for the holidays

Bust in the vestibule of Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette–better known as Lafayette, also dressed in a toga

The most famous–or notorious, depending on your viewpoint– residents were: William Paulding, the New York City mayor who had the original house built and named it Knoll; George Merritt, who had the original architect A. J. Davis double the size of the house in 1864-1865 before he moved in, renaming the house Lyndenhurst after the linden trees on the property; and Jay Gould, railroad magnet and robber baron, who also expanded and remodeled the house. Gould would use the house as his country retreat until his death in 1892. Helen Gould Shepard, Gould’s daughter, inherited the house and continued to live in it until her death in 1938 when her sister, Anna, inherited the house. She would occasionally visit and maintain the estate. The house was kept as it was when the Dutchess lived.

A close-up of the portrait of Washington hanging in the drawing room

The fireplace and mirror in the drawing room

The Christmas tree in the drawing room. The wedding dress of the Dutchess is on display on the left

The attempts to link the United States with the ancient Roman Republic was reflected in the way the busts of Washington and Lafyette were dressed–in togas. This linking with the past was very popular in the early United States, to stress the link with Rome’s greatness as well as the recreation of a better form of government than the monarchies then the norm. Unfortunately, our guide made the mistake of confusing a republic with a democracy, which is done constantly. Rather than go into it here, perhaps I’ll write a short entry on the difference between a republic and a democracy.

The “stone” in the art gallery is peeling from water damage

Though not very visible, this “stone” head is peeling, seen here in white

This face from the carriage porch has water damage right above it, where the “stone” is peeling

Anyway, Lyndhurst was beautiful. We learned from our guide that Gould had the house remodeled. He had the wood and plaster walls painted to look like marble and stone as well as the plaster ceilings resemble wood. This painting cost so much more than Gould just having rebuilt the house in marble and stone, but he did this to show off that he could and how much he was really worth. This is an oxymoron to what the nouveau riche trash today do: look for every way to save pennies then pretend that they are worth more than they really are. At least Gould was honest.

Part of the elaborate ceiling in the waiting room

The waiting room windows with the tree and wreath

The beautiful lighting in the waiting room

The library, formerly the dining room. This room was also used by the children to do their homework

The beautiful light fixture in the library

The windows in the library, with toys and games

The dining room. Gould had this room built when he took the original dining room and turned it into the library

The dining room fireplace (the fire is fake)

Gould’s portable desk in his office

The art gallery, formerly the library. Those cabinets against the wall were the bookshelves–which held few books. (My library is much bigger)

A beautiful painting in the art gallery

Another painting

The upside down tree decorated with Anna’s hats

One of the art gallery’s windows looking out on the Hudson. The rectangular glass is magnifying to bring the river closer

High above the art gallery floor, a small room for a orchestra of three people would play for receptions and parties held below

The other rooms on the first floor we visited were the waiting room, the library, the dining room, and Gould’s office. On the second floor, were the bedrooms and what had been the old library but Gould had turned it into the art gallery. This room had a vaulted ceiling and skylights. The walls were covered with paintings as an upside down tree near the windows displayed many of Anna’s hats.

The central window in the art gallery

A pink window in one of the bedrooms

Gould’s master bedroom

Another bedroom with a beautiful Christmas tree

Helen’s bedroom

Anna’s childhood room that she later used as her master bedroom

The ceiling in Anna’s room

The window in Anna’s bedroom

Another view of Anna’s bedroom

Furniture in the small sitting room right outside of Anna’s bedroom

The portrait of Anne Boleyn hanging in the sitting room. It was added as a Halloween decoration and was kept

The staircase windows

The remaining rooms on the second floor were bedrooms, decorated in different ways. The windows in many of the rooms were either painted or stained glass and were beautiful. It really is more a country house than a mansion, but it was really nice. I could see myself living in such a place–if I was wealthy or married someone über-wealthy. (It’s not going to happen, but one can dream.) It was a tour that I really enjoyed.

Rockefeller Christmas Tree

The tree from the side

This year’s Rockefeller Center Christmas tree

The Swarovski star at the top of the tree

Last night, I went to dinner with friends and on the way back to Grand Central, I stopped at Rockefeller Center and saw the Christmas tree, which has become an annual event for me. The tree, as always, looks magnificent. The crowds, as usual, were horrible and I could hardly wait to escape eastward.

The ball above Times Square, looking down Seventh Avenue from 48th Street towards 42nd Street

On the way over to Rockefeller, I crossed Times Square. Only true New Yorkers detest Times Square and avoid it at all costs. Those new year’s festivities? Tourista. New Yorkers may go ONCE to see the ball drop, but I’ve never met anyone who does it regularly or more than once. Still, crossing Seventh Avenue, I spotted the ball being prepared for the festivities.

The tree outside the Sleepy Hollow village hall

A close-up

I didn’t get home until after midnight. I’ve been seeing the tree outside of the Sleepy Hollow village hall, and though it is much simpler (and smaller), I think that it is nonetheless pretty, so I finally snapped a pic on the way home.

Books vs. the Rich: the Protest at NYPL on Monday

The protest on the steps of NYPL’s main branch at 42nd Street and 5th Avenue in Manhattan.

On Monday at noon, a bunch of people dressed up as books were told by another bunch of people dressed up in fancy clothing to get out of the library. The books fought back and refused to leave the library. A debate ensued between the books and the rich, who were trying to get the books to realize that no one needs libraries because no one reads books, and that the libraries could be sold to developers. This was the entire point of the protest: NYPL had been sold down the river by the rich serving on its Board of Trustees

A rich person lectures To Kill a Mockingbird on libraries no longer being necessary.

The rich celebrating the new Central Library Plan, which sells the Mid-Manhattan and SIBL libraries to developers.

What has become clear to many protesters: there’s BIG money to be made on the sell of library buildings

NYPL is currently relocating a large chunk of it’s main branch research collection to New Jersey, where the library shares a storage facility with NYU and Princeton. The idea is to create a “library of the future” by remodeling areas and folding into the main branch the Mid-Manhattan Library, which is a very popular (and busy) branch library across the street. They also intend to sell that building as well as the part of the old Altman’s department store that currently houses NYPL’s Science, Industry, and Business Library (SIBL), the collection also being folded into the main branch.

The entrance doors to NYPL’s Mid-Manhattan Library, across the street from the main branch

Children’s books were well-represented in the protest

A book protester addresses the crowd

The main branch has a major research collection known throughout the world. The relocating of materials to storage to make room for the popular library and SIBL (also used by quite a number of people), which is also a research library, as well as redesign former book shelving areas to create new patron areas, has many people alarmed.

Books (and children’s books) confronted with the rich’s ambitions on their homes

From the beginning, NYPL botched the unveiling of the new plans, which were presented as an accomplished fact without any public input. This went over like a lead balloon and galvanized people to preserve the Mid-Manhattan Library, SIBL and the research collection at the main branch.

Carolyn McIntyre articulating for the media what the protesters seeing as being done to NYPL

Will the protesters succeed?

Question: can a protest truly be called a “flash protest” if it was advertised on Facebook and postphoned once?

Promoted on Facebook, this protest was a success in that it garnered quite a bit of attention from passersby as well as a few media outlets that showed up to get their five second sound bite. Rumors circulate that NYPL is now an organization of fear, where librarians and staff are terrorized by the administration to stay silent on what is going on.

The protesters gather for a final portrait

Outgoing NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg protrayed as a rich man who stacked the NYPL Board of Trustees with other rich people to exploit the public libraries for their own profit

Holidays at the New York Public Library

Though NYPL is embroiled in a controversy to “remake” the main building at Fifth Avenue  and 42nd Street in Manhattan into a “library of the future,” the building is spruced up (as usual) for the end of the year festivities.

The tree in Astor Hall

The menorah over the exit to Fifth Avenue

The entrance from Fifth Avenue brings the visitor into Astor Hall, which is made out of marble and truly is a grand entrance. The tree is beautiful. Though Hanukkah is over, the menorah was completely lit when I visited.

One of the decorated candelabras in Astor Hall

Even Julius Caesar is into the festivities

Perhaps the most ridiculous thing are the wreaths around the necks of the famous lions outside the library. The wreaths are far too big, and the lions literally get lost in them. A much smaller wreath around the necks of the lions would look so much better. Perhaps the wreaths (and bows) are so big to make it harder for someone to steal. After all, what would one do with such big wreaths?

One of the lions with the wreath around its neck. Doesn’t look too bad from the side …

… but from the front, the lion’s head gets lost in the wreath, and the big bow makes it look ridiculous

Then again, just a little bigger and those wreaths could probably fit comfortably around Lady Liberty’s neck.