Landscape Information
Sited one-half mile east of the Hudson River along Spring Street on the western slope of a modest hill, this 3.4 acre property was home to Thomas Cole, the founder of the Hudson River School of painting, from 1836 to 1848. During Cole’s tenure the property comprised 110 acres with river frontage and featured an orchard and ornamental farm. The site includes a Federal style house (1815) distinguished by an elevated porch, which offers panoramic views of the Catskill Mountains that inspired Cole and informed his work.
The site’s historic entrance, flanked by brick pillars, is located along Spring Street, edged by a rehabilitated stone wall topped with a picket fence. From the entrance a curvilinear crushed stone path leads to the residence and a storehouse (1839) that Cole used as a studio. Turning south the path frames a gently pitched lawn with informal groupings of trees, including maple and locust. A mature honey locust specimen, likely planted in 1817, shades rectangular beds, rehabilitated in 2002 and planted with flowering annuals and perennials recorded in period sources (e.g. hollyhocks, dahlia, poppies, and China asters). South of the storehouse is a former kitchen garden, replanted in 2024 with native species. Between the residence and storehouse is a modest grove of apple trees suggesting the site’s historic orchard. The northeastern edge of the property is characterized by a grove of mature deciduous trees. The southernmost portion of the property includes a structure (2015) built to resemble a studio Cole designed in 1846 (demolished in 1973).
The Thomas Cole National Historic Site is located within the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1966 and designated a National Historic Landmark that same year.
