Monday, December 11, 2023 – THE HOME OF THE ROOSEVELT FAMILY

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HAPPY CHANUKAH TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY FROM THE R.I.H.S.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

MONDAY, DECEMBER 11,  2023

FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT


NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE


ISSUE  #1143

NEW YORK ALMANACK

Heritage Spotlight: Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, Dutchess County

December 9, 2023 by Editorial Staff 

The lifelong home of America’s 32nd President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) in Hyde Park, Dutchess County, NY, was purchased by Roosevelt’s father James Roosevelt I in 1867 and named “Springwood.”

At the time of his father’s death, FDR was in his first year at Harvard, from where he graduated in 1904. The following year, he married Eleanor Roosevelt (1884– 1962), and together they had six children: Anna (1906–1975), James (1907–1991), Franklin Jr. (1909–1909), Elliott (1910–1990), Franklin Jr. (1914–1988), and John (1916–1981).

The family made the Springwood house, which they shared with Sara Ann Delano Roosevelt, their home.

A large but simple Italianate farmhouse, by 1915 FDR and his mother had completed extensive renovations that included the stucco and fieldstone exterior, the addition of two large wings, and a columned portico.

In 1925, four years after contracting polio which left him without use of his legs, FDR purchased his second upland farm, the 192-acre Tompkins Farm. The property consisted of abandoned fields well suited to reforestation, and a farmhouse and barn at the corner of Violet Avenue and Creek Road.

Around this same time, Eleanor Roosevelt and her friends Marion Dickerman and Nancy Cook built a retreat named Val-Kill at a favorite picnic spot along the banks of the Fall Kill at the east end of the Bennett Farm. With FDR’s support, the women built a swimming pool and Dutch Colonial–style house, known as Stone Cottage, that was completed in 1926.

The women also developed Val-Kill into an experiment in rural industry, focusing initially on Nancy Cook’s expertise in furniture making. While construction of Stone Cottage was underway, a second building was constructed to house the furniture shops of Val-Kill Industries.

FDR was elected as governor of New York State in 1928, and by the fall of the following year he was planning on expanding his forestry operation at Hyde Park with the help of the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University.

Inherited by FDR upon his mother’s death in 1941, the house and much of the estate were transferred to the federal government in 1945 at the President’s request.

Now the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, its interior remains as it was during Roosevelt’s lifetime. The grounds – over 1,000 acres in all – feature flower gardens, outbuildings, and miles of walking trails.

The Rose Garden contains the graves of both Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.

The site also include the nation’s first Presidential Library.

The site is located at 4097 Albany Post Road in Hyde Park. For more information, visit their website, or call (845) 229-5320.

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COLER’S AUXILIARY IS A 501 (C)3 NOT-FOR -PROFIT ORGANIZATION. THIS FUND RAISES MONEY FOR COLER RESIDENT SERVICES. 

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YOU CAN ALSO E-MAIL: BERDYJ@NYCHHC,ORG

MONDAY  PHOTO OF THE DAY

SEND YOUR RESPONSE TO:
ROOSEVELTISLANDHISTORY@GMAIL.COM

WEEKEND PHOTO OF THE DAY

ANDY SPARBERG, HARA REISER AND JOYCE GOLD 
GOT IT RIGHT.

NEW DATE FOR THIS PROGRAM IS NOW FEBRUARY 13TH.

CREDITS

Photos, from above: The Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site (courtesy National Park Service); and A young Franklin Roosevelt with his parents, James and Sara, and their dog Monk on the lawn at Springwood in 1891 (FDR Library); The home of the Roosevelts (courtesy NPS); and an aerial view of The Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site (courtesy National Park Service).

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THIS PUBLICATION FUNDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS FROM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.

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