FDR's Springwood and Top Cottage - 65th Birthday Adventure

August 30, 2014

Hyde Park … lots of choices. Tour and lunch at the Culinary Institute of America perhaps. Franklin D. Roosevelt homestead … just like mommie ordered. Or, FDR's or Eleanor's retreats … nice and private for that special rendezvous.  So many choices - so little time. We decided on the FDR homestead and his retreat Top Cottage. Eleanor would have to wait for another trip.

We started at the the visitors' center and checked out the floor mosaic of the estate while we waited for the docent to arrive for the tour. Other than gasping for breath every time he walked a ways or climbed any steps, he was well informed and provided interesting details of life at the homestead. One thing was certain … he was definitely no stand up comic.

Before I go any further, I just have to say it …"Don't think for a minute that the Roosevelt's were not rich … rich … rich."  If you doubt me, take a look at the stables.

What I find fascinating is that from a man, reared in the bosom of luxury … the proverbial silver spoon … we get the WPA, CCC, social security, bank controls, etc. Was it a matter of the  man rising to the situation to do whatever necessary to pull the country out of the depression and to face WWII head-on. Or, did the tragedy of his personal health provide him insight into what it is like to be down and out and empathy for the "little" man. 

Whatever the reason, FDR gave us the New Deal.  Not the horse, New Deal, in his stable, but the programs …the revamping of the politics of the country, the mutation of which permeates our government to this day. 

Roosevelt's mother was particularly fond of roses and had impressive rose gardens on the grounds.  Even though most of the roses were past the blooming stage, there were plenty of other flowers to brighten up the garden areas. 

Plenty of color for the tourists … or is this paparazzi from the tabloids stalking me?

Both FDR and Eleanor are buried in the garden area. 

                 

Just outside the Presidential Library, the first Presidential library I believe, were gifts from both the Japanese (cherry trees) and from Germans (sculpture formed from pieces of the Berlin wall). Both gifts spoke symbolically of  freedom and peace. Our docent commented that this seemed ironic that these came from Japan and Germany. I kinda felt that was off base. It seems to me that it is never ironic when anyone speaks for freedom and peace … no matter the history. 

Our tickets also entitled us to see Top Cottage, FDR's retreat. Thanks to the docent at Top Cottage the white elephant in the room was finally introduced . Yes, FDR came to Top Cottage for special meetings and just to get away from it all (mommie included). And as everyone seemed to already know but nobody admitted, to meet "the other woman". 

We were told that the royal family visited the Roosevelt's at Springwood. A special meal was prepared for the King and Queen and quests at Top Cottage. That meal included hot dogs.  Even though, it is not my habit to eat hot dogs, Anne and I, in tribute to the royal family, left the grounds during lunch and headed to the nearest hot dog van and and had us a royal feast, with chili.

It was a great visit. I gave Eleanor a little kiss (I just can't resist that overbite) and hit  the road for our next adventure. 

Innisfree Gardens - 65th Birthday Adventure

August 29, 2014

In the late 1920s, Walter Beck and his wife, avid gardener and heiress Marion Burt Beck, began work on Innisfree, their country residence in Millbrook, New York. Beck discovered the work of 8th-century Chinese poet, painter and garden maker Wang Wei. The essence of Wang Wei's approach was to develop inwardly focused gardens and garden vignettes within a larger, naturalistic landscape. Beck applied this principle to his gardens and christened his modified approach as "cup gardens. This was a deviation from the typical approach in the Western world. Western gardens are usually designed to embrace a view of the whole. In contrast, the traditional Chinese garden is usually designed so that a view of the whole is impossible. One is  required to stroll over serpentine, seemingly aimless arteries. The observer walks into a series of episodes, like Alice through the looking glass. It is said that the genius of Innisfree is in the maintenance of the gardens. Meticulous attention to the fit of plants or structure (as they settle in over time) with the landscape is made. If they no longer fit, they are immediately removed. 

Some of the setting that struck me are included below.

Throughout the gardens, seating is provided for the visitors. I love simplicity of this design. Consistently, the chairs are arranged in a line in quantities of there to seven, but always on odd number.  The contrast to the wooden chairs and the landscape is striking. 

There was very little sculpture within the gardens.  This piece was a very out of the way area around the lake. The formality of pieces like this just did not fit.

             

There were a couple of spots where where water features were added like the misting spray
in this area. I found these interesting, but felt it was a little contrived and did not really fit the setting well.



Love this tree grouping and shaping beside the lake.

                    

The contrast of the yellow vegetation with the green leaves and stone is great.

                  

This was my favorite scene.




Walls and vegetation. Love it.




                      



                                      



The larger stones seemed to placed to be partially viewed through the trees more than viewed just for the stone itself.

                                             

The terraces were laid in interesting patterns and designs, but not in a way to overshadow the landscape focus.



There were some interesting flowers throughout the gardens to add a little color, but not too much.

Love how these grasses are grouped by the lake.

And how these trees are aligned to the roll of the landscape.

One must not neglect the lake for the sake of the landscape.

There is much to offer there as well.

In fact, we almost stepped on two representatives of what the lake had to offer. 

And another favorite grouping of mine.

This place is beautiful.

It makes you want to stop and ponder.