LEARN: The Landscape
Frederic Church constructed the landscape at Olana in the same manner that he constructed landscapes in his paintings: with an eye to composition, balance, and fidelity to nature. Although Olana was a working farm, expected to turn a profit, Church also wanted the property to be pleasing to look at. He used the Hudson River and mountains in the distance as a background to a composition with carefully planned foreground and middle ground elements.
The farm elements of Olana consisted of orchards, vegetable gardens, fields of corn, hay, and rye, and livestock with their attendant buildings. To this Church added thousands of trees set out singly and in groups on the northern and southern slopes of the hill on which the house stands. A swampy stream at the bottom of the hill was turned into a lake whose shoreline carefully echoes the sweep of the Hudson River below.
Church planned miles of roads around the property, carefully designing the views that open up as the roads rise, fall, and turn. He screened outbuildings from sight with a buffer of trees and used the forests he planted as a design element in the view from the tower at Olana.
Today the grounds at Olana support a plethora of birds and wildlife and offer opportunities for strolls and picnics.
The North View Restoration Project:
The Olana Partnership and New York State are pleased to announce that work will begin on opening up new views on Ridge Road at Olana, views that Frederic Church intended, but that have obscured for over 100 years. This view restoration work is part of a long term goal to restore Olana's landscape to the vision that Frederic Church created as a three-dimensional work of art. The site is fortunate in having plans that were drafted by Church's son, which showed exactly how Frederic Church intended his 250 acre historic landscape to be situated in the 1890's, the time period to which the site is interpreted. Besides several view restoration projects, the long term plan includes the planting of hundreds of trees and shrubs, restoring the orchard and vegetable garden, and completing the restoration of five miles of carriage drives. The projects have all been scrutinized to ensure that they maximize bio-diversity objectives by restoring the original meadow land with a seed mix that is known to attract a broad mix of species. We have scheduled the project to create the least possible disturbance for wildlife (for instance, any tree removals must take place between September 15th and March 15th, so as to minimize any migratory or nesting disturbances).
This view restoration project was made possible thanks to the generosity of many individuals who contributed funds. All who are interested in knowing more about this or other landscape restoration projects are welcome to contact The Olana Partnership's Director of Administration, Nelson Sterner, at 518 828 1872 or nsterner@olana.org. or the site's historic site manager, Linda McLean, at 518 828 0135 or Linda.mclean@oprhp.state.ny.us.
Virtual Tour
Did you know you can take a virtual tour of the landscape around the Olana house? Just click on any of the views below, and when the movie loads, click into the scene and move your mouse left and right or up and down to take a 360 degree tour!
Eastern Facade
Northern Facade
Northwestern Facade
