What is Olana?

Frederic Church’s Olana is…

…An Artist’s Home and Studio…

…A 250-acre earthwork…

…An Experiential and Environmental Work of Art…

…A New York State Historic Site and Public Park…

…A Regional Economic Engine…

…A National Historic Landmark…

…A Viewing Platform toward the American Sublime…

…A Mega-artifact…

…A National Preservation Victory…

…The Most Intact Historic Artist’s Environment in the United States

Olana inspires. It immerses the visitor in a great 19th-century American artist’s vision that lives today as a compelling, creative laboratory. Frederic Church envisioned Olana as a 250-acre environment, masterfully combining architectural, agricultural, park and wilderness elements into a single artistic composition.

From Olana, one can see four states, and Church designed this work of environmental art around its near and distant views, now considered Olana’s integral viewshed. After visiting Olana, Mark Twain called it “an exalted hill of art.” With its vast collections and protected views, Olana has stood the test of time and today thrives as a public work of American landscape art.

In the mid-nineteenth century, Frederic Church (1826-1900) achieved success and fame as an American artist. His skill at aesthetic composition began with landscape painting and extended beyond traditional artistic mediums, influencing the development of this landscape and the spectacular views that make up the Olana experience. Between 1860 and 1900, Church, his wife Isabel, and their four children created a 250-acre living landscape, one of the most intact and well-preserved artistic environments in the United States.

Olana encompasses many elements—the lake, the native woodlands and meadows, the historic house, the farm, the extensive carriage road system, the landscape’s far reaching views, and the site’s rich collections. This is the historic entrance to Olana, a carriage road designed to showcase Church’s use of the natural beauty of the site to create works of art at every bend in the road.