The Rockefeller Family Home: Kykuit - Hardcover

Ann Rockefeller Roberts

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0789202220 ISBN 13: 9780789202222

Publisher: Abbeville Press, 1998

Synopsis

Kykuit-the country home of John D. Rockefeller Sr., John D. Rockefeller Jr., Nelson A. Rockefeller, and their families-stands majestically atop a hill overlooking the Hudson River. Built between 1906 and 1913 by architects Delano and Aldrich, it has just recently been opened to the public. But visitors will never see the estate in as intimate a way as it is presented in this volume. To preserve the memory of what Kykuit was like when it was a private home, photographer Mary Louise Pierson, granddaughter of Nelson Rockefeller, spent years photographing the estate: the Big House-as family members call the main residence-and its interiors, designed by the renowned Ogden Codman; the outbuildings, including the Coach Barn, which now houses an impressive collection of horse-drawn carriages and an equally noteworthy collection of vintage cars, the orangerie, and the Playhouse, a Tudor-style mansion containing an indoor swimming pool, tennis court, fully equipped gym, and bowling alley; and the magnificent gardens, from the formal gardens designed by William Welles Bosworth to the golf course to the Japanese garden, and all the sculptures that three generations of Rockefellers installed on the grounds.

The text, by Ann Rockefeller Roberts, Governor Rockefeller's daughter, recounts the history of the magnificent estate, from its founding early in the century through its recent transfer to the National Trust, focusing on how each successive generation left its stamp on the decor, the gardens, and the painting and sculpture collections. Illustrated with dozens of historical photos, ranging from the construction of the house to snapshots of family members, the text includes never before published reminiscences of five generations of Rockefellers. Complete with a family tree, a map of the gardens, and visitor information, Kykuit: The Rockefeller Family Home offers a deeply personal look at the country residence of one of America's most distinguished families.

About this title

About the Author

Photographer Mary Louise Pierson is the granddaughter of Nelson A. Rockefeller. A painter, she lives on a farm in Vermont with her husband and children.

Author Ann Rockefeller Roberts is the daughter of Nelson A. Rockefeller and the mother of Mary Louise Pierson. A graduate of Wellesley College, she has a masters degree in landscape architecture from the University of Virginia. The author of Mr. Rockefellers Roads: The Untold Story of Acadias Carriage Roads and Their Creator, she is founder and president of the Fund of the Four Directions, a private fund with a focus on indigenous peoples. She lives in New York City.

Cynthia Altman, author of the captions and additional text, is the curator of Kykuit.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION

Both John D. Rockefeller (JDR) and John D. Rockefeller Jr. (Jr.) loved beautiful views and had an inherent sense of the land and its spirit, although they might never have expressed it in quite that way. The land they chose at Pocantico is a testament to this innate sensibility. Located on a wide sweep of the Hudson River known as the Tappan Zee, it was formed when ancient glaciers carved out a great rift and rounded the mountains into hills. These full, rolling hills stretch back from the river; morning mist drifts among them, storms bear down along the river with sudden speed and power, evenings can be still and sweet or brilliant with the riotous colors of the setting sun. Gazing at the uninterrupted vistas, one has a startling sense of how this land must have looked before the first European settlers arrived—miles of deciduous and evergreen forest, the river a ribbon of undulating silver cutting through it.

The character of the land is felt in the many elements that comprise it: the rock ledges that form a massive crust underneath, barely hidden in spots, rising up through the earth in others; the mantle of earth over the rock, deep and rich in many places, shallow in others, but always full of loose stones (used by early settles to form miles of walls, and reused by JDR and Jr. for house foundations, garden walls, and terraces); the wide variety of deciduous trees, including oak, elm, maple, butternut, walnut, and tulip; evergreens, such as pine, hemlock, and spruce; and myriad other native flora—dogwood, laurel, azalea, wildflowers, mosses, grasses, shrubbery, vines. The wildlife of the area was also originally very rich and varied; now it consists of creatures that can coexist more easily with white-tailed deer with their large ears and bobbing tails, possums, raccoons, rabbits, mice, the occasional fox, hawks, owls, and a variety of songbirds, as well as the ubiquitous crow.

On this natural matrix the built elements were laid out and a great, parklike estate was developed. The land became highly cultivated in every sense of the word, reflecting the character and spirit first of the father and son and then of succeeding generations.

Each of the seasons etched in color, form, and texture all around Pocantico. In the early spring the melting snow reveals the browns and grays of the sleeping land, and the architectural forms of the gardens and buildings stand out starkly. Then a pale green haze of tender new shoots and leaves sweeps over the threes and manicured lawns. Before long spring bulbs, shrubbery, and flowering trees all burst into bloom in the gardens. In the summer it is a tapestry of leaf textures and shades of green, the gurgle of water in fountains, the dappled patterns of sunlight through leaves, the music of wind through the trees, the purring of lawn mowers over the greensward of the golf course. In the fall color manifests itself again in the riotous turning of the leaves, in swaths of chrysanthemums, and in the last roses in the gardens. Then winter sets in, stripping everything of its last hues, returning the earth to browns and grays, and finally cloaking everything in the white of snow or the silver of ice, glittering in the pale sun on statues, garden walls, and plants.

The acquisition, development, and occupancy of Pocantico is intertwined with the lives of six generations of the Rockefeller family. It was intended to be—and always remained—a private home, the beloved country retreat of JDR and his wife, Laura Spelman Rockefeller, their children, and their children's children. The estate was developed between 1893, when JDR made the first purchase of land, and 1913, when the main house and its extensive gardens were largely completed. Since then there have been many more changes—additional land was acquired, other buildings were built, and each succeeding generation left its distinctive touch.

Edition details

• Publisher: Abbeville Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0789202220
• ISBN 13: 9780789202222
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192