You won’t find me talking politics here but I do think it is important to vote. Given that tomorrow is Election Day to select the next President of the United States, I think this quote by former President Franklin D. Roosevelt is quite appropriate:

Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting.       –Franklin D. Roosevelt

 

Since we are on the topic of Presidential matters today, I would like to share pictures from the grounds of the Franklin D. Roosevelt home, library, and museum with you. My first visit was in 2001 on a road trip that took Mr. B and I from upstate New York to Massachusetts.  While preparing this post I pulled out the small handful of photos and memorabilia from that trip that were tucked away in a scrapbook.

Fast forward to Fall 2015. We took a similar trip and once again visited the FDR National Historic Site. It is beautifully situated in the town of Hyde Park, New York along the Hudson River. The property contains several buildings including “Springwood”, the home where FDR was born and raised. The property was donated to the American people in 1943 with a condition that the family be allowed to use it until after his death. It was later transferred to the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1945 and is now considered part of the U.S National Park Service.

As someone who is avidly interested in all things design related, I couldn’t resist taking a few pictures of Springwood and the beautiful grounds surrounding it. I was hoping to supplement this post with information from the FDR Library and Museum. I sent an email to them on October 23 requesting information and have yet to hear back…

The facade of the home is stunning with its balustrades, rock facade detail, vivid green shutters and ivy-covered walls. If you choose to tour Springwood, the front door is where the tour begins. 

The tour of Springwood ends with you walking out a hideous back staircase that was installed by the National Park Service. I understand the need to provide accessibility (probably for fire exit reasons…after all, safety first) but something more appropriate for the style of the home would have been a much better alternative.  

As you walk down the exterior staircase you are able to catch a beautiful view of the grounds. Just beyond the thick row of trees on the right is the Hudson River.

The horse stable (above & below) is beautifully designed inside and out. I thought it was humorous to see a plaque above one of the stables for the horse known as “New Deal”. For some reason, I didn’t manage to get a picture of the plaque but I did capture some great metal work detail of that stable door (bottom, right).

The final resting place of FDR is a serene location on the Springwood property. The building seen in the distance is the FDR Library and Museum. We’ll go there next…keep scrolling down…The official FDR Library dedication was a small, quiet affair with only close friends and family attending the ceremony in June 1941. Did you know that this was the nation’s first Presidential library and the only one ever used by a sitting President?

Here is the front entrance to the Museum and Library as it exists today. Don’t let the size fool you. Although the  building may look rather modest in size, it contains a rather large collection in the upper and lower levels.  From the exterior, the scale of the building is very appropriate for its setting.

Design details of the Museum and Library building.

Ladies and gentleman, this concludes our extremely quick tour of the grounds of our nation’s very first Presidential Library. I hope someday you might be able to visit for yourself. And if you do be sure to allow for an entire day to take advance of all the property has to offer. It is definitely worth a visit. Enjoy Election Day and don’t forget to vote!

Original photos by Reviving Charm via Iphone, unless otherwise noted.