Participants will board the Rip Van Winkle for an enriching night of talks on Hudson River architecture. Talks will be 15-20 minutes with time for questions and answers and a cash bar will be available. There will be three lectures throughout the course of the night. Donald Fraser will inform
guests about country estates, constructed during the Gilded Age, that symbolized power and imitated European aristocrats in style. There will also be a virtual tour of Wilderstein Historic Site and additional information about the Suckley family who occupied the premises for 140 years provided by Evan and Chris Quimby. Finally, Kitty McCullough will provide information about Calvert Vaux, the preeminent American architect most famous for his role in the construction of Central Park. This lecture will explain Vaux’s seminal role in the development of the American Country House with the landscapes at Wilderstein, Hoyt House, and Norrie Point serving as prime examples.