Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park
Interior of the studio of Augustus Saint-Gaudens in Cornish, N.H.
LocationCornish, New Hampshire
Coordinates43°30′3″N 72°22′5″W / 43.50083°N 72.36806°W / 43.50083; -72.36806
Area370 acres (150 ha)
175 acres (71 ha) federal[1]
Built1817 (main house)
Built byAugustus Saint-Gaudens
Visitation26,943 (2005)
Websitenps.gov/saga
NRHP reference No.66000120 (original)
13000802 (increase)
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966[2]
Boundary increaseOctober 2, 2013
Designated NHSAugust 31, 1964
Designated NHLDJune 13, 1962[3]
Site map

Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park in Cornish, New Hampshire, preserves the home, gardens, and studios of Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848–1907), one of America's foremost sculptors. The house and grounds of the National Historic Site served as his summer residence from 1885 to 1897, his permanent home from 1900 until his death in 1907, and the center of the Cornish Art Colony. There are three hiking trails that explore the park's natural areas.[4] Original sculptures are on exhibit, along with reproductions of his greatest masterpieces. It is located on Saint-Gaudens Road in Cornish, 0.5 miles (0.80 km) off New Hampshire Route 12A.

History

Saint-Gaudens purchased the property in 1885 at the urging of Charles Cotesworth Beaman Jr., a friend and New York City lawyer, who had purchased the nearby Blow-Me-Down Farm (now also part of the historic site) and established it as a summer residence. He called it "Aspet" after the town of his father's birth in France. Saint-Gaudens established a studio, and produced work here every summer, and lived here year-round from 1900 until his death in 1907. Beaman's summer estate was a center of activity of the Cornish Art Colony. After the death of Saint-Gaudens' wife Augusta in 1926, Aspet was transferred to the Saint-Gaudens Memorial, a non-profit organization, established by Augusta Saint-Gaudens in 1919. The Memorial ran the property as a museum from 1927 until it was transferred to the National Park Service (NPS) in 1965.[5] The Trustees of the Memorial continue to support the preservation and development of the park and to provide public programming.

The estate was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1962 and administratively listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.[3] The Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site was authorized by Congress on August 31, 1964, and established on May 30, 1977. Besides a portion of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, this is the only NPS site in New Hampshire. The NPS later acquired two adjacent properties associated with Saint-Gaudens and the Cornish Art Colony, which were formally incorporated in the National Historic Site in 2000.[5] In 2010, an adjacent property known as "Blow-Me-Down-Farm", formerly owned by Charles Cotesworth Beaman Jr., was donated to the NPS by the Saint-Gaudens Memorial, a non-profit operating partner of the Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park.[6] The John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act, signed into law March 12, 2019, redesignated the national historic site as a national historical park.[7]

In early October 2021, the Temple funerary monument at the site was vandalized with spray paint, including "anti-Semitic language and symbols".[8]

Description

The centerpieces of Aspet are its main house, built 1816–17 with Federal styling, which underwent a series of alterations by Saint-Gaudens, with design work by George Fletcher Babb, and the Little Studio, also designed by Babb and built in 1903–04 to replace earlier studios. The grounds are landscaped with hedges and terraced gardens, in which reproductions of works by Saint-Gaudens are displayed. The gardens were designed by Saint-Gaudens and landscape architect Ellen Shipman. The grounds also include an outdoor room, the Pan Grove, a collaborative design of Babb and Saint-Gaudens, featuring an 8-foot by 4-foot green marble pool set in a birch grove with a statue of the Greek god Pan.[5]

Artists-in-residence

Saint-Gaudens has had a sculptor-in-residence since 1969, the oldest continuous artist residency in the National Park Service.[9]

American sculptor Lawrence Nowlan was an artist-in-residence at Saint-Gaudens for five summers from 1995 to 1997 and again from 2001 to 2002.[10][11] He received his first major commission to design the Wildland Firefighters National Monument while working and studying at Saint-Gaudens.[10][11]

The 2022-2023 Sculptor-in-Residence is Sean Hunter Wiliams, of Barre, Vermont.[12]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Nature & Science". National Park Service: Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  2. ↑ "NPS Focus". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Augustus Saint-Gaudens Memorial". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on May 17, 2004. Retrieved October 22, 2007.
  4. ↑ Cornish, Mailing Address: 139 Saint Gaudens Road; Us, NH 03745 Phone: 603-675-2175 Contact. "Recreational Trails - Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved May 2, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. 1 2 3 "NRHP nomination for Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site (2013 increase)" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Blow-Me-Down Farm - History & Future - Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Text - S.47 - John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act". United States Congress. March 12, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Authorities seek information on vandalism of Temple Monument at Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park". NPS.gov (Press release). October 12, 2021. Retrieved October 15, 2021.
  9. ↑ Cornish, Mailing Address: 139 Saint Gaudens Road; Us, NH 03745 Phone: 603-675-2175 Contact. "Sculptor-in-Residence - Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved May 2, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. 1 2 "Sculptor commissioned to complete Joe Frazier statue has died". Barre Montpelier Times Argus. August 2, 2013. Archived from the original on February 21, 2014. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
  11. 1 2 Hanson, Alex (August 1, 2013). "Death of Sculptor Larry Nowlan of Windsor Called a 'Big, Big Loss'". Valley News. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
  12. ↑ Cornish, Mailing Address: 139 Saint Gaudens Road; Us, NH 03745 Phone: 603-675-2175 Contact. "Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park Welcomes 2022 Sculpture-in-Residence - Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved May 2, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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