By Jodi Larison
Extension Master Gardener
University of Vermont
An 1890 Boston Sunday Herald article reported “the art of the landscape gardener has been employed, not so much to render Olana beautiful as to make it picturesque.”
Olana, located in Hudson, New York, is a New York State Park that’s approximately a 1.5-hour drive from southern Vermont. It was designed by Fredric Edwin Church and encompasses 250 acres with about five miles of carriage roads.
Church, a Hudson River School painter, first came to the area in 1844 to study landscape painting with Thomas Cole, the founder of the Hudson River School of landscape artists. In March 1860, Church purchased a 126-acre farm and wanting to reforest the farmland started planting 300 to 500 native trees per year.
He planted deciduous trees such as maples, oaks and white birch, as well as evergreens including pines, spruces and hemlocks. His plan also was to create an artist-designed landscape, so he made a point to ensure openings or reveals to provide stunning, panoramic, artistic views.
Over time, Church purchased adjacent properties including the wooded hill atop which his Persian- and Mexican-style-influenced house sits. He also created a 10-acre lake, which he shaped to make it appear as if it was part of the Hudson River.
Just below the home is the Mingled Flower Garden with flowering perennials and annuals. In Landscape Gardening, A.J. Downing described it as containing “no predominance of bloom… there shall be a general admixture of colors and blossoms throughout the entire garden during the whole season of growth.”
The roads built by Church currently serve as walking and hiking trails. The unpaved trails offer the cover of trees for the majority of their length, but all have openings revealing fantastic views, as well as places to sit and enjoy those views.
The most popular is the fairly flat Ridge Road. This trail is nearest to the home and is about a one-mile long loop with four reveals.
Starting on this trail, going to the right, the first view will be the North Meadow. The second reveal provides a view of four states: Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Vermont along with views of the Taconics, Berkshires and Green Mountains.
The third, and probably most breathtaking, view looks towards the village of Catskill. From here, you can see the Catskill Mountains, Hudson River and Rip Van Winkle Bridge. There are also tables at this location making it a convenient spot for a picnic.
The final opening is near the entrance to Bethune Road and reveals the house. The other four roads--Crown Hill, Farm, Lake and North--are all accessible near the farm building, which serves as an education center.
Access to the outdoor areas is free and available to the public (and leashed dogs) daily from 8 a.m. to sunset. However, since the trails are not paved, navigating them with a stroller or in a wheelchair may be difficult.
Olana offers year-round programming and themed public tours every day except Monday. It also hosts other types of events, including occasional concerts. Most of these have a fee associated with them, as does access to the historic house, where you can experience Church’s home, just like guests of the family did, on a guided 45-minute tour.
Extensive information on visiting Olana, including booking advance tickets for tours, can be found on its website (www.olana.org).
Before or after your visit, consider a stop in one of the nearby villages, Catskill or Hudson. Both offer main streets with unique dining and shopping establishments.