Saint-Gaudens National Historical Park in

Cornish, New Hampshire Cornish is a town in Sullivan County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,616 at the 2020 census. Cornish has four covered bridges. Each August, it is home to the Cornish Fair. History The town was granted in 1763 and contained ...

, preserves the home, gardens, and studios of

Augustus Saint-Gaudens Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. From a French-Irish family, Saint-Gaudens was raised in New York City, he tra ...

(1848–1907), one of America's foremost sculptors. This was 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 The Cornish Art Colony (or Cornish Artists’ Colony, or Cornish Colony) was a popular art colony centered in Cornish, New Hampshire from about 1895 through the years of World War I. Attracted by the natural beauty of the area, about 100 artists ...

. There are two hiking trails that explore the park's natural areas. Original sculptures are on exhibit, along with reproductions of his greatest masterpieces. It is located on Saint-Gaudens Road in Cornish, off

New Hampshire Route 12A New Hampshire Route 12 is a long north-south state highway in southwestern New Hampshire. Its southern terminus is at the Massachusetts state line in Fitzwilliam, where it continues south as Massachusetts Route 12. Its northern terminus is at th ...

History

Saint-Gaudens purchased the property in 1885 at the urging of Charles Cotesworth Beaman Jr., a friend and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

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. 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 A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

in 1962 and administratively listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on October 15, 1966. 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 The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian ...

, this is the only NPS site in

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. 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. 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. The

John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act The John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act of 2019 is an omnibus lands act that protected public lands and modified management provisions. The bill designated more than of wilderness area, expanded several national par ...

, signed into law March 12, 2019, redesignated the national historic site as a national historical park. In early October 2021, the Temple funerary monument at the site was vandalized with spray paint, including "anti-Semitic language and symbols".

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.

Artists-in-residence

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. He received his first major commission to design the Wildland Firefighters National Monument while working and studying at Saint-Gaudens.

References

* ''The National Parks: Index 2001–2003''. Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior.

External links

Official website

Trustees of the Saint-Gaudens Memorial

* ttp://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/34389/rec/62 ''Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Master Sculptor'' exhibition catalog fully online as PDF from The Metropolitan Museum of Art {{authority control Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire National Historic Sites in New Hampshire National Historic Landmarks in New Hampshire National Park Service areas in New Hampshire Museums in Sullivan County, New Hampshire

Art museums and galleries in New Hampshire New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec ...

Historic house museums in New Hampshire Biographical museums in New Hampshire Artists' studios in the United States Houses in Sullivan County, New Hampshire Sculptures by Augustus Saint-Gaudens McKim, Mead & White buildings Protected areas established in 1964 1964 establishments in New Hampshire National Register of Historic Places in Sullivan County, New Hampshire Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire Cornish, New Hampshire Museums devoted to one artist National Historical Parks of the United States

History

Description

Artists-in-residence

See also

References

External links