Upstairs Downstairs Outside (FDR & Hyde Park)

img_2792img_2793img_2794img_2795img_2798img_2799img_2801img_2803img_2804img_2805img_2806img_2807img_2810img_2812img_2813img_2814img_2815img_2816img_2817img_2819

The grounds and the digs outside are opulent. But upstairs at the FDR home at Hyde Park, the furnishings are one may daresay modest. Lovingly restored and maintained, the whole place is wafted in nostalgia. Un-modern, the overall memory is Edwardian (?) and heavy. It remains clear that it was always Sarah’s place. What stands out is the sense of a total complex, physical and ideological, great wealth from another age now open to public view. Did not have time to make it up to Eleanor and FDR’s two separate cottages up the hill. It would be curious to compare the design styles between the cottages, built much later than the main house.

About zjb

Zachary Braiterman is Professor of Religion in the Department of Religion at Syracuse University. His specialization is modern Jewish thought and philosophical aesthetics. http://religion.syr.edu
This entry was posted in uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply