Idlewild
Spruce Street, Cornwall-on-Hudson, Orange County, New York
Built in 1846, for Nathaniel Parker Willis (1806-1867) and so-called as the land on which it stood was dismissed by its previous owner as, "an idle wild of which nothing could ever be made". Sitting on the edge of a 200-foot precipice that dropped into a gorge below and with breathtaking views over Newburgh Bay, the river and mountains, Willis co-designed his 14-room Gothic cottage with his friend Calvert Vaux. Idlewild became well-known to New Yorkers through his magazine writings and his book, Out-Doors at Idlewild (1855). After Willis died in 1867, the estate continued to attract literary figures when it was acquired by the novelist Edward Payson Roe (1838-1888); and, from 1900, it was the summer home of Edward R. Johnes and his wife (ex-wife of Ingersoll Lockwood, author of the Baron Trump childrens novels), Winifred Tinker....
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Idlewild was then purchased by lawyer and noted philatelist, Captain Charles Curie (1872-1936), who owned one of the largest collections of stamps in the country. He maintained an extremely rare century plant that had been planted at Idlewild in 1890 and presented it to the Botanical Garden in Bronx Park in 1933. He died in 1936 and left Idlewild to his son, Charles Jr., whose widow still lived here in the 1990s, "as well kept up as when built". The house is noted for the bronze eagle over the entrance door and remains private property.
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Destina lives in Idlewild
Kim England-McGuirk loves Idlewild
Destina
3 years agoI lived in this fascinating place in the 1980s. I can tell you that there is a discrepancy in the information posted here because the widow of Charles Jr. was long gone in the 1990s, along with any bronze eagle above the door. To my knowledge, there was a fire sometime in the early-mid 1900s which left only the first story and its foundation remaining, and it was purchased and repaired with a more contemporary design. For decades (including my years residing there) the house had a flat roof which was certainly unusual for a historical structure of its kind. The one remaining story had become a large ranch-style home, and the only evidence of its early years was the intriguing basement and the ancient grave of a dog named Caesar that had traveled the world. My family had an in-ground swimming pool built on one side of the house, and an outdoor storage shed on the other side. Since my years there, a new roof has been added, which changed the appearance of the house dramatically. (A pleasant change, but very different from the flat roofed structure I once lived in.) Any additional information about this property would be greatly appreciated.
Kim England-McGuirk
2 weeks agoI live at 43 Ave A in Cornwall on Hudson, near the former Idelwild property