#Pink houses in brooklyn series

They participated in newly popular sports such as polo, croquet, bowling, golf, and badminton, as well as more conventional outdoor pursuits like hunting and fishing. The Bowen boys were deeply interested in sports and other energetic activities that reinforced ideas of masculinity and class in the late nineteenth century.

In line with the Bowens’ Congregationalist values, their time at Roseland Cottage offered fresh air, wide open spaces, and the opportunity for clean and moral activities. The growing Bowen family returned to Woodstock and Roseland Cottage every summer in the mid-nineteenth century. Roseland Cottage’s formal parterre has been an important feature of the house and landscape ever since. According to Henry Bowen’s detailed orders the garden comprised 600 yards of boxwood hedge which surrounded twenty-one beds of more than thirty-five varieties of perennials and thousands of annuals. Wells’ drawings, sits prominently in front of the cottage and can be appreciated from the parlors, dining room, and second-floor bedrooms. In 1850, shortly after the family started summering in Woodstock, the Bowens planted a colorful and nearly 3,000-square-foot boxwood parterre garden. At the time of construction, an adjacent carriage barn, complete with a private indoor bowling alley, and a detached woodshed were also built in the Gothic Revival style. The Gothic Revival summer house, called Roseland Cottage by the family, was completed in the fall of 1846. The architectural style and plans of the house, as well as the grounds depicted in Wells’ original drawings, were in line with the theories and writings of Andrew Jackson Downing, a popular nineteenth-century American landscape architect. Wells designed a fantastic five-bedroom, 6,000-square-foot Gothic Revival cottage.

Wells, the English-born architect who designed Bowen’s Plymouth Church in Brooklyn Heights, to design a summer home for the family. Woodstock, Connecticut, with its rural rolling hills, cool ponds, and deep family history, was an ideal location. Contact InformationĪs their family grew, the Bowens wanted to establish a summer country retreat so that the family could escape the stifling heat and congestion of New York. Follow signs to parking area behind barn. There is ample parking on the grounds of Roseland Cottage. Turn left onto Route 197 east follow for eight miles. Turn right onto Route 171 east follow for two miles. Route 171 will merge with Route 169 north. Turn onto Route 44 west follow for one mile. We are happy to work with you to make your visit an enjoyable one and we encourage visitors with questions or requests to call ahead. The site is not equipped with ramps, elevators, or lifts. Folding chairs are provided for visitors who would like to use them while on tour. Visitors can access a virtual tour of the museum from their own digital device onsite. Visitors with limited mobility may be able to enjoy a first floor tour of the house and grounds. Tour involves standing, walking, and stairs. At this time, masks are optional for all staff and visitors. Historic New England is following all state, local, and CDC safety guidelines.

#Pink houses in brooklyn series

Historic New England has launched a series of digital visitor experiences featuring never-before-seen videos, new photography, oral histories, and archival material, including Roseland Cottage. It reflects the principles of Andrew Jackson Downing, a leading nineteenth-century tastemaker. The estate includes an icehouse, aviary, carriage barn, and the nation’s oldest surviving indoor bowling alley. The picturesque landscape includes original boxwood-edged parterre gardens planted in the 1850s. He used Roseland Cottage as a place to entertain friends and political connections, including four U.S. Woodstock native Henry Bowen returned to his hometown after establishing a successful business in New York City. The house is a National Historic Landmark. While the house is instantly recognizable for its pink exterior, Roseland Cottage has an equally colorful interior, featuring elaborate wall coverings, heavily patterned carpets, and stained glass, much of which survives unchanged from the Victorian era. A colorful summer retreat Woodstock, Connecticut Built in 1846 in the newly fashionable Gothic Revival style, Roseland Cottage was the summer home of Henry and Lucy Bowen and their young family.