Top Cottage
|
Top Cottage
|
|
 |
|
| Location | Hyde Park, NY |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Poughkeepsie |
| Coordinates | 41°45′54″N 73°53′19″W / 41.76500°N 73.88861°WCoordinates: 41°45′54″N 73°53′19″W / 41.76500°N 73.88861°W |
| Built | 1938-1939 |
| Architect | Henry Toombs and Franklin Delano Roosevelt |
| Architectural style | Dutch Colonial Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 97001679 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | December 9, 1997 |
| Designated NHL | December 9, 1997 |
Top Cottage, also known as Hill-Top Cottage, in Hyde Park, New York, was a private retreat designed by and for Franklin D. Roosevelt. Built in 1938 to 1939, during Roosevelt's second term as President of the United States, it was designed to accommodate his need for wheelchair accessibility. It was one of the earliest such buildings in the country, and the first significant building designed by a person with a disability.
Although it was meant as a retreat, FDR also received notable guests at the cottage, including Britain's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and, after half a century in private ownership, it was restored and given to the National Park Service, which today operates it as part of the nearby Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1997. Guided tours of the cottage are available from the main site but private vehicles are not permitted.
This building is the only building designed by a sitting U.S. President other than Thomas Jefferson, who designed several at his home in Monticello, the University of Virginia, and the Virginia State Capitol.
The cottage is in the Dutch Colonial Revival architectural style, built of fieldstone. It is one of several buildings in Hyde Park and surrounding communities that FDR ensured were built in that style, which he hoped to revive in the region. It is located at the end of Potters Bend Road, a residential street in a rural area of Hyde Park, at the top of the 500-foot (152 m) ridgetop unofficially known as Dutchess Hill. This hill was where Roosevelt had played as a child. In FDR's time, it had commanding views of the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains, now obscured by trees.
...
Wikipedia