Sunnyside

Sunnyside was the residence of the American writer Washington Irving from 1835 until his death in 1859. The stone house was formerly known as Van Tassel cottage, and was located on the Hudson River below Tarrytown. He made improvements and modifications to the architecture of the house as well as the surrounding landscaping and garden design. According to the National Register of Historic Places, Irving “delighted in augmenting the picturesqueness of his house by creating several wandering paths which led the visitor through secluded groves and broad vistas of the Hudson River scenery…perhaps influenced by [his] neighbor, Andrew Jackson Downing, who mentioned Sunnyside in his 1841 Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape gardening in America.” In addition to these sylvan walks, Irving grew apples in his own orchard and cultivated flower and kitchen gardens laid out in geometric patterns which contrasted with the picturesque plan of the rest of the grounds.

Overview

Alternate Names: Van Tassel Cottage, Wolfert's Roost
Site Dates: The original Van Tassel cottage dates from the mid-to-late 1600's; Irving purchased the estate in 1835
Site Owner(s): Washington Irving (1783–1859)
Associated People: George Harvey
Location:Tarrytown, New York
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Texts

• Downing, A. J., 1844, describing Sunnyside (1844: 38)

"At Tarrytown, is the cottage residence of Washington Irvings, which is, in location and accessories, almost the beau ideal of a cottage-ornée. The charming manner in which the wild foot-paths, in the neighborhood of this cottage, are conducted among the picturesque dells and banks, is precisely what one would look for here."

• Downing, A. J., 1844, describing Sunnyside (1844: 379–380)

"There is scarcely a building or place more replete with interest in America, than the cottage of Washington Irving, near Tarrytown. The "Legend of Sleepy Hollow," so delightfully told in the Sketch-Book, has made every one acquainted with this neighbourhood, and especially with the site of the present building, there celebrated as the "Van Tassel House," one of the most secluded and delightful nooks on the banks of the Hudson. With characteristic taste, Mr. Irving has chosen this spot, the haunt of his early days, since rendered classic ground by his elegant pen, and made it his permanent residence. The house of "Baltus Van Tassel," has been altered and rebuilt in a quaint style, partaking somewhat of the English cottage mode, but retaining strongly marked symptoms of its Dutch origin. The quaint old weathercocks and finials, the crow-stepped gables, and the hall paved with Dutch tiles, are among the ancient and venerable ornaments of the houses of the original settlers of Manhattan, now almost extinct among us. There is also a quiet keeping in the cottage and the grounds around it, that assists in making up the charm of the whole: the gently swelling slope reaching down to the water's edge, bordered by prettily wooded ravines through which a brook meanders pleasantly; and threaded by foot-paths ingeniously contrived, so as sometimes to afford secluded walks, and at others to allow fine vistas of the broad expanse of river scenery. The cottage itself is now charmingly covered with ivy and climbing roses, and embosomed with thickets of shrubbery."

Images

• 

  George Harvey, The Old Cottage Taken Previous to Improvement, c. 1835.

• 

  A. J. Downing, "Residence of Washington Irving, Esq. near Tarrytown, NY", in A Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening (1849), p. 409, fig. 59.

• 

  George Inness, Sunnyside, c. 1850–60.

Other Resources

Historic Hudson Valley