By Fabiana Chiu-Rinaldi

There’s this small room on the second floor of a stately house overlooking the Hudson River. Some say this room is in a museum disguised as a house. Indeed, this house is filled with first-rate antiques.  As such, it feels more like a beautiful shell than a home. Nothing wrong with that. As historical objects, the house and its contents appear to fulfill an organization’s mission well, and are proof of what creative minds can do.

The house is Boscobel, circa 1804. It was the home of States and Elizabeth Dyckman, descendants of the New Netherlands Dyckmans. As it fell into disrepair, by the 1950s it seemed destined for demolition. It was moved, piece by piece from its riverfront location in Montrose, NY to Cold Spring, just over 14 miles north. A hospital was built on the original 250 acres.

When it was finally put back together in the early 60s, still overlooking the Hudson, Boscobel opened, showing some of the finest period furnishings of the early 1800s. So fine, it is said, that its collection is second only to that of the Metropolitan Museum’s.
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So what about the small room on the second floor?