Hudson River Valley

Artist Fredric Church created Olana in the same way he made art, with pencil sketches followed by more finished color sketches. Then, instead of painting the final work, he built it (with the help of architect Calvert Vaux.) Church designed the landscape, too, creating contrasting scenes of light and dark using open meadows and deep woods.

Church was among a group of artists who became known as the Hudson River School. He had been inspired by the Moorish architecture and design of Europe and the Middle East when he returned to the Hudson and bought the 126-acre farm,"Olana."

Olana remained in the Church family until 1966, when it was purchased by Olana Preservation Inc. and then passed to the State of New York.

For contact information, see Practicalities.