“Life Along the Hudson” Shows The Style To Which The Livingstons Were Accustomed
Focusing its lens acutely on the gorgeous, historic homes of the Livingston family and their luxurious riverside dynasty, Life Along the Hudson: The Historic Country Estates of the Livingston Family is no ordinary local history book. Its author, Pieter Estersohn, an accomplished and busy style and design photographer, has crafted a story about the iconic family’s homes that leads with its unparalleled photographs.
“I’ve always been interested in the best of any particular discipline,” said Estersohn. “What this book allowed me to do from a design and history standpoint (and certainly there’s also a regional parenthetical) is address the history of American architecture, design, and landscape design through the eyes and budget of one family.”
It’s been a long time since many of the 36 homes featured in this book have been documented and certainly never before in such a visually striking way. In Life Along the Hudson, Estersohn gives each structure its due star turn in more than 400 elegant photographs.
"I didn’t want this to be a dry regurgitation of dates, Estersohn said. "So, through the pictures and the writing, I try to bring in information about contemporary design and the contemporary homeowners, as well. So it will read a little bit between a history book and a shelter magazine."
To kick off his book tour, Estersohn has worked with Hudson Hall to set up a series of events at notable Livingston family homes where experts will talk about topics specific to the homes and their particular area of expertise. As a photographer, Estersohn is accustomed to collaborating, and these events bring the book to life in ways people wouldn’t expect.
“We felt that [doing it this way] was a little more interesting and could draw people in from different areas with things that might be of interest to them,” Estersohn said. “The event at Hudson Hall is with David Byars (Vogue deputy managing editor) who helped me put the book together. We are going to talk about process and editing... and nerd out."
Estersohn is the sixth generation of his family to be born and raised in Manhattan. His mother was an abstract expressionist painter and he grew up with art all around him. Even as a child, as well as throughout college, he was fascinated with the imagery and history of country estates here and in Europe, where he would start his career doing fashion shoots for British and Italian Vogue.
“I was living in Paris and I shot the models in these incredible 18th-century houses. The location where I was shooting was always very important to me,” Estersohn said of his early career. “I came back to the States and I moved into shooting interiors for Elle Décor and Architectural Digest, and from there I did a lot of travel for Condé Nast Traveler and Departures. I’ve worked on 70-something books at this point but this is the first book that I’ve written. I really picked an insane project for a first book to write.”
In 2010 he was looking for a country house for himself and found his own breathtaking historic home, a Greek revival named Staats Hall (c.1839), in Red Hook, New York. His fascination with the Livingstons soon followed after he joined the board of the Friends of Clermont and the exclusive and somewhat secretive Edgewood Club in Tivoli, which was started by the Livingston family in 1884.
“A lot of our friends were living in these [Livingston family built] houses and I was always so curious about being on River Road and Woods Road and thinking ‘what the hell is down that driveway!’” Estersohn said. “I’ve always felt a seduction from this region. It had a lot of mystery to me, and a lot of history, and very interesting people.”
Estersohn said the book came together naturally; as he researched one house he discovered material he felt hadn't been addressed, and certainly not in any comprehensive way. He was surprised to find that most of the houses in the book haven’t been photographed in a modern context. Over a period of three years, Estersohn’s project grew as he found more and more homes, and more and more Livingstons.
“I just had this insatiable curiosity of putting the pieces of this puzzle together,” he said. “It’s a family that’s published a lot about themselves but I felt like I could bring a fresh and modern and clear voice to the story. What was really interesting to me was getting to know the different members of the family and this petri dish which was created over many, many generations of complete and utter eccentricity, creativity, philanthropy, patronage of the arts, etc."
As much as Estersohn was drawn to the beauty of the homes, he was drawn to the characters that he discovered, finding what he calls his "missing links" — people in their 80s and 90s — and delving into their wealth of knowledge.
“There’s a patrimony of stories,” he said. “Some is gossip, some are stories that have passed through. I felt very honored to speak with them and include their stories anecdotally in the narrative. Weaving the social history together with the elements of design are the makeup of the soul of a home. What was their economic situation? Were they sticking themselves against the wall to build this house, was this one of eight houses? I’m also sort of documenting the vicissitudes of home ownership.”
Life Along the Hudson, is as beautiful a local history as you’ll find anywhere, but its other great novelty is the fresh perspective of the author. Through his photographer’s eye he captures the details of the Livingston family style and character while keeping the bigger picture in focus.
Life Along the Hudson: The Historic Country Estates of the Livingston Family by Pieter Estersohn
Book Launch and Tour with Hudson Hall.
For tickets, visit hudsonhall.org or call (518) 822-1438.
Book Launch at Hudson Hall
Sunday, Sept. 23 at 3 p.m.
Talk and visual presentation, followed by a reception and book signing with the author.
Free, reservations recommended. Pieter Estersohn and David Byars (deputy managing editor of Vogue), present an insider’s view of the Livingstons historic houses along the Hudson River.
Teviotdale: Old Steamboat Days on the Hudson River
Saturday, Oct. 6 at 4 p.m.
Tickets: $25. Space is limited.
Kent Barwick, a board member of The SS Columbia Project, talks about former Teviotdale resident Robert Fulton and his efforts to establish steamboats as the first commercial transport on American waterways.
Edgewater: The Elements of Style
Sunday, Oct. 14 at 2 p.m.
Tickets: $25. Space is limited.
Peter Kenny, Co-Director of Classical American Homes Preservation Trust and former Curator and Administrator in the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum, discusses the preservation and interpretation of Edgewater.
The Bouwerie: Preservation
Saturday, Oct. 20 at 4 p.m.
Tickets: $25. Space is limited.
Owner of The Bouwerie, Dianne O’Neal, is joined by preservation carpenter Emily Majer to discuss the process of peeling back layers of previous renovations to discover the intentions of the original builder.
Chiddingstone: Restoring a Hudson Valley Treasure
Saturday, Nov. 17 at 4 p.m.
Tickets: $25. Space is limited.
Chiddingstone has recently been impeccably restored by architect Hermes Mallea and interior designer Carey Maloney, partners in M(Group). Mallea and Maloney will give a tour of the house and discuss their approach to restoring the mansion.
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