Objects of Desire: Fine Objects Society Retreat Honors the Things That Connect Us

Every object has a story. A cabinet leg carved in the 18th century bends history into the room. A ceramic bowl worn at the lip by generations of mouths is an archive of use. A silver teaspoon, smudged and burnished, stirs not just sugar but memory. The Fine Objects Society (FOS)—an association of collectors, curators, dealers, and design enthusiasts—was founded on the belief that handcrafted historic objects don’t just sit in vitrines, they hum with vitality, refracting past into present.

This October 11–13, FOS convenes its Annual Members Retreat at Midwood an 18th-century estate in Germantown perched on 75 acres overlooking the Hudson River. The site itself is an object lesson: part of the original 1686 Livingston land grant, the estate remained in that storied family for nearly three centuries before entering the annals of historic preservation. Today, Midwood is a 10-bedroom time capsule, its architecture and setting folded into the Federal Hudson River Historic District. Which is to say: it’s a fitting backdrop for a weekend devoted to contemplating the past as a living presence.

Midwood, an 18th-century estate in Germantown overlooking the Hudson River, will host the Fine Objects Society’s annual retreat, October 11–13.

A Society of the Curious

The Fine Objects Society is itself a recent arrival on the cultural landscape. Founded in 2024 by Ben Miller—director of research at S. J. Shrubsole and host of the “Curious Objects” podcast—the group aims to promote a renewed interest in historic objects and the decorative arts and a mutually supportive network of object lovers. Its members include gallerists, curators, designers, collectors, and aficionados who gather online and in person for newsletters, interviews, and retreats that champion the delight and importance of fine historic objects.Paying attention to fine handcrafted historic objects is delightful, rewarding, revealing, and crucial,” Miller says. “This retreat embodies our mission to encourage that work, support the people who do it, build enthusiasm, and advance public interest in understanding, valuing, and caring for these objects.”

Programming: From Crawl to Conversation

Sponsored by the Magazine Antiques and STAIR Gallery in Hudson, the retreat’s programming aims for immersion, mixing intimate talks with behind-the-scenes access. The lineup includes:

• Conversations and Keynotes with Germantown’s own Benjamin Q. Davidson and Pippa Biddle (founders of Quittner), design historian Steffi Ibis Duarte (curator at Manitoga in Garrison), Jean Lee and Dylan Davis of Ladies & Gentlemen Studio, and writer-editor-designer Monica Nelson.
• Hudson Antiques Crawl along Warren Street in Hudson, that motherlode of gilt and patina.
• STAIR Galleries Insider Preview, where Colin Stair himself leads a tour through one of the nation’s premier auction houses, offering a sneak peek of October sales and a walk-through of STAIR’s restoration studio.
• Curatorial Tours at the Clermont State Historic Site and the Thomas Cole Historic Site, pairing Georgian grandeur with Catskill-Romantic inspiration.
• Private Collector Visit, an intimate evening reception at the Red Hook home of architectural photographer Pieter Estersohn, a setting that itself blurs the line between living space and visual archive.

Optional add-ons bracket the retreat: a jaunt to Field + Supply’s Fall MRKT in Kingston and an extended tour of the Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill.

Writer and graphic designer Monica Nelson, author of These Long Shadows: Women’s House Museums in the American South, will speak about the process of researching and writing the book.

Community in the Making

Though still new, FOS’s growing reach suggests a hunger for community around objects in an age of digital ephemera and fast design. There’s something reassuring—even radical—in slowing down to trace the curve of a chair arm or the brushwork of a teacup’s glaze. By building a network that spans professionals and enthusiasts, FOS is both reviving connoisseurship and reinventing it, folding transparency, access, and unconventional partnerships into its mission.

Registration for the retreat runs $450 for members and $535 for non-members (which includes a year’s membership), with limited on-site lodging at Midwood for those who want to steep themselves fully in history.

The objects, after all, aren’t going anywhere. They wait, patient and inscrutable, until someone picks them up and listens. The Fine Objects Society is betting that more of us are ready to tune in.