Category: Uncategorized
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Potty Mouth: Archeological Find at Clermont
Clermont has been a busy place for the past few weeks as we were granted some special attention from our state maintenance crews. Much-needed work has been completed on pathways, utility buildings, and inside the mansion. At right you can see our Master Plasterer Scott Pulver drilling holes into the ceiling of the Sewing Room (image…
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How Shall We Set the Table?
For many modern Americans casual home dining has limited the importance of setting a fancy dinner table. But at Clermont and in an historic sites around the country, setting and re-setting the dining room table seasonally is something that we put a lot of thought into. Setting and re-setting the dining room table at Clermont…
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Never too Early: Halloween Silhouettes in July
Since one of the main focuses of my job at Clermont involves planning events, as soon as one is over, I am already looking forward to the next. It\’s only July, but I am already thinking about Halloween… Even though there was heat advisory out for yesterday, I am already thinking about cold breezes, crackling…
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"Crops of All Kinds": Clermont Livingston\'s Garden Journal
I got a request from a friend to share a little bit more about early gardens at Clermont. While not a lot of records exist about the earliest plantings, I do have Clermont Livingston\’s garden journal to help me on my way. I hope this is what you were looking for Tina! In the nineteenth…
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Cars and Clermont
The Livingstons loved their cars. Although for a long time John Henry vehemently opposed automobiles even driving onto the estate\’s grounds, in 1917 he finally relented and purchased the family\’s first car. In Honoria\’s eyes, this was late, as many wealthy families had been purchasing automobiles since the tale end of the nineteenth century, and…
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Beating the Heat in History
As some of you may know, New York is in the midst of a heat wave with Poughkeepsie temperatures topping 100 for the first time in nine years. Never fond of air conditioning myself, I thought I would look at some of ways Americans have struggled to make it through the crush of summer heat…
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Reenactors, Story Tellers, and Dancers–Oh My!
Given Clermont\’s direct ties to the American Revolution, Independence Day is a big deal around here. On Sunday and Monday, July 4th and 5th, you can find a little something for everybody at Clermont State Historic Site’s Old-Fashioned Independence Day two-day event. On Sunday, reenactors in 18th century costume, firing demonstrations, live music, kids’ entertainment,…
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My Favorite Room at Clermont: The Bathroom
One of my favorite rooms in any historic house is the bathroom. I can\’t help it! According to Wiki Answers, the average modern American spends about two hours in the bathroom per week. So you can see that this room has become very important to all of us. But of course, indoor bathrooms were not…
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Philip "The Signer" Livingston
In honor of the approach of Indpendence Day, I think it is time we paid a little tribute to the Livingston who signed the Declaration of Independence. A large portait of Philip Livingston hangs in a place of honor in Clermont\’s drawing room. He is a fashionably-dressed–if not flashy–man with only hansome white ruffles at…
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Old Wives\' Tales: Mary Stevens Livingston
Fourth of July always brings about some research for me as I investigate charactors that will be brought to life for special tours. Margaret Beekman Livingston is a \”must.\” Her leadership of the family through the difficult times of the American Revolution and the exceptional efforts of our impersonator mean that there is no doubt…
Clermont State Historic Site 