Preview the House and Grounds

A visit to Cedar Grove provides entry to the world of the man who became the father of American landscape painting and founder of the Hudson River School of art. Visitors are invited to gather in the Visitor Center where they may purchase tickets and reserve a place for the guided tour of the Main House and the Old Studio. Admission to the grounds is free of charge, including the historic perennial gardens, the 200-year-old Honey Locust tree, and the west porch where one of the most perfect views of the Catskill Mountain range can be enjoyed. A mountain-view guide is situated on the western part of the porch to enable you to identify the major peaks in the mountain landscape. The guided tour leaves from the Visitor Center with groups of about 12 visitors at a time, and enters the 1815 Federal yellow-brick Main House which contains the historic rooms where the Cole family lived, including the West Parlor where Thomas Cole was married, and the West Bedroom where his children were born and where Cole breathed his last breath in 1848. The Main House also includes gallery rooms, where exhibitions of art from the Hudson River School and beyond are on display. The tour continues into the "Old Studio" where Cole painted many of his best known works, and where Cole's original easel and art-making materials are on view. At the conclusion of the tour, visitors may wish to browse the museum shop where a variety of items related to Thomas Cole and landscape painting are available for purchase, and to read the educational panels and displays before they depart.

From the porch of the Main House, one of the most perfect views of the Catskill Mountain range can be enjoyed.

The flower garden is planted with the flowers of the 19th century, as captured in this painting by Charles Herbert Moore in 1868.

The c. 1815 Federal style brick Main House is painted a soft yellow, which is an exact match of the paint used in Thomas Cole's time.

The beautiful, light-filled interior of the Main House tells the story of Thomas Cole's life at Cedar Grove.

The Old Studio has been restored to its 1840's appearance, and offers a greater understanding of the artist and his working environment.

In the gallery rooms, exhibitions of art from the Hudson River School and beyond are on display. Pictured above: Thomas Cole, Prometheus Bound, oil on canvas. On extended loan from the Catskill Public Library.