Adirondack camps : homes away from home, 1850-1950 / Craig Gilborn ; with a foreword by Paul Malo.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gilborn, Craig A.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Outdoor recreation--New York (State)--Adirondack Mountains--History.

Outdoor recreation.

Summer resorts--New York (State)--Adirondack Mountains--History.

Summer resorts.

Vacation homes--New York (State)--Adirondack Mountains--History.

Vacation homes.

History.

New York (State)--Adirondack Mountains.

Physical Description:

xxxii, 367 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 29 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Syracuse, NY : Adirondack Museum : Syracuse University Press, 2000.

Summary:

A comprehensive social and architectural history of camps in the Adirondacks, from primitive bank shanties and cabins of trappers, loggers, and guides to the great camps where the rich played at roughing it in the company of servants and personal guides.

Enhanced by more than three hundred illustrations, this book provides the most extensive history of both the celebrated great camps and the lesser-known but more popular hideaways of the North Country. Craig Gilborn, author of the award-winning Adirondack Furniture and the Rustic Tradition, presents new information about these idyllic sanctuaries and the social life, rituals, and traditions associated with them.

Adirondack Camps opens with a survey of log and bark structures that were shelters for trappers, guides, and sporting parties -- the forerunners to the architect-designed camps of the 1890s. As the rails brought increasing numbers of middle-class tourists to the Adirondacks, the wealthy created their own personal wilderness playgrounds by building exclusive clubs. Gilborn uses the term, "Great Camp" -- but critically -- offering a broader framework to include all of the woodland retreats that he has visited over the last twenty-five years. He explores cabins as both social and artistic expression. For its mixture vernacular and formal architecture, for instance, he examines the significance of the authentic rustic art of Kill Kare. He covers new territory, such as Brandreth Park, and examines the work of Robert Robertson, William West Durant, and William Coulter, to name a few architects.

Drawing on archival material, period literature, and privately published histories, Gilborn gives the book a breadth and authority thatwill be difficult to match.

Contents:

Foreword: Beyond the Blue Line, Paul Malo xvii

Introduction: Camp

E Pluribus Unum xxv

1 The Log Cabin as American Symbol 11

2 Adirondack Guides and Caretakers 23

3 Open Camps and Shanties 39

4 Log Cabin, Log House, Home into Hotel 61

5 Land and the Formation of Private Preserves 81

6 Clubs 99

7 Transitional Camps and Tents 119

8 Decorous Adirondack Camps 159

9 Other Features of the Decorous Camp 197

10 Trophy Camps and Their Early Designers 217

11 Old Forge and Saranac Lake Architects 249

12 Kamp Kill Kare: Prodigy Camp 273

A. "Great" Camps and Their Care 299

B. Projects of Durant, Coulter, and Distin 309.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-349) and index.

ISBN:

0815606265

OCLC:

43115063