Historic Huguenot Street (HHS) announces the publication of Legacies on the Land: Historic Houses, Hamlets, and Landscapes of Southern Ulster County, edited by Vals Osborne, HHS Board Vice Chair.
The book is based upon material from Wallkill Valley Land Trust’s (WVLT) popular “Houses on the Land” annual historic house tours that spanned ten years and ten communities. According to Mary Etta Schneider, HHS Board Chair, “Upon conclusion of the house tours, Vals approached us with the idea to incorporate the years of research completed for the tours into one unified, re-envisioned book with expanded and updated content, including an insightful introduction to the region’s natural and incredibly rich social history by leading Hudson Valley scholars. Vals’ vision for this important historical record fit nicely with HHS’s vision and educational mission, and we wanted to support this project.” The book retails for $35 and is available for both in-person and online sales in the HHS Museum Shop and through the publisher, Black Dome Press (blackdomepress.com).
Legacies on the Land is the history of the land, people, and architecture of one of the earliest regions to be colonized by Europeans in what is now New York State. The book follows the early settlement of southern Ulster County by the Dutch, Huguenots, Walloons, English, Palatines, and enslaved Africans on the homelands of the Munsee Lenape as settlement spread outward from New Paltz to neighboring townships. The nineteenth-century influx of Germans, Irish, Italians, and others added to the rich cultural mix and to the visible legacy that has been passed down generationally for 350 years. Researched and written by a cadre of talented volunteers including historians and noted authors, the book explores the region’s townships and provides in-depth essays on over 150 architectural gems in every style from early Dutch fieldstone houses to 21st-century modernism. Wineries and grass-fed meat farms have replaced the original 17th-century subsistence farms, and hamlets have become villages, but this historic land retains its rural character and a diverse beauty that remains a beacon today.
The book’s editor, Vals Osborne, was an art historian and gallerist in New York City for over ten years, then served as director of education at Young Presidents Organization (YPO, an international educational association of presidents of companies). As founding director of Sotheby’s Institute, she designed numerous programs on the arts and architecture in the United States and Europe, in addition to the accredited annual graduate-level American Arts Course, still running today. Throughout the ensuing years as a real estate specialist in NYC historic townhouses, she continued to pursue her twin passions for historic preservation and land conservation through active service on the boards of Village Preservation (Greenwich Village), Historic Huguenot Street, as well as Wallkill Valley Land Trust, to which she donated an easement on the extensive farmlands abutting her restored 1831 farmhouse, now on the National Register.
“It gives me great joy and a sense of fulfillment to share with a wider public the fruits of more than a decade of inspiring collaboration by many dedicated volunteers including regional and architectural historians, special librarians, historical societies, and local enthusiasts. We hope readers will enjoy this adventure as much as we have loved creating it.” Osborne continues, “As stated by architectural historian Neil Larson: ‘There’s nothing new about historic house tours, but the bar has been raised with updated, expanded, and authenticated stories about these towns and their distinctive historic architecture for the next generation.’”
Christopher Pryslopski, editor for The Hudson River Valley Review wrote: “With its all-star cast of authors, great diversity of places, and many exclusive color images, Legacies on the Land is an essential book for enthusiasts and scholars of our region’s rich history. The material has been thoroughly revised and expanded upon with a new introduction on the region’s natural and social history setting the scene for detailed discussions of well over 150 remarkable examples of its buildings, its builders, and their legacies.”
About Historic Huguenot Street
A National Historic Landmark District, Historic Huguenot Street (HHS) is a 501(c)3 non-profit museum dedicated to preserving a pre-Revolutionary Hudson Valley settlement and engaging diverse audiences in the exploration of America’s multicultural past to understand the historical forces that have shaped America. As an educational institution founded by the town’s French-speaking Protestant descendants and chartered by the University of the State of New York Department of Education, HHS explores the lives of the early European colonists, honors the region’s Indigenous people, and acknowledges the enslaved and disenfranchised peoples who built New Paltz. Today, HHS is recognized as an innovative museum and community gathering place, providing visitors with an inclusive presentation of our shared past. For more information visit www.huguenotstreet.org.