Vassar Institute
Encyclopedia
The Vassar Institute building is located at Main and Vassar streets in Poughkeepsie
, New York, United States, across from the architecturally similar Vassar Home for Aged Men
. It is a late-19th century building combining the Italianate
, Victorian Gothic and Second Empire architectural style
s.
It was established by Matthew Vassar
's nephews on the site of the brewery
which established the family fortune. It has served as a museum and art studio in the past, and has a 300-seat auditorium
in the rear. In 1972 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
. Later it also became a contributing property
to the Mill Street-North Clover Street Historic District
. Both it and the Home for Aged Men are now used by the Cuneen-Hackett Arts Center.
building in running bond with granite
trim. The masonry walls with balloon framing inside are faced in brick in running bond. It is topped with a mansard roof
, with four round-arched dormer windows and projecting Italianate tower. At the roofline is a carved wooden cornice
with alternating large and small brackets
, above a frieze
with applied moldings
in geometric patterns.
A large portico
projects from the middle of the east (front) facade
. It is supported by two pairs of columns with granite capitals
on an iron plinth
base. Atop them is a broken arch pediment
.
The building's heavy and ornate exterior is a direct contrast to its spacious, open interior. The main entrance opens onto a hall which leads to the auditorium at the rear. The approximately 200 original cast-iron
seats are arranged on four descending, curving levels, with leatherette upholstery. On either side is a balcony
with circular box, supported by wooden columns with brackets and ball drops, and two tall, round-arched stained glass
windows. The proscenium
has vestiges of the original valances
.
styles can be seen in the Vassar Institute building: the decorative cornices of Italianate
buildings, the heaviness of Victorian Gothic and the mansard roof common on Second Empire buildings. Many features are similar to designs by James Renwick, Jr.
, for the early buildings of Vassar College
in the 1860s. The colorful exterior recalls the polychrome brick buildings of the preceding decades as well.
, furthering the family's interest in education and culture. J.A. Wood's design was completed in 1882.
Its first floor was a natural history museum and the second story a library, also providing home offices to the Poughkeepsie Literary Society and Poughkeepsie Society of Natural Sciences. The third floor was, and still is, an art studio. The auditorium hosted a lecture series on winter Tuesdays.
Later, the Eastman Business College
used some of the rooms. During the 1930s, the Community Theater put on its plays in the auditorium. By the late 1960s the building was little-used and neglected, in need of new heating and plumbing. Many community groups showed interest in renovating it, and eventually the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center was able to do so. It has since renovated the theater and turned some of the space into a 1200 square feet (111.5 m²) dance studio
, artists' loft
s and a music-instruction studio in addition to art galleries
.
Poughkeepsie (city), New York
Poughkeepsie is a city in the state of New York, United States, which serves as the county seat of Dutchess County. Poughkeepsie is located in the Hudson River Valley midway between New York City and Albany...
, New York, United States, across from the architecturally similar Vassar Home for Aged Men
Vassar Home for Aged Men
The former Vassar Home for Aged Men is located at Main and Vassar streets in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. It is just across the street from the architecturally similar Vassar Institute....
. It is a late-19th century building combining the Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
, Victorian Gothic and Second Empire architectural style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
s.
It was established by Matthew Vassar
Matthew Vassar
Matthew Vassar was an English-born American brewer and merchant. He founded the eponymous Vassar College in 1861.He was a cousin of John Ellison Vassar.-Background:...
's nephews on the site of the brewery
Brewery
A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....
which established the family fortune. It has served as a museum and art studio in the past, and has a 300-seat auditorium
Auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...
in the rear. In 1972 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. Later it also became a contributing property
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
to the Mill Street-North Clover Street Historic District
Mill Street-North Clover Street Historic District
The Mill Street-North Clover Street Historic District is located along those streets and Main Street in western Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. It is an irregularly-shaped area of between US 9 and downtown Poughkeepsie, located on the slope up from the Hudson River...
. Both it and the Home for Aged Men are now used by the Cuneen-Hackett Arts Center.
Building
The building is a two-story, three-bayBay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
building in running bond with granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
trim. The masonry walls with balloon framing inside are faced in brick in running bond. It is topped with a mansard roof
Mansard roof
A mansard or mansard roof is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper that is punctured by dormer windows. The roof creates an additional floor of habitable space, such as a garret...
, with four round-arched dormer windows and projecting Italianate tower. At the roofline is a carved wooden cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
with alternating large and small brackets
Bracket (architecture)
A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf. Brackets are often in the form of scrolls, and can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be entirely...
, above a frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
with applied moldings
Molding (decorative)
Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...
in geometric patterns.
A large portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
projects from the middle of the east (front) facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
. It is supported by two pairs of columns with granite capitals
Capital (architecture)
In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...
on an iron plinth
Plinth
In architecture, a plinth is the base or platform upon which a column, pedestal, statue, monument or structure rests. Gottfried Semper's The Four Elements of Architecture posited that the plinth, the hearth, the roof, and the wall make up all of architectural theory. The plinth usually rests...
base. Atop them is a broken arch pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
.
The building's heavy and ornate exterior is a direct contrast to its spacious, open interior. The main entrance opens onto a hall which leads to the auditorium at the rear. The approximately 200 original cast-iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
seats are arranged on four descending, curving levels, with leatherette upholstery. On either side is a balcony
Balcony
Balcony , a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade.-Types:The traditional Maltese balcony is a wooden closed balcony projecting from a...
with circular box, supported by wooden columns with brackets and ball drops, and two tall, round-arched stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
windows. The proscenium
Proscenium
A proscenium theatre is a theatre space whose primary feature is a large frame or arch , which is located at or near the front of the stage...
has vestiges of the original valances
Window valance
A window valance is a form of window treatment that covers the uppermost part of the window and can be hung alone or paired with window blinds, or curtains. Valances are a popular decorative choice in concealing drapery hardware. Window valances were popular in Victorian interior design...
.
Aesthetics
An eclectic combination of VictorianVictorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
styles can be seen in the Vassar Institute building: the decorative cornices of Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
buildings, the heaviness of Victorian Gothic and the mansard roof common on Second Empire buildings. Many features are similar to designs by James Renwick, Jr.
James Renwick, Jr.
James Renwick, Jr. , was a prominent American architect in the 19th-century. The Encyclopedia of American Architecture calls him "one of the most successful American architects of his time".-Life and work:Renwick was born into a wealthy and well-educated family...
, for the early buildings of Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
in the 1860s. The colorful exterior recalls the polychrome brick buildings of the preceding decades as well.
History
The Vassars spent $30,000 ($ in contemporary dollars) to put up the Institute on the site of their uncle's breweryBrewery
A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....
, furthering the family's interest in education and culture. J.A. Wood's design was completed in 1882.
Its first floor was a natural history museum and the second story a library, also providing home offices to the Poughkeepsie Literary Society and Poughkeepsie Society of Natural Sciences. The third floor was, and still is, an art studio. The auditorium hosted a lecture series on winter Tuesdays.
Later, the Eastman Business College
Eastman Business College
The Eastman Business College was a business school located in Poughkeepsie, New York.It was founded in 1859 by Harvey G. Eastman, and was for a time one of the largest commercial schools in the United States....
used some of the rooms. During the 1930s, the Community Theater put on its plays in the auditorium. By the late 1960s the building was little-used and neglected, in need of new heating and plumbing. Many community groups showed interest in renovating it, and eventually the Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center was able to do so. It has since renovated the theater and turned some of the space into a 1200 square feet (111.5 m²) dance studio
Dance studio
A dance studio is a space in which dancers learn or rehearse. The term is typically used to describe a space that has either been built or equipped for the purpose....
, artists' loft
Loft
A loft can be an upper story or attic in a building, directly under the roof. Alternatively, a loft apartment refers to large adaptable open space, often converted for residential use from some other use, often light industrial...
s and a music-instruction studio in addition to art galleries
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
.