Pieter Bronk built this one room house about 1663. A true pioneer home of just one room, it is the oldest surviving structure in the Hudson Valley and our guide to visualizing life in the 17th century. The steep roof, casement windows, and fieldstone walls represent a time when Indians and wolves were still a challenge to life and stock. The early scripture painting is a reminder of Dutch faith and Biblical parallels to their own experiences. A later paneled fireplace wall with cupboards marks the advance of English culture in the Hudson Valley just before the Revolution.
Artists see relationships where others see mere objects.
It is in the relationship of objects within light and shadow that artists, whether with brush or camera, focus our eyes on the significant and the beautiful. This photo is a case in point. A window in a closet looking onto a blank wall is a perplexing and thus distracting. But with the right objects, light, and arrangement it becomes a visual delight which, like good music, does not tire with repetition. It is a gestalt, like good art, it is more than a sum of its parts.