Previous projects have created draperies to make most of the mansion’s main floor once again look as beautiful and historically accurate as possible: now we are tackling the final two rooms to make the main floor complete!

The Drawing Room was a place for receiving callers and for ladies to “withdraw” for conversation and refreshments. The Oval Room was a place for guests to gather before Mrs. Mills led them into the dining room.

The Oval Room lost its drapes several years ago due to the disintegration of the fabrics: several panels fell from their rods and all were then removed.  Having no drapes on these windows is odd and provides an inaccurate appearance for this room. The drawing room is in a similar situation: one panel of the original draperies recently began to fall, and had to be removed for fear that nearby collections could be damaged.

Staatsburgh’s mansion is among a special group of historic homes in America that retain their original furnishings, and maintaining the intended opulence in its interior decoration is critical to supporting increased visitation.

As you may know from our previous restoration projects, the decorative aesthetic of the period, for wealthy homes, was dominated by elaborate and sumptuous fabrics: draperies, wall coverings, upholstery and other items.  Fabrics, however, are intrinsically ephemeral, and in order to maintain the grandeur of the mansion, the site and the Friends have–over the past decade–collaborated on several projects to replace original fabrics devastated by over a century of light and environmental changes.

We have applied for a grant from Parks and Trails NY to partially cover the cost of custom fabric, trims and tieback. The draperies will once again be hand-sewn by a group of expert volunteers, the New York Capital District Chapter of the Embroiderers’ Guild of America who we worked with for both the dining room and library drapery reproduction projects.

We are excited – this project will complete the replacement of historically accurate draperies for the entire main floor!

Click through the gallery below to see the current condition of the draperies.