CURRENT PROJECT: KITCHEN RESTORATION

The kitchen continues to deteriorate.

The tiles are held up with adhesive paper.

That can’t last forever.

Decorative flourish

The Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation’s Environmental Protection Fund awarded a $30,500 grant to the Friends to restore the tiled walls and ceilings of 3 rooms of the kitchen and workroom suite and repaint ceilings. The Friends will need to match this $30,500.

This restoration will allow a more inclusive and essential story to be told of the kitchen as the heart of the mansion and how the estate’s 3 French chefs, kitchen staff and servants created and served gourmet, 12-course French cuisine in an enormous formal dining room, using 19th and 20th-century tools and technology, to high society guests.

As John Bute, the 8th Marquess of Bute and great-great-nephew of Gladys Phipps, said in his letter of support for this project, “Being able to see and understand how chefs in the past worked and the spaces they used is a profound experience.  Culinary history and arts are unique in the way it transcends in engaging the public in understanding the past and building a link between us and our ancestors.”

 

Click through the gallery below to see the current condition of the kitchen and the project’s progress.

EDUCATION


Staatsburgh is an unforgettable classroom where students explore the world of 100 years ago. Depending on their grade level, they may learn about the lifestyles of Gilded Age millionaires and servants, about immigration and industrialization, or how the estate functioned as an independent community. The Friends partners with the Staatsburgh State Historic Site team to fund the development of new programs and exhibits. We were recently awarded two grants to help us create a more engaging family experience.

Decorative flourish

 

For more details on current programs:

Visit the Staatsburgh Education topic

Decorative background detail view of a ceiling
 

“My favorite room is the dining room because it is the wow factor of the house. The big event when people visited here was dinner. This was, if you notice, the most elaborate room in the house. This is where Mrs. Mills got to show off.”

-JOE D’AGOSTINO-