Driving up Warren Street in Glens Falls, it’s impossible not to admire Hyde House. The Neo-Italian Renaissance villa is not only unusual architecture in upstate New York, it’s the heart of the Hyde Collection, an esteemed art museum and crown jewel of the city. But the roadside view was quite different in the 1920s and 1930s, when the Pruyn sisters lived on the seven-acre property and their three handsome gray stucco homes were embraced by one of the grandest gardens of the Adirondacks. Posted on July 6, 2008.
“The Little Garden (behind Hoopes House),” ca. 1930, is an autochrome lumiere — an early version of color photography. It is attributed to Henrietta Hudson, a pioneer in color photography, who lived in Bolton Landing. From “A Glens Falls Legacy: The Pruyn Family,” at the Hyde Collection.
Photographer and Schenectady native George Sauter shot this photograph of “The Long Walk (Row of Arborvitae)” in 1919. From “A Glens Falls Legacy: The Pruyn Family,” at the Hyde Collection.
William Merritt Chase,
American, 1849-1916;
"Landscape, near Coney Island," ca. 1886,
Oil on panel;
From “A Shared Life: Selections from the Pruyn Family Collection,” at the Hyde Collection.
William Guy Wall,
American, 1792-1864;
"Glens Falls and Factory View from the East," ca. 1820,
watercolor on paper;
From there’s “A Shared Life: Selections from the Pruyn Family Collection,” at the Hyde Collection.
Edmund Tarbell,
American, 1862-1938:
"Portrait of Mary Van Ness Hyde," 1909,
oil on canvas;
From “A Shared Life: Selections from the Pruyn Family Collection,” at the Hyde Collection.
Alice Ruggles,
American, 1880-1969;
"Portrait of Samuel and Polly Hoopes," 1910,
Oil on canvas;
From “A Shared Life: Selections from the Pruyn Family Collection,” at the Hyde Collection.
Garden view of Hoopes House (with east porch), ca. 1913; attributed to Henrietta Hudson; From “A Glens Falls Legacy: The Pruyn Family,” at the Hyde Collection.
Janet Scudder,
American, 1869-1940;
"Shell Fountain (Child Holding a Shell)," ca. 1900,
bronze; From “A Shared Life: Selections from the Pruyn Family Collection,” at the Hyde Collection.
Dutch Rococo-style armchair;
walnut, printed linen upholstery, velvet;
From "A Shared Life: Selections from the Pruyn Family Collection,” at the Hyde Collection.
Paulus Moreelse,
Dutch, 1571-1638;
"Portrait of a Girl," ca. 1623-29, oil on canvas;
From “A Shared Life: Selections from the Pruyn Family Collection,” at the Hyde Collection.
Plate, "On the River Arno Italy" ca. 1815
English porcelain, overglaze enamels, gilding;
“A Shared Life: Selections from the Pruyn Family Collection,” at the Hyde Collection.
Wedgwood pottery bowl, ca. 1825;
Maker: Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, English, Staffordshire;
From “A Shared Life: Selections from the Pruyn Family Collection,” at the Hyde Collection.
“Pruyn Sisters with their Mother on the Wedding Day of Mary Pruyn, 1901.” From left: Nell Pruyn, Charlotte Pruyn Hyde, Eliza Pruyn, Mary Pruyn Hoopes. From “A Glens Falls Legacy: The Pruyn Family,” at the Hyde Collection.
This silver gelatin print, “Hyde House, southwestern view,” was shot in the 1930s by photographer and Schenectady native George Sauter. From “A Glens Falls Legacy: The Pruyn Family,” at the Hyde Collection.