396 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



October, 1908 



The Structure Is of Stucco with Roof of Bright Red Tiles, as It Appears After the Alterations 



'Sunny side,' a Home and Shrine 



By Perriton Maxwell 

 Photographs by Arthur Hewitt 



F ALL literary landmarks in America there 

 is none of greater historic interest, none 

 more individually engaging, none better 

 preserved than "Sunnyside," the home of 

 Washington Irving, which stands on the 

 northern edge of Irvington-on-the-Hudson, 

 N. Y. Be- 



sides being the one-time domi- 

 cile of a world-famed master 

 of letters, this fine old house, 

 a part of which dates back to 

 the middle of the seventeenth 

 century, is a charming ex- 

 ample of pure Dutch architec- 

 ture, simple in its lines and 

 effective from any view- 

 point. 



This interesting structure is 

 built of stucco with a roofing 

 of bright red tiles. The tops 

 of the side walls are stepped 

 in the old-time Dutch fashion; 

 the windows are casemented 

 and set with small leaded 

 panes. The south front re- 

 mains to-day as it was vvhen 

 Irving lived and wrote behind 

 its ivy-clad walls. The charm 

 of the place is now precisely 

 what it was in the author's 

 lifetime; it has been preserved 

 with loving care since its fam- 

 ous owner passed into the 

 shadows here in 1859. On 



Washington Irving 



the river side gable of the house proper the date of its 

 building (1650) is let into the stone in iron letters, quaintly 

 formed. Irving acquired the property in 1 835. It had been 

 in the possession of a Dutch family that had fallen upon evil 

 financial days. It had appealed to the author of "The 

 Sketch Book" long before he had formed a determination to 



buy it; he had made it the fo- 

 cal point of interest in "Wol- 

 fert's Roost," the home of 

 Jacob Van Tassel, in one of 

 the Legends of Sleepy Hol- 

 low, and when Irving finally 

 purchased the place it was his 

 thought to make it merely a 

 kind of rural hiding place to 

 which he might flee when 

 work was pressing or the 

 fever of city life oppressed 

 him. The existing small stone 

 house was almost a ruin when 

 Irving made it his own, and 

 he immediately set about 

 making it habitable. The 

 work of repairing begun, the 

 inevitable adding to, extend- 

 ing and enlarging process en- 

 sued. The present porch 

 entrance was put up and a 

 wing thrown out. What had 

 started as a simple job of 

 repairing ultimately became 

 a considerable contract, for 

 there was a general amplifi- 

 cation and augmenting of the 



