Thomas Cole House
The preserved Catskill home and studios of painter Thomas Cole, presented as a museum and historic site.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
Thomas Cole House is the public-facing identity associated with the Thomas Cole National Historic Site, also known as Cedar Grove, in Catskill, New York. The site preserves the Federal-style house in which painter Thomas Cole lived with the Thomson family and his own family, together with the studio where he produced important works. Cole, who is widely regarded as the founder of the Hudson River School of American landscape painting, used Cedar Grove as both a home and a base for observing and painting the Catskill landscape. Cole began renting space at Cedar Grove in the early 1830s while maintaining a studio in New York City. He later purchased a small parcel from John A. Thomson, although he did not build the separate home he had contemplated. Instead, he lived in the main house, married Maria Bartow there in 1836, and raised four children on the property. The surrounding farm and mountain views became recurring subjects in his work, including paintings associated with Kaaterskill Falls and the Catskill wilderness. In 1839, Cole moved into a studio created from part of a Thomson family barn. The surviving studio included a north-facing window intended to provide favorable light for painting, and it was associated with major works including The Voyage of Life. Cole died at Cedar Grove in 1848. His death did not end the property's importance to American art. His student and friend Frederic Edwin Church, along with other artists such as Jasper Francis Cropsey and Charles Herbert Moore, continued to visit, sketch, and paint the house and grounds. Over subsequent decades, however, the family property was reduced by sales, public works, and financial pressures. A proposed route associated with the Rip Van Winkle Bridge threatened the property in the 1930s, although the house survived after the family succeeded in protecting part of the land. Preservation efforts intensified during the late twentieth century. After New York State declined to acquire the property, the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development purchased it in 1981 and placed it on the market with restrictive preservation covenants. Four art enthusiasts acquired it in 1982 and began restoration. The Greene County Historical Society purchased the site in 1998 with support from the Beecher Trust. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965 and became a National Historic Site in 1999; it is also an affiliated area of the National Park Service. Cedar Grove opened to the public in 2001 after substantial restoration. A reconstructed New Studio, based on Cole's 1846 design and historical visual evidence, opened in 2016. In 2019, the site joined with Olana State Historic Site and the New York State Bridge Authority to open the Hudson River Skywalk across the Rip Van Winkle Bridge. The walkway links two major Hudson River School locations and extends the site's role from a house museum into a broader cultural and landscape-heritage destination. Its present activities center on historic-house interpretation, collections and exhibitions, educational programming, preservation, artistic research, and visitor access to the landscapes that shaped Cole's work.
History
The land now associated with Thomas Cole House has a long pre-Cole history. In the late seventeenth century, Gysbert uyt den Bogaert acquired a large tract near the mouth of Catskill Creek and the Hudson River. The property was divided and sold over the eighteenth century. Development around Catskill accelerated in the 1790s, and Dr. Thomas Thomson became one of the area's early landowners. His family assembled a substantial farm and completed a Federal-style residence in 1816. The name Cedar Grove was documented during this period. After Dr. Thomson's death, his son Thomas T. Thomson and later his brother John A. Thomson, known as Uncle Sandy, maintained the property as a working farm. The farm included livestock, grain fields, orchards, and a large extended household. This domestic and agricultural setting became the environment into which Thomas Cole entered in the early 1830s. Cole sought a more permanent Catskill base while retaining professional connections in New York City. He rented space at Cedar Grove and painted the surrounding mountains, waterfalls, forests, and waterways. The property offered both a residence and direct access to the landscape that became central to his artistic identity. In 1836 he married Maria Bartow, a member of the Thomson family, in the house's West Parlor. Although he bought approximately two and a half acres with the intention of building a home, he continued to live in the main residence. Around the end of 1839, Cole moved into a studio adapted from part of a barn built by John A. Thomson. The studio's northern window was designed to improve the light available for painting. Cole created significant work there, including The Voyage of Life, while continuing to draw inspiration from Cedar Grove and the Catskills. After Thomson died in 1846, Cole built another studio on the grounds. That building was later demolished, but its history informed the twentieth-century reconstruction opened in 2016. Cole contracted pneumonia and died in the house in February 1848. Cedar Grove remained a place of pilgrimage for artists after Cole's death. Frederic Edwin Church, his student and close friend, documented aspects of the property, and artists including Jasper Francis Cropsey and Charles Herbert Moore visited, rented studio space, or made images of the site. Articles and descriptions in period publications helped preserve the property's reputation within American art history. The family's financial position deteriorated in the late nineteenth century. Church provided assistance in 1882, but the estate continued to shrink through land sales and public works. In the 1930s, construction connected with the Rip Van Winkle Bridge threatened the house, though only part of the land was taken. By the 1960s, historic gardens had declined, an early cottage had been demolished, and the last surviving Cole descendant auctioned paintings and furnishings. The property received National Historic Landmark recognition in 1965. New York State declined to preserve it, and the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development acquired it in 1981 with restrictive preservation conditions. Four art enthusiasts bought the site in 1982 and undertook restoration. In 1998, the Greene County Historical Society acquired it with assistance from the Beecher Trust. The National Park Service designated it a National Historic Site in 1999, and restoration allowed Cedar Grove to open to the public in 2001. Modern stewardship has expanded the site's interpretation beyond the surviving house. The 2016 New Studio reconstruction restored a missing element of Cole's working environment using documentary evidence. The 2019 Hudson River Skywalk, developed with Olana State Historic Site and the New York State Bridge Authority, created a pedestrian connection across the Hudson River between two major Hudson River School sites. Today the property functions as a museum, historic landscape, research and education resource, and National Park Service affiliated site.
- 2019
Hudson River Skywalk opens
[1]A pedestrian bridge connection opened across the Rip Van Winkle Bridge, linking Cedar Grove with Olana.
- 2016
Reconstructed New Studio opens
[1]A reconstruction of Cole's 1846 New Studio opened after research into historical images and documents.
- 2001
Cedar Grove opens to the public
[1]Major restoration enabled the historic property to begin public museum operations.
- 1999
National Historic Site designation
[1]Cedar Grove became a National Historic Site and an affiliated area of the National Park Service.
- 1998
Greene County Historical Society acquires the site
[1]The Greene County Historical Society purchased the property with support from the Beecher Trust.
- 1981
Preservation acquisition by the Catskill Center
[1]The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development purchased the property and placed restrictive preservation covenants on it.
- 1965
Designated a National Historic Landmark
[1]The property received National Historic Landmark status.
- 1848
Thomas Cole dies at Cedar Grove
[1]Cole died in the master bedroom after contracting pneumonia.
- 1839
Barn studio comes into use
[1]Cole moved into a studio adapted from part of a Thomson family barn.
- 1836
Cole marries Maria Bartow at Cedar Grove
[1]Cole and Maria Bartow were married in the house's West Parlor.
Products and positioning
A historic artist's home and museum that connects Thomas Cole's biography, studio practice, Hudson River School art, and the Catskill landscape in which his work developed.
Museum experience · 2001
Historic house and studio tours
Interpretive visits to the Thomson family house, the surviving barn studio used by Cole, and associated grounds. The experience presents Cole's domestic life, marriage, family relationships, working methods, and connection to the Catskill landscape.
Historic reconstruction · 2016
New Studio
A reconstruction of the studio Thomas Cole built in 1846 after the death of John A. Thomson. Although the original structure was demolished in 1973, the reconstruction uses historic photographs, sketches, and paintings to interpret Cole's later working environment.
Cultural landscape · 2001
Cedar Grove grounds and landscape interpretation
The grounds preserve the setting that shaped Cole's landscape practice, including views toward the Catskill Mountains and the broader Hudson River corridor. Landscape interpretation connects the physical site with paintings, letters, sketches, and the artistic development of the Hudson River School.
Heritage access · 2019
Hudson River Skywalk connection
A pedestrian route across the Rip Van Winkle Bridge connecting the Thomas Cole National Historic Site with Olana State Historic Site. The project presents the two properties as linked destinations within Hudson River School history.
Recent events
- 2019
Hudson River Skywalk opens between Thomas Cole and Olana historic sites[1]
Other
The historic site partnered with Olana State Historic Site and the New York State Bridge Authority on a pedestrian walkway across the Rip Van Winkle Bridge, linking two important Hudson River School locations.
- 2016
Thomas Cole National Historic Site opens reconstructed New Studio[1]
Other
A reconstruction of Thomas Cole's later studio, demolished in 1973, opened to visitors after research using historic photographs, artists' sketches, and a painting by Charles Herbert Moore.
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