World Attention to Hudson's Hidden Gem

Tucked away on the grounds of the Hudson Correctional Facility, the Dr. Oliver Bronson House, Hudson's own National Historic Landmark, remains out of sight and out of mind for most Hudsonians. Not so for the rest of the world. The house was a setting for the film The Bourne Legacy. Now it is the subject of a six-page feature in the March 2013 issue of The World of Interiors Magazine.

Images of all six pages can be seen on Historic Hudson's Facebook page.

The restoration of the Dr. Oliver Bronson House is, of course, the project of Historic Hudson, which five years ago entered into a thirty-year lease with the State of New York that gives the not-for-profit legal stewardship of the house. Working with Mesick Cohen Wilson Baker Architects, Historic Hudson has completed Phase I of the restoration project and is soon to embark on Phase II. Phase I, which involved restoring window sash, repairing and replacing the roof, reframing part of the north wall, repairing floor and ceiling beams in the northeast parlor, and fixing the gaping hole in the floor of that parlor, has been documented by Peter Watson on his blog Dr. Oliver Bronson House Daybook. Phase II, which is expected to begin this summer, concentrates on the south side of the building and involves the removal of the 20th-century addition, sometimes known as the "goiter kitchen" because of the way it violates the symmetry of the house's design.

Phase II is being funded with a $300,000 Environmental Protection Fund grant, which requires a $100,000 match. To learn more about the project and make a contribution to the restoration effort, visit the Historic Hudson website. 

An opportunity to experience the Dr. Oliver Bronson House for yourself and view the progress of the restoration is coming soon. The house will be open in the early summer for Path Through History Weekends (formerly Heritage Weekend) on June 1 and 2 and June 8 and 9.