Prospect Park
Brooklyn
New York was settled by
the Dutch in the 17th century and the area is still filled with
surviving 17th and 18th century Dutch homes. Some have
been renovated and continue to serve as residences, others are run down but still
standing, while a few, like the 23 sites under the care of the Historic House
Trust, have been preserved and are open to the public.
The Lefferts House is one
of the best-known of NYC’s restored Dutch homes. The Lefferts Historic House
Museum is located in Prospect Park’s “Children’s Corner” next to the zoo and
the carousel. As such, one would imagine it sees a bit more traffic than the
sites located way out in Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx. It follows that
it sees more donations and gets more attention. The Museum's website boasts that 40,000 people visit it every year. Given its location that number seems impossibly low. Despite its apparent best
efforts, the Lefferts House is a rather drab, lackluster place. This leaves me
little hope for visiting the Hendrick I. Lott House or Pieter Claesen Wyckoff
Farmhouse.
The building was built by
Pieter Lefferts in 1783 to replace the family’s 17th century home
that burnt down during the Battle of Brooklyn in 1776. It was constructed with
both freed and slave labor. The building was inhabited by Lefferts descendants
until it was donated to the City of New York in 1917 on the grounds that it be
moved to Prospect Park. It first opened as a museum in 1920 under the Forte
Greene chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
The exterior and ground
floor of the homestead has been designed with school and family oriented
environmental education in mind. Perhaps it is this push toward child-level
education that makes it a bit boring for the average visitor. The Museum
attempts to touch upon American Indian (specifically the Lanape, the tribe that
inhabited the region), Black, and Dutch experiences, as well as the changing
landscape. To this effect there is a reconstructed wigwam, wooden cart, and
garden with local and Dutch-import crops.
One of the more
interesting outdoor features is the presence of a plank path and toll house.
One of the way the Lefferts family made money was by building wooden roads on
the muddy streets on Flatbush and charging people money to ride on them. The
sign doesn’t mention it, but “Flatbush” is an Americanization of the Dutch “Vlacke
Bos,” meaning “wooded plain.” Also outside is the kitchen hearth and brick
oven. The curators decided to transplant it to the yard so it could be used for
cooking events and demonstrations without fear of burning the house down. As a
result, the interior kitchen is now largely made up of rather silly trompe l’oeil paintings.
The first room upon
entering the house is designed to occupy children while their parents
look at other things. It has books and vintage toys like wooden blocks and
checkers, and a game known as Nine Man Morris. Outside children can play hoops
and graces. The most developed exhibition is dedicated to the process of making
fabric. This is in the painted kitchen and includes fabric samples. This is
also the only place in the museum that has any sort of real didactics. The rest
of the place is set up but there’s no information. That always bothers me. For
example, near the kitchen fabric display is a desk with school materials.
There’s also a table with random American Indian objects like animal hides and
beaded gloves. But you don’t really know what they’re about, or whether you’re
supposed to touch them. I got the distinct feeling that one needed to be with a
school group to get the full information about the place.
Tours of the second floor
are offered to the general public on the weekends, though they’re a bit spotty.
The Prospect Park website says they’re offered every half hour, but it’s more
they’re offered whenever a group of people express interest in one. The house
seems to be run by high school and college volunteers who mean well but who
definitely aren’t experts on colonial arts and crafts.
Only two rooms upstairs
are open to the public and the very short tour consisted of a room with three
cases of blue and white china, a hallway with a cabinet and case of broken
delft tiles from Holland, and a period bedroom. There appears to be no
electricity in the building, so things can be pretty dim on an overcast day. A
hole had been cut into the wall to reveal the joined-wood construction, but it
was too dark in the hall to appreciate it. Adding to the gloominess was a
tattered wall didactic that had fallen off its Velcro and lay on the floor of the china room. Our guide informed us that the furniture in the
bedroom was original. This room is known as Grandma Femmetie’s room because it
was the only bedroom with a fireplace so the Lefferts grandmother got to sleep
there. There was no information in the room, but a binder on a table downstairs
had pictures and information of Grandma Femmetie’s room. The text in the binder
explained that the furniture was not original to the house, but rather appropriate period pieces.
All of the didactics hung
in the downstairs foyer address the changing land and the moving of the home from its original location to the park.
There is absolutely nothing about the period room on the ground floor, which is
annoying to say the least, especially since it contains two portraits. Who are these people? Lefferts? Or just random “period” portraits
to give the room an authentic air? And where were the exhibition developer and
historian? The Lefferts House is open only on weekends and holidays. Surely it
can’t be safeguarded at all times by minors?
The museum will be closed
in January and February except for holidays. Right now if you visit you can see
the 21st Annual Quilt Show. I’ve seen other quilt shows in the
Lefferts House and the one this year seems smaller than in previous years.
There are a few nice pieces, despite the show’s vague theme of “cool.” I have
to admit I rather admire the craft of quilting; particularly fetching are Ruby
Horansky’s A Drop of Rain and
Michele Kucker’s Snow/Crocus.
Despite all my grumbling,
the exterior of the Lefferts House is rather pretty. The entranceway is in the
rear of the home so be sure to walk around to the front which faces Flatbush
Avenue. There you can admire the American Gothic dormer windows and Dutch door.
As an added bonus the front lawn has a small rusty Revolutionary War canon that
was found on Governor’s Island and moved to Prospect Park.
Perhaps I like the idea
of Dutch homes better than the actual homes themselves. However, I am not ready
to give up just yet. I will continue to explore the various Dutch homes that
New York has to offer. I am determined to find one that is more than mildly
amusing. The Lefferts Historic House Museum is not the answer to this quest.
One down, twenty-two more to go.
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