The Gate Lodge

For the past two days my fellow interns and I have been repainting the Gate Lodge, which is the building that we live in and doubles as a visitors' center for Camp Santanoni. The Gate Lodge was constructed in 1905. Robert Pruyn wanted an imposing structure that would greet visitors and set the tone for the rest of his estate. William Adams Delano and Chester Holmes Aldrich who designed buildings for many illustrious clients of the day like, John D. Rockefeller. Delano and Aldrich were not known for their rustic architecture, but they were very adept at adapting their buildings to pre-existing site conditions, and this is undoubtedly part of the reason Pruyn hired them. As you will see throughout the summer, Pruyn wanted the structures he built at Santanoni to mesh with the Adirondack landscape. The stone arch of the Gate House also matched the stone arches of two other structures on the preserve.



We spent yesterday scraping and sanding off the old paint in the gate house. The color scheme in some of the rooms is a little curious, like blue and orange for example. My bedroom is white with lime green trim. Here is a picture of the living room before we had gotten a chance to do much to it.



Today we washed the walls, because they are full of mildew, and applied primer. It's going to be a slow process, but once it gets done the gate house will be looking much better.