Sign Up  /  Login

I do. LbNA #17384

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Aug 14, 2005
Location:
City:Saratoga Springs
County:Saratoga
State:New York
Boxes:1
Planted by:wink
Found by: Rabbit's Relations
Last found:Dec 27, 2011
Status:FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFa
Last edited:Aug 14, 2005
On August 14th of 1999, @ 2pm, my wife and I got married at a small church in Saratoga Springs, NY (her hometown). St. Clement's church resides on Lake Avenue not too far from where we had originally planned take our wedding photographs. Unfortunately, the Yaddo Gardens were being renovated at the time, and our pictures were taken elsewhere. On our 6th wedding anniversary, I post this for you all to visit this wonderful place.


ABOUT YADDO-
Conceived at the turn of the century by the philanthropists Spencer and Katrina Trask, Yaddo is a working artists' community where creative artists pursue individual and collaborative projects in a supportive environment.

Because Yaddo's mission is to offer artists uninterupted time to work, only the gardens are open to the public. Over the years, such notable artists as Milton Avery, James Baldwin, Leonard Bernstein, Truman Capote, Aaron Copland, Patricia Highsmith, Langston Hughes, Ulysses Kay, Flannery O'Connor, Sylvia Plath, Katherine Anne Porter, Clyfford Still, and William Carlos Williams have worked at Yaddo. Today, Yaddo welcomes creative artists from all nations and backgrounds working in one or more of the following media: choreography, film, literature, musical composition, painting, performance art, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and video.

The property on which Yaddo stands originally housed a farm, gristmill, and tavern operated by Jacobus Barhyte, a Revolutionary War veteran who fought at the Battle of Saratoga. Many well-known writers of the 1830s and 1840s dined at Barhyte's tavern, among them Edgar Allan Poe.

In 1881, Spencer Trask, a New York City financier, and his poet wife, Katrina, bought the property, naming it "Yaddo" at the suggestion of their young daughter. When the main residence burned to the ground 10 years later, the Trasks built the present mansion, completed in 1893. It was the scene of famous house parties attended by artists, statesmen, and industrialists.

Spencer designed the Yaddo Gardens in 1899 as a gift of love to his wife Katrina. The Trasks based their design for the Rose Garden on Italian classical gardens, which they had seen on trips abroad. The adjoining Rock Garden expresses in contrast an Anglo-American tradition of interest in indigenous landscape. Together, the gardens combine the formal and the free, the poetic and idyllic, human art and nature. Katrina wanted her garden to be a garden of delight, a garden of romance, as an expression of her own life.

The future of this great estate was determined after the deaths of their four children left the Trasks without heirs. In 1900, they secretly formed what would become known after their deaths as The Corporation of Yaddo and they endowed it in perpetuity to administer a working community of artists. Noted philanthropist George Foster Peabody, a lifelong friend of the family and husband to Katrina Trask in the last year of her life, put their plan into operation after Spencer Trask died in 1909 and Katrina Trask in 1922.

YADDO's MISSION-
To provide artists uninterupted time to work, good working conditions, and a supportive community-has remained central to its operation throughout the years.

LINKS-
http://www.yaddo.org/garden/
http://www.yaddo.org

LOCATION of YADDO-
The Yaddo Gardens are located on Union Ave (Rt. 9P) just west of Exit 14 of the Northway (I-87) in Saratoga Springs, NY.

CLUES TO THE LETTERBOX-

****PLEASE RESPECT THAT ONLY THE "GARDENS" SECTION is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC******

This Letterbox has been a VERY VERY high volume box. It, generally, is only out for about 3 months a season. It seems that LOTS and LOTS of kids "visit" this box, and I love it. Because of all of this, I have moved the location from it's original spot, so that it is not as visible to the public and can be continued to be visited without "issues".

Enter the Garden gate, and follow signs to the Gardens.
Park your car in the properly marked areas, and follow the signs to the grass lawn, and the gardens beyond. Notice the 1st fountain on your left (Yaddo estate mansion is on your right). Continue straight, and head through the marble arch (S.T./K.T. gate). Take a right DIRECTLY after you enter the gate; pine trees should be to your immediate right and a small incline in front of you, with roses to your left. Climb the small incline and go up the right side stairs. At the top of all the steps, the Pergola should be on your left. Take a few more paces and go up the three steps just beyond. Take a rightish (soft right) turn, and head towards the fountain in the woods. Walk around the fountain with it directly on your left. Follow the path as it goes along a stream. Cross the stream at the "T" (at the water drop to the lower pool & fountain) by using the large stone in the center of the stream (You'll see it, and know exactly what I am talking about. MANY others have done it, and it's easy). Head straight (back towards the Pergola) until you reach steps on your right. Take the right down the stone staircase (8 steps, I believe), and then follow the diagonal mulch path away from the fountain on far right. Take a left onto the dirt road heading to the white rounded benches. Take a break on the bench if needed, you're almost there. When you are ready, walk straight ahead to the fountain, through the rose garden. At the fountain, bear to the right, and then take your 1st right. Walk straight over to the CHRISTALAN statue. When standing facing the front of the CHRISTALAN statue (with benches on your left and right), at about the 10 o'clock position, just to the right of the left bench, is a small trail through the trees. Walk down this trail towards the structures. Keep these structures to your right as you pass them and you'll enter into an "intersection" of trails/roads/paths. Veer to the RIGHT and head into the woods. Walk along the "way", with pines on your left and eventually a drop-off to your right. After you make the turn and it begins to straighten out, on the left hand side, is an old tree that has fallen. On this tree a younger tree has fallen to form a V on the groud. On the inside of the V, along the OLDER tree (about 7 feet in), under a pile of sticks & braches is the new home for I DO. Enjoy the Gardens, and be respectful.