Adirondack Style and Post & Beam Architecture: Forever Intertwined

Having grown up in an area situated between the Green Mountains of Vermont and the Adirondack Mountains of New York, I’ve experienced a great deal of the architectural styles of both. To this day, when I see anything remotely akin to what I call The Adirondack Style, a.k.a. rustic timber frame, it immediately brings to mind thoughts of summer and those vacation days away from the rat race of our everyday existence. It never brings to mind the work-a-day world. I believe this is why the style (also called Mountain Style or Western Style) is universally known and forever bound to the idea of “down time”.

The term Adirondack , whether it implied architecture, furniture, or decor, was coined in the late 1800′s when the ultra-wealthy of New York City began a rush to experience the great out-of-doors in the Adirondack Mountains. Due mostly to the new railroad system, this mountains and lakes area in upstate New York quickly became all the rage. The “camps” and lodges (many which still exist today) were not small, and hardly rustic, in anything other than their outward appearance. Natural elements such as huge timbers, stone, and all things wood and wild animal parts, were utilized because they were local. Exotic items, such as oriental carpets, African wild game trophies and such, were brought in as a way to decorate with the owners personal tastes and interests All were done to the extreme as a great amount of time, energy and expense was spent to make these structures look the way the wealthy believed wilderness “camps” should look. What resulted was (and is) quite spectacular. Enough so they still influence architectural styles of today, particularly when building a vacation home in the mountains.

If you travel to any of the Adirondack Lakes today, from Upper St Regis, to Saranac, to Placid, to Blue Mountain to Loon, you’ll see at least one of these old camps plus many newer ones made to resemble them. Some have been turned into exclusive resorts and a few are available for rent, so that you might experience the wonders of the Adirondacks much the way the wealthy did over one hundred and thirty years ago.

Granted, modern amenities have been added, but all in all it’s pretty much the same experience.  Follies and boathouses also got the full “Adirondack Style” treatment. Today, those which remain are easily spotted along the shorelines and are often the main features of both private and public boat tours on these lakes.

And let’s not forget what the wealthy of the time liked to call “A Folly”:

All of these structures may be seen, at least from the water, should you decide to take a boat ride on the lakes that dot one of our most famous mountain ranges, the Adirondacks.

Before I close out this post, I’d like to address the interiors a bit more. This is where the timber frame structure really shines as does the specific type of inter decor known as “Adirondack”. Every tme I see this style it  never fails to give me that feeling of down time and a sense of all that is right with the world.

You need to know that writing this post has so inspired me, I’ve run it by my husband and a few other members of our family, and guess where we’re going on family holiday next summer? You guessed it, The Adirondacks. I’m in the process now of locking down one of the old camps for a two-week rental next summer. I can’t wait!!!