A Refreshed Caramoor Promises Year-Round Concerts

It wasn’t just the sold-out performance by Leyla McCalla at Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in April that drew audience cheers. The Katonah cultural powerhouse unveiled the months-long makeover of its flagship building, the Rosen House, and set a standard for the art of spring cleaning. After sandblasting, the 16th-century Italian gates, which were rusting and flaking, were returned to their former glory. They now stand proud as the clean, deep gray welcoming entrance to the Rosen House. Once inside the updates continue. A new HVAC system and a floor refurbishing were just the start in the Music Room. Cleaning the stucco walls and ceiling proved to be painstaking work. Conservators peeled away years of dirt, dust and smoke. The red damask and velvet valances were mended and cleaned, as well as the Caldwell Gate. Historian and decorator Thomas Jayne rearranged the art and furniture collection. The formal dining room received much-needed repairs to cracks in the mantel, a new HVAC system and UV shades to preserve the wallpaper. Fresh coats of paint and new carpets freshen up the relocated Visitors Services Center and the Box Office. While tackling La Loggia bedroom, conservators discovered a moss green section, which they believe to be the original color of the walls when the Rosens were in residence. Returning the walls to that shade was an easy decision. You can see it now, as well as a small, unfinished patch that illustrates the layers of history, much like the Grand Central Station ceiling swath recalls it’s pre-renovation appearance.

“Our goals for the work we completed last winter were to restore the room to its original luster and to expand our programming capabilities for the future. We are very excited that we were able to install air conditioning so that we can now comfortably use the room from May through September,” says Caramoor CEO Jeff Haydon. “Of course, undertaking restoration work in a historic space can yield its own challenges. While we were cutting the holes in the two-foot concrete slab floors for vents, we encountered more than a dozen old electrical pipes that were unmarked on any old plans. Each one had to be carefully inspected and re-routed. “You can take a sneak peek during the ever-popular series of summer concerts, which opens June 20 with Timor Andres on piano in the Spanish Courtyard. For more info, visit caramoor.org.

A version of this article first appeared in the June issue of ArtsNews, ArtsWestchester’s monthly publication. ArtsNews is distributed throughout Westchester County. A digital copy is also available at artsw.org/artsnews.

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