Lindenwald, Martin Van Buren National Historic Site: Historic Furnishings Report

Kohan, Carol

Various challenges were encountered in the preparation of the Historic Furnishings Report for Lindenwald. The task of researching Lindenwald's furnishings of the historic period 1841 to 1862 was compl icated by the fact that in the 120 years that had passed since Martin Van Buren occupied the mansion, Lindenwald had changed from the dwelling of an ex-President to a middle-class farmhouse, and further to a tea room, a nursing home, and an antiques shop, before its establishment as a National Historic Site. With these changes in ownership and living patterns, it was inevitable that the original Van Buren furnishings would be dispel"sed. Yet, fortunately, many furnishings remained in the mansion, in the community, or in the hands of Van Buren descendents. Because the last private owner of the house was an antiques dealer, there has been some confusion concerning which pieces left in Lindenwald were associ ated with Van Buren and which pieces were the deal er' s stock. Corroboration of Lindenwald provenance by previous owners helped to identify some of the furnishings; however, some of the questions may never be resolved. Another challenge in writing the report was that some physical evidence relating to the structure was inadequate, confusing, or contradictory. When the Historic Furnishings Report was being written, the Historic Structure Report existed only in draft, and many of its findings were being questioned. The Historic Furnishings Report relied upon the Historic Structure Report, prepared by the Denver Service Center, supplemented by the results of further investigations by the North Atlantic Historic Preservation Center. A further difficul ty was that documentary evidence for Lindenwald furnishings c.1841-1862 was scant. Van Buren's was prolific in his correspondence, however, it was largely political in nature. There were no photographs of lindenwald's interior from the historic period, no diary descriptions of the placement or use of furnishings, no extant inventories of the mansion prior to or at the time of Van Buren's death. Nevertheless, careful gleaning of the correspondence of Van Buren and his family yielded important information. Perhaps the greatest challenge in writing the Historic Furnishings Report, particularly the Recommended Furnishings Section, was facing the philosophical dilemma imposed by National Park Service furnishing policies. One goal of the restoration of Lindenwald was to interpret accurately and convincingly, the life and lifestyle of Martin Van Buren in retirement. On the other hand, the restoration had to be carried out with "minimum conjecture." The first draft of the report attempted a compromise by recommending reproduction or period objects only when their absence would be misleading. Following regional review, however, the narrowest interpretation of the furnishings policy was applied and selective refurnishing with objects documented only by period practice was eliminated from the final manuscript. Many of the park staff believe that the interpretation selected for Lindenwald diminishes and perhaps impoverishes the rich potential for the site for visitor understanding of park themes. To say the documentation and recommendations contained herein are "sitespecific" rather than "period-general" is to oversimplify the philosophical issues involved, and controversy may well continue over what furnishings are appropriate for a quality interpretation.

Lindenwald, Martin Van Buren National Historic Site: Historic Furnishings Report

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