Saint-Gaudens Farm: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site
Brown M and Beagan C. 2025. Saint-Gaudens Farm: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 975820. National Park Service. NPS Northeast Regional Office, Boston, Massachusetts / CRIS-CL Database
Saint‑Gaudens Farm is one of four component landscapes within the 190.75‑acre Saint‑Gaudens National Historic Site (NHS), located within the Town of Cornish, in Sullivan County, New Hampshire. The park preserves and interprets properties associated with Augustus Saint‑Gaudens (1848‑1907), America’s foremost sculptor of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The only national park site in New Hampshire, it is one of only two in the national park system dedicated to a visual artist. Saint‑Gaudens NHS is set in a countryside of dispersed farms, fields, and woodlots that are spread across the hills of the Connecticut River valley. The surrounding landscape retains the rural character that attracted and inspired Saint‑Gaudens and other artists associated with the famous Cornish Colony. The park lies along the east bank of the river and extends eastward across State Route 12A. Saint‑Gaudens’s home and studios, named Aspet, forms the core of the park and consists of 101.65 acres of meadow and woodland that frame pristine views of Mt. Ascutney in Vermont. Aspet is accessed by Saint Gaudens Road, which originates at SR 12A, and contains a cluster of buildings used by Saint‑Gaudens during his occupancy that are set within a classically inspired garden landscape. To the west are the 42.6‑acre Blow‑Me‑Down Farm and the 40‑acre Blow‑Me‑Down Mill, part of the seasonal estate of Charles Cotesworth Beaman Jr., who with Saint‑Gaudens established the Cornish Colony. To the east is the 6.5‑acre Saint‑Gaudens Farm property, purchased by Augustus and his wife Augusta between 1904 and 1910. The Saint‑Gaudens Farm property is situated on the south side of Saint Gaudens Road, less than a quarter mile uphill from Aspet. It includes a farmhouse, large barn complex, two‑car garage, and a small pond and stream. The property also features hay fields that extend beyond the parcel to the east, providing open views to adjacent farmland. A gravel driveway extends from Saint Gaudens Road to the farmhouse and barn complex, while ancillary routes lead to the park’s tree nursery and park maintenance facility to the west. Overall, the property is vernacular and utilitarian in character, with only a few ornamental plants surrounding the farmhouse. Several tree lines mark current and former property lines, while lawn areas surround the farmhouse and barn. The farmhouse is currently used for park seasonal housing, and the barn and garage for storage.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Brown, Margie; Beagan, Chris
- Date of Issue
- 2025
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- NER , SAGA
- Keywords
- 1876-1920, Agricultural Field, Archeology (Historic-Non-Aboriginal), Architecture, art, Art Colonies (1915-1930), Augusta Saint-Gaudens, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Barn, Conservation, Conservation of Natural resources, European Influences, Expressing Cultural Values, Horticulture Facility, Johnson Farm, Livestock Equipment/Vehicle Storage, Meadowbrook Farm, Multiple Dwelling-Other, Painting and Sculpture, Period Revivals (1870-1940), Scenic Preservation, Single Family House, Storage (Granary/Silo), Transforming the Environment, Vernacular architecture, Vernacular Landscape