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Adirondack Architecture refers to the architectural style generally associated with the Great Camps
Great Camps

Great camps refer to the grandiose family compounds of cabins that were built in the latter half of the nineteenth century on lakes in the Adirondacks such as Spitfire Lake and Rainbow Lake....
 within the Adirondack Mountains
Adirondack Mountains

The Adirondack Mountains are a mountain range located in the northeastern part of New York, that runs through Clinton County, New York, Essex County, New York, Franklin County, New York, Fulton County, New York, Hamilton County, New York, Herkimer County, New York, Lewis County, New York, Saint Lawrence County, New York, Saratoga County, New...
 area in New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
. The builders of these camps used native building materials and sited their buildings within an irregular wooded landscape. These camps were built to provide a primitive, rustic appearance. Elements such as whole, split, or peeled logs, bark, roots, and burl
Burl

A burl is a tree growth in which the wood grain has grown in a Deformity manner. It is commonly found in the form of a rounded outgrowth on a tree trunk or branch that is filled with small Wood#Knots from dormant buds....
s, along with native granite
Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of Intrusion , felsic, igneous rock rock . Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as Porphyry ....
 fieldstone
Fieldstone

Fieldstone is a building construction material. Strictly speaking, it is Rock collected from the surface of Field where it occurs naturally....
, were used to build interior and exterior components.






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Adirondack Architecture refers to the architectural style generally associated with the Great Camps
Great Camps

Great camps refer to the grandiose family compounds of cabins that were built in the latter half of the nineteenth century on lakes in the Adirondacks such as Spitfire Lake and Rainbow Lake....
 within the Adirondack Mountains
Adirondack Mountains

The Adirondack Mountains are a mountain range located in the northeastern part of New York, that runs through Clinton County, New York, Essex County, New York, Franklin County, New York, Fulton County, New York, Hamilton County, New York, Herkimer County, New York, Lewis County, New York, Saint Lawrence County, New York, Saratoga County, New...
 area in New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
. The builders of these camps used native building materials and sited their buildings within an irregular wooded landscape. These camps were built to provide a primitive, rustic appearance. Elements such as whole, split, or peeled logs, bark, roots, and burl
Burl

A burl is a tree growth in which the wood grain has grown in a Deformity manner. It is commonly found in the form of a rounded outgrowth on a tree trunk or branch that is filled with small Wood#Knots from dormant buds....
s, along with native granite
Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of Intrusion , felsic, igneous rock rock . Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as Porphyry ....
 fieldstone
Fieldstone

Fieldstone is a building construction material. Strictly speaking, it is Rock collected from the surface of Field where it occurs naturally....
, were used to build interior and exterior components. Massive fireplace
Fireplace

A fireplace is an architecture structure to contain a fire for heating and, especially historically, for cooking. A fire is contained in a Firebox or firepit; a chimney or other flue directs gas and particulate exhaust to escape....
s and chimney
Chimney

A chimney is a structure for venting hot flue gases or smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside Earth's atmosphere. Chimneys are typically vertical, or as near as possible to vertical, to ensure that the gases flow smoothly, drawing air into the combustion in what is known as the stack effect....
s built of cut stone are also common within the Great Camp architecture. The use of native building materials was not only for promoting a natural appearance, but also to avoid the expense of transporting conventional building materials into a remote location.

The style drew upon Swiss chalet
Chalet

A chalet , also called Swiss chalet, is a type of building or house in the Alps region made of wood....
 architecture, which had been introduced to America by Andrew Jackson Downing
Andrew Jackson Downing

Andrew Jackson Downing was an American landscape designer and writer, a prominent advocate of the Gothic Revival style in the United States, and editing of The Horticulturist magazine ....
 around 1850. Log construction was popularized by Downing's protege, Calvert Vaux
Calvert Vaux

Calvert Vaux , was an architect and landscape designer. He is best remembered as the co-designer , of New York's Central Park.Little is known about Vaux's childhood and upbringing....
, in his pattern book Villas and Cottages in 1857. Downing's design principles emphasized utility, structural expression, and conformity to natural surroundings. The building form was influenced by Stick style
Queen Anne Style architecture

The Queen Anne Style is a furniture and decoration style that reached its greatest popularity in the last quarter of the 19th century, manifesting itself in a number of different ways in different countries....
, but using log framing instead of dimensional lumber to express the structural system of the buildings. Charles Eastlake
Charles Eastlake

Charles Locke Eastlake was a United Kingdom architect and furniture designer. Trained by the architect Philip Hardwick , he popularised William Morris's notions of decorative arts in the Arts and Crafts movement, becoming one of the principal exponents of the revived "Early English" or "Gothic revival" popular in Victorian architecture....
's book Hints on Household Taste in Furniture, Upholstery and other Details also influenced the Adirondack rustic style. Interior decorations such as rustic and Mission Style
Arts and Crafts movement

The Arts and Crafts Movement was a United Kingdom, Canada, and United States aesthetic movement occurring in the last years of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century....
 furniture, mounted trophies of fish and game, Japanese fans and screens, and American Indian artifacts were influenced by Eastlake's ideas.

The Adirondacks building were recognized for their rugged finish and outstanding craftsmanship especially by the wealthy natives. The Adirondacks style of architecture can be specialized into custom homes, rugged roofing, log cabins, boat houses, rustic furnishing, rustic kitchen, birch and cedar furniture, log and twig work
Twig work

Twig-work is the term applied to architectural details constructed of twigs and branches, usually peeled, to form decorative motifs in buildings and furniture....
s.

This style of architecture is found most prominently in and around the area of Adirondack Park, the largest state park in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. With 6.1 million acres (25,000 kmē), it is roughly the size of the entire state of Massachusetts
Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a U.S. state located in the New England region of the Northeastern United States United States. It borders Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north....
. 42% of the land is public, with the remaining amount of land consisting of several villages and hamlets.

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See also

  • Great Camps
    Great Camps

    Great camps refer to the grandiose family compounds of cabins that were built in the latter half of the nineteenth century on lakes in the Adirondacks such as Spitfire Lake and Rainbow Lake....
  • Sagamore Camp
    Sagamore Camp

    Sagamore Camp is one of several historic Great Camps located in the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York, which were built for the super-rich of the American Gilded Age as remote and luxurious rustic summer retreats....
  • Santanoni Preserve
    Santanoni Preserve

    The Santanoni Preserve, once a private estate of some 13,000 acres in the Adirondack Mountains, now is the property of the State of New York, at Newcomb, New York....
  • Adirondack Park