Greenwich Ct Historic Homes: Bush-holley House

Greenwich Connecticut's Bush-Holley House is a wonderfully preserved example of Dutch

Colonial architecture built around 1730 that had a primary role in the history and culture of New England. It was central to the development of the American Impressionist art movement between 1890 and 1920 when this boarding house became the first summer art colony in America.

Built on a hill overlooking the Cos Cob harbor, the Bush-Holley House today is a museum and home to The Greenwich Historical Society. Visitors enjoy an exciting presentation on the history and art during two distinct time periods: The New Nation (1790-1825) and the Cos Cob Art Colony (1890-1920). Eight rooms document the story of how the house has evolved over time.

The Bush-Holley House was built in several stages beginning in 1728-1730. Its location on a hill next to a mill pond graced it with a special charm. It went through several additions when Justus Bush, a prosperous Dutch farmer and town selectman purchased it in 1738 and upon his death passed it to his son David Bush who gained rights to operate a tidal mill nearby.

His family grew and additions kept being made to the house throughout the latter half of the 18th century. In 1848 the Bush-Holley House first became a boardinghouse when it was sold and passed from the Bush family.

However, it was in 1882 when Josephine and Edward Holley operated it as a boardinghouse for artists and writers that the house became famous as the center of the emerging Cos Cob Artist Colony and the Impressionist movement in America.

John Henry Twachtman and J. Alden Weir first taught summer classes in Cos Cob in 1882 for the Art Students League in New York.

From this first beginning the Bush-Holley house came to be the first summer artists colony where the leading American Impressionist artists came to discuss their work, paint the Cos Cob landscape of tidal flats, rustic stone fences and wooded waterways - and to teach. The early members included Ernest Lawson, Childe Hassam, Theodore Robinson, and J. Alden Weir.

Elmer MacRae came to the Holley House as a student in 1896 and fell in love with Emma Constant Holley, the daughter of the Holley House owners. They married in 1900 as the field of American Impressionist art flourished with the community of artists, novelists, journalists and performers who gathered at the boarding house each summer.

The Greenwich Historical Society today exhibits many of these important examples of American Impressionist works by the leading figures of the movement who stayed at the Bush-Holley House each summer and set up their easels painting the beautiful Cos Cob landscapes. Elmer MacRae's "Constant Feeding the Ducks" features one of his twin daughters that epitomizes American Impressionism, which was based on the artistic movement that began in France that emphasized broad brushstrokes and light play with vibrant colors.

The Bush-Holley house is located in the Cos Cob area of Greenwich, Connecticut at 39 Strickland Road. It's operated by the Historical Society of the Town of Greenwich. Guided tours feature rooms and exhibits related to the Bush and Holley families and an American Impressionist art collection in the William Hegarty Gallery.

by: Steven Penny

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