Thomas Cole National Historic Site

I arrived here 5 minutes after they closed. Considering I also came back when they were open to collect my National Park Passport Cancellation Stamp, I prefer my timing. This was awesome to explore, and I had the grounds to myself. I found the staff to be helpful but they were a bit cold. Typical for an Art Gallery,not so much for a National Park. I don't know if you'd have all that much better of a time if you bought a ticket to tour the houses and out buildings. The true treasure is the property and landscape, which was the focus of Thomas Cole's Landscape Art.

Thomas Cole was an amazing landscape artist his paintings are filled with talent. I recommend to everyone to plan ahead and visit this beautiful place. Anyone of his paintings you can stare at to want to just fall in to it. Absolutely exquisite work. You won't be disappointed.

Visited this small historic site real briefly (mainly to see a few things while we went to the bathroom and walked our dog). Signs give you abundant information on artist Thomas Cole and how the surroundings of the house influenced his work. Beautiful views from the porch of the house.

Thomas Cole, founder of Hudson River School, is my favorite American painter with familiar landscapes reflecting the long gone past and also beauty of NY landscape. Painting with scene from Fenimore Cooper’s novel “Last of the Mohicans” reminded me my teen year admiration with novels series Leatherstocking Tales centered around adventures of Nathaniel Bumppo. Historic site offers multiple paintings of Thomas Cole in a setting that inspired the painter to create his best pieces. Ample parking onsite and friendly visitor center.

This was my first exposure to Hudson River School style of art. Absolutely love Thomas Coles pieces. We had a great tour guide. Our visit was wonderful.

A lovely little museum that provides a good sense of Cole's thoughts and life. Beautifully maintained, pleasant and knowledgeable staff. Highly recommended.

The Thomas Cole National Historic Site is a great place to visit! Thomas Cole was the founder of the Hudson River School of Art. He was one of America's first great artists. The house is historically restored and displays artifacts that Cole and/or his family used. Most of the paintings displayed in the house are re-creations of Cole's works. The views of the Catskill mountains are very nice. The tour was very good and the guide knew a great deal about the house and Thomas Cole. The movie at the beginning of the tour was a nice touch. We were also allowed to explore and look around on the tour, after the guide explained each part of the house. The tour was about an hour. The Cole House also serves as a small art museum. If you go to Thomas Cole's studio, you can see works from other artists. The house itself also displayed some contemporary works, that were mixed in with Cole's works. The contemporary work was good, but some of it didn't really fit the historical theme of the house. You get a lot for your ticket here. A house tour, Thomas Cole's works, contemporary artworks, and a small gallery of art exhibitions. You can also walk to the nearby Hudson River Skywalk and Rip Van Winkle bridge. Olana state historic site is also only three miles away. The gift shop offered much at reasonable prices. This place is definitely worth a look.

I really enjoyed visiting this historic site. At first I was unfamiliar with Thomas Cole and his work, but after visiting his studios and home I learned so much about him and his life. You feel like you’re transported back in time when you’re walking along the path of the property and I really appreciated the interactive elements that the site included for visitors. It’s also just a really beautifully designed place, and it was surreal to be on the porch that Thomas referenced for his paintings of the mountains. Even though we didn’t sign up for the tour, there was still plenty that I learned from interacting with the exhibits. I would recommend purchasing tickets online if you want to be on the tour since it sold out the day we planned to visit.

Amazing, informative, and engaging tour with Frances. Great group and Frances answered all of the questions. Highly recommend for anyone.

Such an incredibly beautiful spot to visit. The view is outstanding. After visiting be sure to stop by the grave that is just down the street. Make a day if it and visit Olana too!

We were only able to walk the grounds as it was closed when we got there. They need to update their google hours, so be aware of that. But we ready the many posted signs/info, and had a lovely little stroll. Looks like kids would be jazzed to see the restored art studios and home.

Went on a guided tour and learned quite a bit about the context of Thomas Cole's time in this house. Our docent took great care to share a wealth of information about all the negative environmental impacts and social injustices taking place during his time. A fair amount of tour time was spent describing the household injustices happening when it was run by Thomas Cole's father-in-law. The house also included lots of works/displays from contemporary artists and activists. The grounds were beautiful. Recommend a self-guided tour if your focus is mostly on Thomas Cole and his works (as well as some context). YMMV.

Love visiting this house. Views are beautiful. We did the tour with a docent and her was very knowledgeable. If your not into art I'm not sure how much you will like this tour. The house is not really furnished, its more about the artist himself. The new studio has different exhibits throughout the year. Nice gift shop and friendly staff.

I had no idea what to expect as I walked into this historical site....All I can say is WOW! Beautiful artwork, scenery, views are within and surround this lovely place. Alice was such a great tour guide and was able to provide the group with information on Thomas Cole. He was a fantastic artist, essayist, poet and musician! I could not get enough of the environment and I could just sit there for hours and enjoy it....We were a bit pressed for the since the bus driver arrived there late so I did not get as much time as I would have liked to take in the site a little longer. However, visitng there was such a wonderful and enlightening experience!

I had been wavering in my decision whether or not to visit Cedar Grove, the Thomas Cole National Historic Site. However, I am really glad I chose to visit the site, followed directly by a tour of Olana. Both sites tell the story of the Hudson River School in different ways and I liked how they contrasted the story of the art and culture of the Hudson River Valley. Our tour guide at Cedar Grove was highly knowledgeable about Cole and the site. She easily responded to our questions and guided us through the house at a great pace. We had time to explore and experience the house and the different features, including the great Bierstadt exhibit. It was great to be able to view the same views Cole and other Hudson River School artists used as inspiration in their paintings. For the price, this is a great site to visit and really gives you a great base knowledge about Cole and the Hudson River School artists.... if you are going to Olana, check out Cedar Grove first!

I wish I could have seen the National Historic Site, They closed at 2 pm on Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend. Other nearby artist homes were open normal hours. I am not sure what they are thinking.

Beautiful home and work space of Thomas Cole. Often houses exhibits of other artists as well as Thomas Cole's beautiful landscapes! Love the friendly staff and beautiful community. Definitely a stop worth making and truly part of the culture and history of the area. The grounds are well kept and nice to walk around or sit on one of the benches to have a chat. Great views of the Catskills! Located near Main St. Catskill which has many nice shops, restaurants, bars and a cinema!

Thomas Cole paintings are beautiful and there were a few of his original works in a small, special exhibit that were extraordinary. Too bad there weren't more and that they won't remain. The house is interesting and docents, with the exception of one who was more interested in reading her book in the art room, were friendly, knowledgabale and very engaging. The view of the mountains from some rooms and the porch was awesome. An easy walk to the walkway across the bridge was a bonus and access to Catskill and Hudson was convenint. Atmosphere here was less stuffy and more generous than Olana, but don't miss Olana for contrast in style and taste.

After we went to Olana, we decided to visit the Thomas Cole National Historic Site. The staff here were all very friendly & polite. There was the River Crossing event when we were there. The outside of the house looks very well preserved but some of the interior were repainted with modern color. It's still worth visiting especially after visiting the Olana.

An amazing, stupendous, fantastic walk through history! The tour was worth every penny for every second! It was informative and enlightening! It was inspiring and moving! The garden and art studio were added bonuses, as was the gift shop, with so many unique and wonderful items! This place is kept immaculate, and truly preserves a piece of history of one of the greatest, if not the greatest, artists of all time. Take a hike down the block to the cemetery where the stones of Thomas and his wife lie side by side in their antiqued glory. Then hike the artist trail and stand on the sites of Cole's masterpieces. A true artist experience while cultivating your "feeling of one with nature."

Very tourist unfriendly. Guided tours till 1, on the hour. No self guided tours till 2. People unfriendly. Just another old house. Skip it!

Thomas Cole and Frederic Church are probably the best known of the Hudson River school painters.They knew each other and at times lived near one another.In the art market the Hudson River school has come back fast and hard .What you could have had for very little is worth a fortune now.Cole's house is not the ornate palace that was Church's .Over time the family sold off most of the land and now the house shares its driveway with Temple Israel( convenient for Shabat but not really Coleian).It's a nice house that doesn't have much in it .It does have wonderful views of the Hudson and the Catskills across the river.It's interest does come from it's association with Cole.The tour guide was very good - well informed and pleasant.Interestingly the Hudson River houses seem to have unusually good guides.I should add it gives you a sense of how a successful but not super wealthy painter lived.

Thomas Cole is one of my favorite American painters and I was really looking forward to visiting his house and studio. The grounds and home itself were lovely, especially the sweeping views from the porch, and I enjoyed seeing his studio, but there were some disappointments. First, there are few of Cole's finished paintings on site. It was interesting to see the room in the home dedicated to his artistic process, but I had hoped to see more of his paintings. Second, our tour guide wasn't very knowledgeable --she often contradicted herself and at times it seemed she was just making stuff up. A few people in the group asked questions and instead of just saying she didn't know the answer she'd blurt a guess answer and just laugh. It was weird. She forgot to show us part of the house (after we got outside, "whoopsie! There was a bedroom but it was basically just a trunk and a chamber pot!" Ok). The whole experience did not feel worth the $12 admission cost, but I'm assuming the money goes toward the continued restoration work, so I'm happy to contribute.

Wonderful small museum for those interested in American cultural history, fine art, and forest conservation. Combination historic house museum and art gallery with an excellent view of the Catskill Escarpment from the property. The entrance is a bit awkward and disorienting on arrival, as the parking lot is shared with the temple next door, and the path from the lot to the old barn building where tickets are sold does not afford a view of the house's facade. But once you get your bearings, the place is great. There is a good short video on Thomas Cole to watch while you wait for your tour to start, and if you have a long wait, you can go into the gallery building to see the art exhibition. This year's show is Sanford Gifford's paintings of the Catskills. I was not familiar with Gifford's work, and I was very impressed! The house tour is fun and informative; it emphasizes Thomas Cole's love of nature and relates his legacy to conservation issues. There aren't many original Cole paintings to see in the house, but there is a very well-done audio-visual presentation in one of the parlors that gives a good sense of his work. There are also interesting decorative borders in the parlors of the house that were painted by Cole himself, then covered up, and recently discovered in the course of restoring the house to its original splendor. I was interested and surprised to learn how colorfully houses were decorated in this pre-Victorian period of the nineteenth century. Overall exceeded my expectations for a small non-profit house museum.

This place is special! A beautiful house. His paintings are amazing. And the view from the porch is spectacular. This place is a must!

Nice tour. Very friendly staff. Would have loved to see the kitchen.

we really liked this relaxing location. the video in the tourist shop provides a nice overview and history lesson. the mock-up shop is very interesting. great views. but, what would thomas cole think of the location today?