Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY

With The Storm King School’s Sesquicentennial Year in full swing, the buildings on campus stand as silent landmarks that illustrate our rich history. As it has always been, dormitory life here on the Mountain is one of the hallmarks the Storm King experience. More than just a place to live, the dorms house the memories and personal histories of our alumni who have brought the School to the present day. This is especially true for one of our current girls’ dormitories: Cottage House.

Affectionately called “Cottage,” this structure is among the School’s oldest buildings with an interesting history of its own that dates back even before the earliest years of the School. Our archives tell us that in April, 1867, the School’s founder and first headmaster Louis P. Ledoux bought the Wood Farm on a scenic spur of Storm King Mountain to begin the Cornwall Heights School. The Wood farmhouse is thought to be the first dwelling built on Storm King Mountain and it is believed that a portion of the original framework and the old chimney still stands as part of the Cottage House today.

 

 

Although the time of its original construction is unknown, the Cottage House, then called the Van Blarcom Cottage, became an integral part of the Storm King scene in 1892 when it was purchased by the School’s third headmaster Dr. Carlos Stone. Befitting its current purpose as a female dormitory, “Cottage” had possibly served as a school for girls called the Family School for Young Ladies in the years before Stone acquired it, although not much more than a local newspaper announcement dated in 1886 was found to document this information.

In 1907 a major renovation of the Cottage House doubled its size to make the building similar to what it is today. Only minor changes and improvements have taken place since then and the Cottage House as we know it today has remained intact. Over the years, “Cottage” has evolved along with the needs of the School. It has been used for many purposes, including a residence for members of the Stone family, and later as dormitory for both boys and girls. As we celebrate the School’s Sesquicentennial this year, one thing is certain: the Cottage House houses many shared memories and stands for a part of the School’s history that ties us all together.