WHAT TO DO THIS WEEKEND
Making A Hall A Home
Completion May Be In Sight
For Hyde Hall 50-Year Redo
►IF YOU GO: The Hyde Hall National Historic Mansion, nine miles north of Cooperstown on County Route 31, is open for tours of up to six people. For reservations, call (607) 547-5098, ext. 7, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
COOPERSTOWN – For 50 years, it’s been all about the restoration of Hyde Hall. Now, Jon Maney says, it’s about completion.
“We can finally talk about finishing Hyde Hall,” said the executive director. “The dining room curtains will be finished and hung this fall, and that room will finally be complete.”
Since reopening on July 1, Maney said tours, which are now limited to six people at a time, have been running at nearly full capacity. “We’ve had to turn people away,” he said. “The public response has been far stronger than we anticipated.”
Currently, tours are only being given on the first floor, to minimize surface contact on banisters and railings.
The biggest project, due to be completed this fall, is the Bramah Water Closet, patented in England in 1778, the first flush toilet west of the Hudson River. “Hyde Hall had central heating, modern lighting, wall-to-wall carpeting and a flush toilet,” he said. “It was very modern.”
The Bramah used a “Dutch drop” to activate water from a cistern above, as well as a flap to send wastewater down the pipes. The complete mechanism was found in storage, and though the ceramic bowl – known to the British as a “pan” – was destroyed, funding has made it possible to do a complete restoration.
The toilet, tucked under the main staircase, includes a vent for the home’s central heating system –
a similar rarity in those days. “It was often used by the ladies,” he said. “You wouldn’t want to be uncomfortable, after all.”
In 1825, John Quincy Adams had the first water closet installed in the White House; the Hyde Hall water closet was installed just five years later.
“For so long, all we’ve had on display is the curved door,” Maney said. “But we hope to have it finished by fall.”
Unfortunately, the toilet will not be functional, even for a ceremonial flush – at least for right now.
“We’re leaving that open as a possibility,” he said.
Being closed for an extra few months allowed them to complete additional projects, including the Maple Stair Hall, with a new coat of paint to match the original colors. “This ‘Iron Mountain Grey’ was very fashionable at the time,” he said. “It really shows off the molding, and the Tiger Maple staircase now pops.”
All that awaits now, he said, is a new carpet by Rabbit Goody’s Thistle Hill Weavers in Cherry Valley.
A carpet was also installed in the front room, and letters to the Hyde family gave them more of a clue about where the “Gallery of the Louvre” painting was hung in the drawing room.
“It’s beginning to feel more like a home,” he said.
The smaller groups have allowed guides to change how they give tours. “We’ve started doing what we call dialogic tours,” Maney said. “They’re more conversational, we get people to respond and engage, to share their impressions of Hyde Hall.”
And although visitors won’t be able to flush the toilet, next year they’ll be able to try out the bell system, which is also in the process of being restored.
“Each bell had a different tone, depending on where it was in the house,” he said. “The servants knew each one. But being able to not just see Hyde Hall, but to hear it, will really make the experience something they can get involved in.”
