Comments
Gingerbread House

pat ratchet

what a wonderful place to get weird!

Location: The Enchanted Forest  Gallery: Through the Fog

Main Hall

pat ratchet

actually i was refering to a composiite of individuals who have angrily confronted
anyone they see attempting to look at or even photograph even the exterior of Halcyon, legally from a public road.
my affiliation with the school is complex.
i attended art programs here as a very young child. as a teen after the schoolclosed this property was my stomping grounds, a local rite of passage. i am researching the life and
work of the architect of the building. i
am descended from some of the original investors in the hotel in the 1890's, my family also having been a client of the architect in other building
ventures in millbrook. i was a charter
member of Friends of Halcyon Hall, a
preservation group that got this building
listed on the state and National Register
of Historic Places in the early 90's. i
generally just love this building, it speaks
to me as Art, just like Mott's photos...

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls

Skeletal Marionette

pat ratchet

mechanical spiders

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls

Side Facade

pat ratchet

i agree! there are many other views that should be doc'ed only by mott.. he's the one
with the eye for this shit.
photos of the saloon and ballroom would really do it for me...

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls

Exterior

pat ratchet

this place IS going to go, to the shame of the town that it used to be the heart of.
there is a faint hope of saving the east wing, if artistic / historical voices could be
brought to bear, but i'm afraid anyone who could intervene has already been paid off on this count...

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls

Side Facade

pat ratchet

a prominent facade from the Allen & Collens remodeling from the late 20's.
Very tasty Tudor stylings...

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls

Auditorium

pat ratchet

actually, my band has played dumps in worse shape than this...

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls

Common Room

pat ratchet

hey, this WAS a weird school- it was like a finishing school for girls who were'nt
necessarily going to finish anything...
they had names like Buffy and Muffy and
Winky, and all universally had very long straight blonde hair, at least the ones who taught me when i was 4. half of the
grad students were all former girlfriends of
timothy leary. i loved them all.

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls

Tumbled Radiators

pat ratchet

definitely one in a Series of Disasters, huh?

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls

Stairwell

pat ratchet

this shot is Down to the Bone...

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls

Waterfall

pat ratchet

this is a section of the building designed by the Boston architectural firm of Allen & Collens, best known locally for the majority of buildings on the Vassar campus in Poughkeepsie. though there Tudor additions were
considered apropos for the campus, a great deal of the buildings deterioration began here.

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls

Main Hall

pat ratchet

actually this is the part of the complex
that is practically adjacent to the
caretakers residence in the old chapel.
asshead is indeed a prick beyond belief,
this may be the reason for its'
relatively undamaged condition.
the irony of chasing away us enthusiasts
is understandable but futile: clearly
No One Gives A FUCK About This Building!!!!!!

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls

Messy Hall

pat ratchet

...molting...

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls

Hole in the Floor

pat ratchet

this is the shot that DOES scare the
shit outta' me....

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls

Lights

pat ratchet

i see pollack...

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls

Askew

pat ratchet

one of the deluxe suites from the Hall, the scenic view is practically identical as it was in 1893..except the power lines...

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls

Inside the Turret

pat ratchet

la petit rotunda....
lots of psychedelic substances were ingested here in this tower, from the very early 1960's until.. well probably now
at least if these kids today have any
architecturalo taste or imagination...

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls

Bathtub

pat ratchet

the tub itself looks relatively clean, no ?

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls

Elevator Shaft

pat ratchet

actually the elevator services six stories
and the actual cage 'car' was itself a much older antique from a earlier age of
'carriage'. immediately after its' installation a similar hydraulic elevator was installed by the architect and the Otis Co at the Mohonk mountain House in new paltz

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls

Courtyard

pat ratchet

MY FAVORITE SHOT! these balconies were indeed active lounging and recreational areas with seating and decoratve plantings....ah the mists of time..

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls

Blue-Green

pat ratchet

full bitchin colors!

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls

Hallway

pat ratchet

i believe it !

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls

Arched Window

pat ratchet

gorgeous, from the nursery, this became the arts and crafts center at bennet, i
remember being in here when i was like
4 & 5....this really brings back memories! thanks mott!

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls

Elevator

pat ratchet

WHAT A SHOT! very marilyn manson...

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls

Hey Kiddies

pat ratchet

this is the playground of the nursery school that was dragged to the halcyon lawn from atop the nearby hill. i attended
nursery school here in the 70-71, what a magical place it was! it was the training school for Bennet College's acclaimed elementary teaching program. the school
was est c.1930's. it was removed to here
in the late 80's, and the school has just
closed it's doors. funny, great school in
one of the most well to do towns in the northeast, closing, sitting on the property
of another great old school, long closed..

Location: Bennett School for Girls  Gallery: Close Calls