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Steepletop, also known as the Edna St. Vincent Millay House, was the farmhouse home of
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
-winning poet
Edna St. Vincent Millay Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 – October 19, 1950) was an American lyrical poet and playwright. Millay was a renowned social figure and noted feminist in New York City during the Roaring Twenties and beyond. She wrote much of he ...
and her husband Eugen Jan Boissevain, in
Austerlitz Austerlitz may refer to: History * Battle of Austerlitz, an 1805 victory by the French Grand Army of Napoleon Bonaparte Places * Austerlitz, German name for Slavkov u Brna in the Czech Republic, which gave its name to the Battle of Austerlitz an ...
, New York, United States. Her former home and gardens are maintained by the
Edna St. Vincent Millay Society Edna or EDNA may refer to: Places United States *Edna, California, a census-designated place *Edna Lake, Idaho *Edna, Iowa, an unincorporated town in Lyon County * Edna Township, Cass County, Iowa * Edna, Kansas, a city *Edna, Kentucky, an uni ...
, a nonprofit organization that also holds the rights to the poet's intellectual property. Steepletop was declared a National Historic Landmark on November 11, 1971. and   The
Millay Colony for the Arts Millay Arts, formerly the Millay Colony for the Arts, is an arts community offering residency-retreats and workshops in Austerlitz, New York, and free arts programs in local public schools. Housed on the former property of feminist/activist poet ...
, founded by
Norma Millay Ellis Norma Millay (1894May 14, 1986) was an American singer and actress, and sister of the poet and playwright Edna St. Vincent Millay. Born in Rockland, Maine to Cora Lounella Buzelle and Henry Tolman Millay, Norma Millay was one of three sisters who ...
, sister of the poet and heir to her estate, is located on an adjacent plot of land. In 1973, it was established as a separate nonprofit organization from the Edna St. Vincent Millay society (aka, "Millay Society"). The name Steepletop comes from a pink, conical wildflower that grows there. The Society opened the house for tours in 2010.


Property

Steepletop is a estate on a hilly, wooded area in the northeastern corner of the town near the Massachusetts state line. Although located within the range of the Taconic Mountains, the area is adjacent to the Berkshire Hills and is considered part of the cultural region of the Berkshires, known for its rich diversity in music, arts and recreation. The property is abutted on some areas by Beebe Hill and Harvey Mountain State Forest. It can be reached by taking partially paved East Hill Road to the main complex from the NY 22
state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...
in the narrow valley to its west. East Hill leads through the Steepletop property, on a rolling section of cleared land in the middle of the woods. Its most visible building is the guest house on the east side of the road, currently used as the Millay Society's offices. It is a two-story building, sided in shingles with a gabled roof and two exterior brick chimneys. To its southeast is a stable now used as a garage, with a second floor studio. A barn with curved roof is located on the northeast. Just north of it, across the road, is the main house, Millay's primary home during her years of residence. It is a two-story white clapboard- sided house with a steep gabled roof and central chimney, built into ground that rises up from the short unpaved driveway on the west. A one-and-a-half-story wing projects from the north. The four-
bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...
west (front) facade has a single-bay, single-story gabled porch sheltering the main entrance, a doorway with sidelights and
transom Transom may refer to: * Transom (architecture), a bar of wood or stone across the top of a door or window, or the window above such a bar * Transom (nautical), that part of the stern of a vessel where the two sides of its hull meet * Operation Tran ...
. The north wing has three shed-roofed dormer windows, an interior chimney and a single-bay, single-story projection on its west just north of the main entrance. Its north end has a double door and single window in the gable field. On the wing's east side is a screened porch with a single shed dormer above. Behind the main door is a small full-length hallway with stone floor. It is decorated with photographs of Millay and art objects collected by her and Boissevain, including a bust of
Sappho Sappho (; el, Σαπφώ ''Sapphō'' ; Aeolic Greek ''Psápphō''; c. 630 – c. 570 BC) was an Archaic Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her Greek lyric, lyric poetry, written to be sung while ...
and a desk made for Millay. An adjacent parlor has a wide brick mantelpiece and paintings of and by Norma Ellis and her husband Charles, who lived in the house after her sister's death. At the east end of the hall is the dining room. To its north is the kitchen, as remodeled by ''
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'' in 1947 for a feature story, by their friend and an editor at the magazine,
Alice Blinn Alice Blinn (April 18, 1889 – January 20, 1982) was an American educator, home efficiency expert, and magazine editor. Born in Candor, New York, she attended the New York State normal school and became a teacher. After teaching briefly, in 1913 ...
. Its pantry is to the west, with a small room containing a wood stove on the north. Beyond that is a large storage room with concrete floor, bathroom and closet. It contains file cabinets with recordings of readings of Millay's work. A stairway leads up to the second floor, with the library on the south. All its walls have shelves of Millay's books. At the northeast corner is her bedroom, which still has furniture she bought and dresses she wore to poetry readings. A newer bedroom, used by her sister and her husband, is to the west. Northwest of the house is a small one-story wooden cabin, used by Millay as a writing studio. It has a door at the west end, one window on the north face and two on the south. Within are a stove, chaise longue, bureau, desk and chair, and a table with magazines from 1949, all as Millay left it. Farther away from the house are two more buildings and Millay's grave. A gabled
icehouse Icehouse or ice house may refer to: * Ice house (building), a building where ice is stored * Ice shanty, a shelter for ice fishing also known as an ''Icehouse'' * Ice skating rink, a facility for ice skating. * Ice hockey arena, an area where ice ...
is to the north; the Ellises converted it into a workroom and storage space. West of the driveway is a swimming pool complex, with a roofed terrace Millay referred to as "the bar" and lawn she called "the dingle". Her gravesite is off a dirt road that branches off to the west from East Hill a thousand feet (305 m) north of the main house.


History

The guest house is believed to have been built in the late 18th century, considerably predating the main house, which is believed to have been built around 1870. Millay and Boissevain bought the property, which had been a blueberry farm and moved in in 1925, after the period in which critics and scholars generally believe she had done her best work. She continued to write since the rural setting provided sufficient distance from the outside world, and the couple lived there except for periods of travel. The couple built the barn shortly after moving in, from a kit they bought from Sears. Millay grew her own vegetables in a small garden near the icehouse, and had the writing cabin built. The couple also had a tennis court built. After World War II, in the late 1940s, she left Steepletop less frequently. Boissevain died in 1949, making her even more reclusive in the year before she was found dead at the foot of the stairway in the main house. The fall was the proximate cause of death, but what led to it is unknown. Her sister Norma and her husband, painter Charles Ellis, moved in afterwards. In 1973, they established
Millay Colony for the Arts Millay Arts, formerly the Millay Colony for the Arts, is an arts community offering residency-retreats and workshops in Austerlitz, New York, and free arts programs in local public schools. Housed on the former property of feminist/activist poet ...
on the seven acres (2.8 ha) around the guest house and barn. After her husband's death in 1976, Norma continued to manage the colony program until her death in 1986. During that time, in 1980, she renovated the barn into housing for visiting artists. In 1997, a disabled-accessible main building was built on colony property. The colony continues to offer one-month residencies to writers, visual artists and composers from the U.S. and other countries. In 2006, the state of
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
paid $1.69 million to acquire of Steepletop, to add the land to a nearby state forest preserve. The proceeds of the sale were used by the Edna St. Vincent Millay Society to restore the farmhouse and grounds and turn it into a museum. The museum opened to the public in the summer of 2010, and guided tours of Steepletop and Millay's gardens were available from the end of May through the middle of October. Effective November 2018, Steepletop closed to the public due to financial challenges and restoration needs. Fundraising efforts continue as do considerations for the future of this museum house. Parts of the grounds of Steepletop, including the Millay Poetry Trail that leads to her grave, are now open for occasional scheduled events. The Edna St. Vincent Millay Society remains in charge of the main house, the outbuildings around it and the grounds as a whole. It operates the property as a historic house museum dedicated to Millay and has spent much effort on restoring the house and grounds. In 2003, the Friends of the Millay Society built the Millay Poetry Trail along the dirt road leading to her grave and those of several family members. The trail is open to the public and posted with her nature poetry along the shaded route.


See also

*
List of National Historic Landmarks in New York This is a list of National Historic Landmarks and comparable other historic sites designated by the U.S. government in the U.S. state of New York. The United States National Historic Landmark (NHL) program operates under the auspices of the Nat ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Columbia County, New York This is intended to be a complete list of properties and districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Columbia County, New York. Seven properties and districts are further designated National Historic Landmarks. The locati ...


References


External links


Official Site


{{authority control Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Historic house museums in New York (state) National Historic Landmarks in New York (state) Houses completed in 1870 Biographical museums in New York (state) Museums in Columbia County, New York Women's museums in New York (state) Literary museums in the United States Houses in Columbia County, New York National Register of Historic Places in Columbia County, New York Homes of American writers