Tuesday, May 10, 2016

The Ferncliff Gatehouse

Each of the old mansions along Hudson River had a gatehouse. 

Here's the gatehouse for the Ferncliff estate, once owned by the Astor family. It was designed in a Second-Empire style by architect L.A. Ehlers in 1877. 

It was abandoned when I first saw it, and it seemed an ideal setting for a story of the supernatural. I sketched it using pencil and gray wash, because I felt color would have taken away more than it would have added. 

5 comments:

Boris Zatko said...

Looks greatly spooky! Reminds me of "The Haunting" from 1963. A movie with stunning black and white contrast.

Cheers

Boris

Tom Hart said...

Very effective medium choice. I immediately got a "Dark Shadows" sort of feel. The smoky wash really does the trick.

David Webb said...

I think Bruce Wayne would feel at home there.

bernicky said...

The wrought iron gates, still strong after years of neglect, hung with black indifference to the weeds and chipped masonry around them. For close to a decade the gatehouse had looked out over the adjoining street as people crossed to the other side to avoid walking past it. Unlike other abandoned buildings in the city not one pane of glass had suffered the inequity of being pierced by a rock. The last occupant, Mr. James Mansard, had been found dead in the house on the final day of its occupancy. Rather pieces of Mr. Mansard had been found inhabiting various areas of the house in a clear case of murder. Aside from the remarkable disposition of Mr. Mansard the other remarkable feature of the case was the complete absence of any blood at the scene of the crime.....

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Fabio said...

Amazing atmosphere, I agree on what you said, color would have taken out the impression