Slabsides (John Burroughs Cabin) | |
 Slabsides in 2005 | |
| Location | West Park, New York |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Poughkeepsie |
| Coordinates | 41°47′40″N73°58′23″W / 41.79444°N 73.97306°W /41.79444; -73.97306 |
| Area | 170 acres (68 ha) |
| Built | 1895 |
| Architect | John Burroughs |
| Architectural style | Adirondacklog cabin |
| NRHP reference No. | 68000034[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | November 24, 1968[1] |
| Designated NHL | November 24, 1968[2] |
Slabsides is thelog cabin built by naturalistJohn Burroughs and his son on a nine-acre (3.6 ha) wooded and hilly tract in 1895 one mile (1.6 km) west ofRiverby, his home inWest Park, New York. From the time of its construction to the last year of his life, Burroughs received many visitors at the cabin, ranging fromTheodore Roosevelt andHenry Ford to students fromVassar College, just across theHudson River.[3]
Slabsides is a one-story log cabin with an open floor plan with a partitioned bedroom. It is located in a relatively low stretch of theMarlboro Mountains, perched on the west side of a hill in the wooded John Burroughs Nature Sanctuary. There is no direct access by motor vehicle; to reach it, visitors must park on the gravel road up the hill and follow a gated logging road slightly downhill, then level, approximately 0.3 mile (500 m) to the cabin.
To reach the cabin, visitors must park at the base of the road to it on Burroughs Drive and walk up a half-mile (800 m). The cabin itself, furnished exactly as it was when Burroughs left it, is only open to visitors twice a year, from noon to 4:30 p.m. on the third Saturday in May and the first one in October.[3]Hikingtrails have been constructed for visitors to enjoy for themselves the woods that inspired Burroughs. The sanctuary is open year-round.[3]
"Life has a different flavor here", Burroughs wrote of the cabin in hisessay "Far and Near". "It is reduced to simpler terms; its complex equations all disappear." The name "Slabsides" came from the roughbark-covered lumber strips covering its outer walls. "I might have given it a prettier name, but not one more fit, of more in keeping with the mood that brought me thither". Much of the cabin remains as he and his son built it, including thered cedar posts holding up theporch.[3]
After his death in 1921, the property was presented to theJohn Burroughs Association, which had just been formed to preserve his legacy. When nearbylogging operations and proposed development threatened the property in the mid-1960s, the association purchased the properties with money raised from supporters. This has resulted in an expansion of the property into the 170 acre (68 ha) John Burroughs Sanctuary. The cabin was designated aNational Historic Landmark in 1968,[2][4] joiningRiverby andWoodchuck Lodge as Burroughs-associated properties carrying that designation.
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help), (Note misfiled under REFNUM for Riverby rather than REFNUM for Slabsides) andAccompanying 3 photos, exterior and interior, from 1975 and undated. (618 KB)
