Val Kill, Eleanor Roosevelt’s Home in Hyde Park

Lake in front of Val Kill

Eleanor Roosevelt biggest wish in life was to be useful, and nothing illustrates that better than the home that she created for herself at Val Kill. It is located several miles from the Hyde Park estate of Springwood, which was officially her home. In reality, it was her mother-in-law’s home, and Sara Roosevelt ran it and her family like a general. Thus, Eleanor jumped at the chance when Franklin suggested that she and her friends build a cottage on a piece of property he owned in Hyde Park on a small body of water, the Fall-Kill, a place where the family would come for picnicking and summer outings and sports. It ultimately became part of an experiment to see whether FDR’s ideas that small local industries could help keep farming communities viable during hard times. Eleanor and her friends built a cottage and a small factory for building furniture, and hired local people to work there.

The factory lasted for a few years, but when it was necessary to shut it down, Eleanor converted the factory portion into living quarters for herself, and it was here that at last she was able to create a home of her own. It is a simple home, and many of the rooms remind me of those of my own grandmothers’ cottages. Nothing matches; Eleanor Roosevelt felt that her friends weren’t all of one size, so why should her furniture be. It’s a versatile home, with many small cozy sitting areas. You get the feeling that conversation, not ceremony, was the most important thing in her life. She also decorated her walls primarily with photographs, or with paintings of people she cared for. Her dining room is covered with Christmas cards from the White House staff.

Eleanor Roosevelt’s Desk, where she wrote hundreds of her “My Day” columns, wrote speeches, books and correspondence.

Dining Room — often set buffet style because it was difficult to know how many people might be coming to eat. ER was notorious for running into town for an errand, and inviting many of the people that she met there to come over for dinner. She had a very patient and devoted cook.

The most impressive moment of this tour came when the guide pointed to the two chairs at the far end of the sitting room below. (Note the blue and pink chairs sitting by the lamp with the orange shade.) It was at that table that John Kennedy met with Eleanor Roosevelt in 1960 to ask for her support with his Presidential campaign. She held out until he agreed to take a more aggressive position regarding civil rights. Even though neither lived to see it happen, it was the beginning of Presidential involvement in ultimately achieving civil rights. There was a thrilling sense in the entire house of the history that was made by this remarkable woman and how much it contributed to all she achieved.