With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
225 Music Mountain Road, Canaan
- Music Mountain
- Jacques Gordon
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Music Mountain was the brainchild of violinist Gordon.
- Description of Significance/Historical Narrative
- Music Mountain, Inc., in Falls Village, is a summer music institution devoted to the string quartet and located at a 124 acre former farmstead with c.1880 farmhouse. The founder, violinist Jacques Gordon, who had been concertmaster at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, was able to contract Sears, Roebuck and Co., to build five Colonial Revival-style frame buildings that would serve as concert hall and performer residences. Completed in 1930, the buildings, together with the original farmhouse, form a small campus. The concert venue, Gordon Hall, was custom designed and is known for its remarkable acoustics and views across the grounds. The first violinist house and the cottage design for the other members of the quartet were custom as well, but the cottage was subsequently made available as 'The Gordon' in Sears Roebuck catalogs of 1931, 1932 and 1933. All five buildings were prefabricated, shipped to Falls Village by railroad, and erected by a local contractor.
- Date of Construction
- 1930
- Historic Designation(s)