Welcome to the Arcadian Revivalist
I cannot think of a better way to kick off the launch of our online journal, The Arcadian Revivalist, than by thanking you for being here and welcoming you into our world. To say that this platform has been a long time coming would have been an understatement. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when this dream began; it is likely one that started with my mother and has always been with me. It’s a tale of small town, country roots and of big city living. And so as an introduction of sorts, I’m eager to share with you bits of Arcadian Revival and what you might expect from our pages here within.
2014, DUMBO. A day spent wandering Brooklyn with my now husband, my eyes bright with the tremendous potential of the city’s extraordinary building inventory.
There is, of course, much that shaped my perspectives today from my childhood. But as an adult, I recall back in 2013 on one of our first dates in Fort Greene Brooklyn with my now husband verbalizing my desire to “do something more creative related to design and renovations” and that one day I wanted to branch out and do something on my own. I would look at the interior of a restaurant or pass by an old building that was screaming for renovation/restoration and would say, “See? This is what I want to do.” …and I would immediately have an entire vision come to me about what that building, property, space could be. And I can confidently say that in time I didn’t even need to verbalize this calling, as a simple look exchanged between us signaled that I needed to move in this direction.
Despite that calling, I had found a strong foundation already in my career working in City Hall under the Michael Bloomberg Administration on energy and economic development projects. Moving through the government, nonprofit, and private sectors for a decade, I found a balance of working on construction, large-scale infrastructure planning, and innovative sustainability efforts. My creative outlets poured into long-term parks and open space planning, and shepherding community engagement around creating neighborhood-wide visions.
Following my passions for old buildings and sustainable design, I moved into the role of decision-maker via the real estate development space so I could learn how choices were made. I was lucky enough to work on various phases of a few commercial and residential projects in Brooklyn and Manhattan - and even the repositioning of an industrial site in Queens. I ventured further into building energy and sustainable design, leading the effort to achieve WELL and LEED certification at the landmarked 550 Madison Avenue.
Image left: Site visit to explore rooftop solar feasibility at 550 Madison Avenue, 2019.
Here in the building’s iconic chippendale roofline above, I organized a site visit to examine solar. Take a look just south of Central Park to the east and you should be able to catch her copper sloped roof from the Sheep Meadow.
It was here working at a large real estate development company that I worked on early development and design, construction, and even the preparation of opening a new apartment building in Brooklyn. I worked alongside architects, interior designers, engineers, construction managers - not to mention on all of the financial and legal legwork that happened behind the scenes. This chapter became a learning renaissance as I soaked up everything that I could, knowing that one day after we started our family that I might be ready for a shift.
Image right: Rooftop window at a nine-acre industrial site that was one of my projects when I worked in real estate development. At the time, I was just as interested in salvaging the original factory floors and interior industrial doors as I was repositioning the property for its next tenant.
One of our many weekends spent north of Brooklyn in the Catskills and Hudson Valley. Here, we enjoyed a restful stay at the Beaverkill Valley Inn in Livingston Manor, New York
I would lean into creative projects outside of work too, including flipping our first real estate asset, a prewar condominium in Brooklyn, in 2016. We would spend the weekends traveling north of the city into the Catskills and Hudson Valley, exploring a creative hub that I felt came to life in a way that left more room to grow and experiment with design (and connect to the outdoors) than I found possible in the city. On one adventure, we drove a Car2Go all the way to Rhinebeck for the Country Living Fair! Can you imagine seeing that little car make that trip up the Taconic? We somehow did it. One of a million stories…
An “after” view of the prewar condo that we flipped in 2016. Brooklyn, New York.
Fast forward to settling into our country home in this picturesque part of Upstate New York. We are living life pretty close to how I would have dreamed it all up years ago if I could. I spend my time dancing in the kitchen with my kids, and dancing the delicate balance of family life and creative pursuit. I’m in tune with the natural world that thrives just outside of our home, where our children can be barefoot in the summer and walk out of the screen door to water our gardens before breakfast. We make time to think about the food that we put on the table. If we’re not growing it at home, we support our local farmers and businesses. We focus on making sustainable choices in the day to day, of bringing the outdoors in, and of connecting to our local and global communities through engagement, design, music, food, books, and anything else that we can integrate. I finally have my own space to garden and work with plants. My plate is full of doing the things that I love.
And so to contextualize this all, one late summer night sitting together on our screened porch our first summer here my husband and I named this journal and the type of person it might embody: The Arcadian Revivalist.
Arcadian Revivalist /ɑːrˈkeɪ.di.ən/ /rɪˈvaɪv(ə)lɪst/ (noun):
A person who intentionally lives a life driven by their values of self-enrichment, of home, seeking harmony with the natural world, and cultivating community. One who balances elegance and ruggedness.
An individual who strives to leave a positive impact on all things great and small, who holds close to their heart the things worthy of being held onto from the past, but keeps a keen eye on the future. A leader, a dreamer.
A person with grit who believes in creating and pausing for beauty, especially as it relates to nature and humanity.
One who seeks or appreciates the realization of these characteristics visually through design.
Everything found within Arcadian Revival ties into this ethos in one way or another. I suppose it’s all an extension of who I am, or at least who I strive to be.