Roseland Cottage

Cottage Furniture

Cottage bedroom suite, Brooklyn, C. N. Smith, painter, c. 1845

The bed, chest of drawers, and washstand in Lucy’s room were purchased as a set. The faux painting compliments the Gothic style of the house, in a fashion advocated by Alexander Jackson Downing in many of his books and articles. For instance, in an article in the “Horticulturalist” (Sept. 1849) Downing described a small well-designed cottage: “[Y]ou felt at a glance that there was a prevailing taste and fitness, that gave meaning to all, and brought all into harmony; the furniture in the house, the house with the grounds, and all with the life of its inmates.”