Sprouting from an abandoned quarry overlooking the Catskills in Saugerties, NY is a 5-story cylindrical sculpture that spins its way from the earth to the sky like a seashell strung from an invisible wire. The Spiral House—designed and built by artist Tom Gottsleben (1950-2019) on a 45-acre parcel owned by Tom and his wife, Patty Livingston—is a rare feat of engineering ingenuity, functional artistry and whimsical abandon. It’s literally a giant bluestone nautilus that when viewed from above appears like a giant shell.
Inside the home winds upwards with a spiral staircase leading to an octagon skylight that illuminates any dark space. Walls full of windows with rich colors, indoor balconies for quiet contemplation and outdoor patios allow one to take in the sweeping view of the Catskills and particularly Overlook Mountain, which the home opens up to and in many ways, mirrors in design.
The house itself is surrounded by more than 30 bluestone and crystal glass sculptures that bring light and color to every corner, dance along wooded edges and rise from the ground like a disco stage. There are giant crystal rainbows on bluestone patios that are assembled to reflect the artists love of sacred geometry. Chairs encircle one of these patios which is called the “Square Root” patio because each stone tile is the square root of the one next to it.
Joshua Cohen, the Executive Director of the HPS noted that “each story of the Spiral House is 50 percent the size of the one before it.” Cohen can also point out spirals in almost every facet of the home including tiles in the kitchen, fixtures, faucet handles and the teal railings that wrap around the home and balconies like waves curving into themselves.
He explained that the late artist’s work was inspired by nature and the fundamental patterns found in living things as well as the stone that resulted from geological evolution. According to Livingston, who serves as the park’s founder and chairperson, it was back in 1997 when she asked her husband to design a guest house on the property for visiting relatives. At the time she had in mind a small, Woodstock-style cottage to pair next to their modest one-story ranch home. The artist was exciting about building a home, but certainly not a conventional house, nor one that had a traditional rectilinear structure. He’d been creating these bluestone walls and bridges and sculptures that balanced the weight and gravity of stone along with the light and feeling of ascension of brightly colored crystal glass throughout their wooded property. As his artistry and connection to the earth continued to deepen so did his fascination with the spiral form which can be found everywhere in nature both in patterns and in the way plants and animals grow and energy organizes itself. According to Livingston, her husband saw a metaphysical quality in the spiral’s simultaneous expanding and contracting around a fixed center. He began to contemplate whether it would be possible to make a spiral large enough to live in.
Cutting a right angle out of foam core and scoring it with straight lines parallel to the tall side, he played with the spiral shape, modifying it with input from Livingston who had concerns about the darkness of a central stairwell and how they might fit furniture against a curved wall. Somehow, Gottsleben and his merry band of local stone masons who had a workshop on the property, were able to construct this living sculpture in the span of 5 years. It was completed in 2001.
The house is anything but dark. In fact, it seems to almost nourish anyone who moves through it. The bathroom tiles and murals seem to transport one to Tuscany while the kitchen leans in as if to offer sustenance to all who might come in.
There is a sense of delight and wonder that is irrepressible when spending time inside or on the grounds of the Spiral House. It was this quality that made Livingston want to ensure that the SHP could be enjoyed by the public.
She has worked for the last several years along with her board to secure the proper permits and site-plans to allow the public to visit the house and the grounds. Livingston relocated to their couple’s original home on the property, but said that she could not imagine the Spiral House becoming stagnant. It’s antithetical to the spirit in which it was created and lived in.
“Everyone who worked on this was from the area,” she said. “Almost all of the stone was sourced from this area and it’s part of the landscape now.” Asked what she enjoys about people visiting the home and park she said, “seeing the joy on other people’s faces when they first experience this. I still get it every day. I find myself laughing. The exuberance of these crazy sculptures with their rainbow glass and dancing forms. It just grabs you! He was such an out-of-the-box thinker… When my daughter (10 years old) comes to work with me she’ll spend hours drawing the rainbow sculpture in her notebook or exploring in the woods, looking for hidden metal birds. There are 17 of them throughout the trail for kids to find!”
Cohen noted that the gardeners had been hard at work since the spring and are excited to have people see the work that they’ve done. “There was more of an emphasis on ornamental gardening as you can see,” said Cohen, pointing to some of the decorative shrubs in front of the house. He noted that the team, led by Livingston, is keen to transition the numerous gardens on the property towards more native species and pollinator gardens to help enrich the park and supporting environment.
To that end, they’ve had a number of smaller events this summer and early fall including a geology walk, a bee and pollinator workshop, a series on ecological landscaping through the seasons and were able to have 30 volunteers at one event come to help remove invasive species.
Beginning in October, Cohen said, they will open the home and grounds up to the public on weekends. Livingston herself will be giving tours of the home. The grounds will also be open with a 1.5-mile path through the woods as well as a path that is ADA accessible (currently being finished) to allow for people to easily move around the main portion of the sculpture garden. They are also planning a big launch party on November 1st. They will have tents set up and live music near the larger rainbow sculpture to officially open The Spiral House Park to the public.
“I am eager to welcome visitors to explore the park’s magical grounds,” said Cohen. “From contemplating Gottsleben’s sculptures and the symbolic architecture of the Spiral House to wandering through pollinator gardens or finding a quiet moment among the meandering stone walls and woodland trails, the experience invites discovery and reflection. This is a place for all, a sanctuary to be enjoyed, to return to again and again, designed to build community and connections to nature.”
Livingston’s hope is that the intersection of art and nature that informed the development of the property will also guide the Park’s charitable mission: “to increase public understanding of environmental issues and create programming that celebrates art, nature, and their power to transform the way we see and care for the Earth.” SHP has received non-profit status as an arts and environmental organization.
Envisioned for the future, according to SHP Executive Director Joshua Cohen, are open days that allow visitors to enjoy the park at their leisure. There are also plans for environmental and art programs that explore nature’s patterns; professionally guided walks and workshops on trees, managing invasive species, indigenous history, and more; painting, writing, and other creative workshops; seasonal events; and youth programs under the auspices of schools, camps, and youth organizations. Further in the future the park will host small performances and use three existing sculpture studios as space for community arts workshops and artist fellowships.
It’s all in process and Cohen encourages everyone who is interested in visiting the SHP to go to their website, www.spiralhousepark.org, which has upcoming events, programs and tours listed. They will also continue to update the website as they develop their programming.
The magic that exists in and around The Spiral House is something to behold.
You can also visit Instagram @spiralhousepark or Facebook @ spiral.house.park as well.
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