Manitoga/The Russel Wright Design Center

Manitoga is the house, studio, and 75-acre woodland landscape of mid-century designer Russel Wright (1904-1976). It is a National Historic Landmark, an Affiliate Site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and a World Monuments Fund Watch Site. In its concept, design, and management, Manitoga unites art, science, culture, and nature with an ecological aesthetic that is both human and spiritual. Wright's vision blended the natural landscape with man-made elements. Just as the house is interwoven with the site, the hillside is connected by views to its larger context of the Hudson River Valley, thereby providing visitors with an intimate and unfolding relationship to the place.

Among Wright's most notable and commercially successful designs are his American Modern lines of ceramic dinnerware and furniture and his Residential line of Melmac plastic dinnerware.

TIMELINE

2021
Manitoga opens The Russel & Mary Wright Design Gallery, which tells the story of how the Wrights shaped modern American lifestyle. The display of over 200 objects is the only permanent in-depth public exhibition of the Wrights' product designs anywhere.

2017
Manitoga completes Access Road Restoration Project, the first step in its overall site stabilization effort. The project is partially funded by a matching grant from New York State's Environmental Protection Fund.

2016
Manitoga partners with Open Space Institute to permanently preserve public access to their trail network.

2014
Manitoga launches Artist Residency program to revive Russel Wright's legacy of creative experimentation.

2012
Manitoga is named a World Monuments Fund Watch Site.

2011
Manitoga sustains extensive damage from both Hurricane Irene and an untimely late October snow storm; the Garden Conservancy works with Manitoga's Woodland Landscape Council to assess damage and implement clean-up efforts. 

2006
Manitoga is designated a National Historic Landmark.

2004
Seasonal, public tours of House, Studio, and Landscape begin.

1996
Manitoga named to the National Register of Historic Places.

1987
Summer Nature & Deisgn Camp for youth is launched.

1984
Manitoga, Inc. established as a 501(c)(3) organization.

1975
Russel Wright and his daughter, Ann, deed Manitoga to the Nature Conservancy; Russel Wright dies the following year.

1961
Dragon Rock House and Studio are completed.

1942
Mid-century modern designer Russel Wright and his wife, Mary, purchase 75-acre property in Garrison, NY, formerly a quarrying and logging site. The couple begin to reclaim the landscape by creating Mary's Meadow, a 40-foot cascading waterfall, a series of outdoor garden "rooms" and a garden of woodland paths. 

For more information, go to visitmanitoga.org.