{"nrhp_refnum":"99000909","name":"Brunel, Emile, Studio and Sculpture Garden","other_names":["Totem Indian Trading Post","Brunel Park"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NY 28","address_restricted":false,"city":"Boiceville","county":"Ulster County","state":"NY","lat":41.99699099700007,"lon":-74.26402125399994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1999-08-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Art","Entertainment/Recreation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A studio and outdoor sculpture garden on NYS Route 28 in Boiceville, town of Olive, Ulster County, New York. The studio was built in 1929 by artist Emile Brunel, and the concrete sculptures date from about 1918 to 1944.","why_significant":"The nomination describes it as an unusual regional collection of early twentieth-century folk art and a rare surviving example of roadside art and architecture in the upper Hudson valley. It is tied to the automobile age and the growth of roadside tourism. The French-country-influenced, Craftsman-inspired studio adds architectural interest.","narrative":"Beside Route 28 in Boiceville stands a small remnant of a once-larger Catskills resort called Chalet Indien, created by French-born photographer and artist Emile Brunel. The 1.28-acre parcel holds his 1929 studio, a two-story stucco building with a flared gable roof and carved relief panels showing a Native American village scene and portraits of Brunel and his wife. Nearby are three huge concrete sculptures, including a thirty-foot chief and a tree-trunk monument holding Brunel's ashes, as well as two totem poles and smaller figures. The works were moved to the present site in 1947 when the state rebuilt the highway through the original grounds. The property is valued as regional folk art and as a surviving example of roadside attractions built to catch the eye of motorists. Its studio, inspired by Craftsman and French country design, adds architectural significance. The site remains largely intact from 1947, though the garden has deteriorated.","period_of_significance":"1929-1947","architect_builder":"Brunel, Emile","architectural_style":"Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements: Arts and Crafts","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"The commercial venture has been closed for many years and the garden has fallen into disrepair, but the site remains virtually intact from 1947.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:51.588651-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/99000909.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000909/bb3623e4cf-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000909/bb3623e4cf-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Daniel Case","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emile_Brunel_Sculpture_Garden,_Boiceville,_NY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Daniel Case</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emile_Brunel_Sculpture_Garden,_Boiceville,_NY.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322550","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emile_Brunel_Studio_and_Sculpture_Garden","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1337158"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/ulster-county/brunel-emile-studio-and-sculpture-garden-99000909/"}