Beauty and history on Sylvester Manor’s walls

 As Shelter Island’s historic Sylvester Manor undergoes a major restoration and preservation process, an early step is the replacement of stunning French wallpaper that has adorned the house’s “Ladies Parlor” for nearly 120 years.

The “Eldorado” design, which won an award at the 1901 Paris Exhibition, was made by Zuber, the world’s oldest surviving wallpaper manufacturer. The designs on the intricate wallpaper transport viewers to a mythic “City of Gold,” blending real-world locations with an imagined landscape.

The wallpaper panels in the Ladies Parlor were purchased by Cornelia Horsford and her sister Katharine, 6th-generation descendants of the Island’s first settler, Nathaniel Sylvester, during a visit to Paris in 1905, and installed when Cornelia renovated the Manor House in 1908. Brinley Sylvester, grandson of Nathaniel Sylvester, had built the current Manor house in 1737.

Over the years the “Eldorado” wallpaper panels  have shown the natural signs of aging, including fading, tearing, and discoloration from decades of exposure.

To ensure the continuation of this iconic work, Sylvester Manor has enlisted the expertise of renowned wallpaper specialists Jim Francis and John Nalewaja of Scenic Wallpaper, who had extensive experience in Zuber landscapes, including “Eldorado.”

The delicate process of removing the original panels for conservation has uncovered rich layers of history embedded within the parlor’s walls.

The experts have discovered earlier wallpapers that chronicle the room’s evolution — from an Arts and Crafts floral motif dating to the era when Professor Eben Horsford, an inventor of baking powder, used the space as his study, to a delicate floral pattern featuring blue asters and green vining stems, a distinctly feminine design.

Even older layers reveal gray zig-zag and floral patterns, offering fascinating glimpses into the changing aesthetic of the room over centuries.

The plaster walls, made from local materials including sand and animal hair, have also suffered the ravages of time. With extensive damage requiring careful attention, the renewal begins with repairing the structural integrity of the walls before installing the new Zuber panels of the same wallpaper design.

The original Zuber wallpaper will be carefully preserved, and new “Eldorado” panels will be printed using the same traditional techniques and materials.

The French Ministry of Culture has designated the original 1,554 hand-carved wooden blocks used to create the design as Historical Monuments, ensuring that the reproduction will be faithful to the original masterpiece. Once the plaster repairs are completed, the new panels will be installed over canvas, allowing for easier removal and future conservation efforts.

This project has been made possible in part by a grant from The Versailles Foundation, alongside the support of individual donors. As one visually stunning aspect of the 46-room Manor House collection, the project is an important step in a $6 million, ongoing effort to meticulously document and preserve the entire 1737 home for future generations.

Working alongside the team at Architectural Preservation Studio DPC, Sylvester Manor is taking the necessary steps to ensure this historically significant property, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, remains protected and celebrated.

Until 2010, the Manor was a private home that housed 11 generations of the family of the Island’s original European settlers. Today, the nonprofit Sylvester Manor Educational Farm comprises the Manor House, a restored 19th-century windmill, an Afro-Indigenous Burial Ground, a working farm, and educational and cultural arts programs open to all.