Vive la France!
This was the month of all things French!
We were honored to welcome Nathalie and Philippe de Gouberville to Odell House on the morning of May 5th. Nathalie is the sixth-generation descendant of Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, the General of the French Army who lived in OHRH in 1781. She had heard stories about the house all her life, because both her grandfather and her father had visited here in the past, and she was eager to finally see it. Steve Tilly, the architect for the project, led her through the house, showing her all the work that has been done so far and discussing our plans for the complete restoration. Susan Seal explained how the house was altered and expanded over time and how we envision each section being used when it becomes a museum.
Thierry Chaunu, Philippe de Gouberville, Dr. Robert Selig, David Seal, Susan Seal, Nathalie de Gouberville, Steve Tilly, Elizabeth Tilly, Douglas Hamilton
Also on the tour of the house were Dr. Robert Selig and Douglas Hamilton, the sixth great-grandson of Alexander Hamilton. Doug is researching his famous ancestor’s stay in Greenburgh in 1781 (he might have visited OHRH!) and we’ll tell you more about that later. Dr. Selig wrote the pivotal study of the French-American Encampment and was instrumental in the formation of the National Park Service Trail, the Washington Rochambeau Revolutionary Route. He had been in the house about 12 years ago and was very happy to see the progress we have made on the restoration.
After the tour of OHRH, the Seals hosted a lunch at Scarsdale Golf Club for our visitors and the hard-working OHRH Board. We were honored to have Westchester County Executive George Latimer stop by and to tell him more about our plans.
Ellen Hendrickx, Nathalie de Gouberville, Susan Seal, Philippe de Gouberville, George Latimer
That evening, Jeremie Robert, the Consul General to the U.S., New York region, hosted a beautiful dinner at the Consulate in honor of Nathalie’s visit and to raise funds for OHRH. This was a wonderful opportunity to introduce our project to the wider historic community in New York and to the international French community. Some of the attendees included the Commissioner of New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (who have already given the Town of Greenburgh a restoration grant of $600,000), members of the Sons of the Revolution, (the custodians of Fraunces Tavern), members of the Society of the Cincinnati, the Daughters of the American Revolution and the French Heritage Society. Also present were representatives of several French affiliated banks and corporations. It was a foundational event that we expect to lead to greater awareness and participation in our work.
Tom Hay as Rochambeau, Nathalie de Gouberville (left photo) and Nathalie speaking at the Consulate dinner
At the dinner, our wonderful new video Dear France, Thank You! was shown. It was received with much applause and praise. Nathalie has asked for it to be translated into French and we are working to achieve that. If you haven’t seen it yet you can watch it here.
Bill and Sandy Morrissey, Philippe and Nathalie de Gouberville, David and Susan Seal, French Senator Helene Conway-Mouret, Jeremie Robert, Consul
If you would like to make a donation to support our work, go to the donations page here. You will see a button to donate either by PayPal or credit card, along with our mailing address to donate by check.