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In the latest Hudson Valley Word of Mouth segment, Julia Joern heads to Newburgh to meet with Kelly Schroer, founder of Strongroom, a non-profit arts organization producing site-specific contemporary art installations and public programs.

Learn about ‘A Home with a Garden’, a magical secret urban garden and ‘plant concert’ conceived by the artist, Martin Roth (1977-2019), who tragically died just as he was to begin the project’s installation inside one of the city’s most historic buildings.

Originally built as a private home in 1852 by one of America's most influential landscape designers and horticulture writers, Andrew Jackson Downing (1815-1852), together with architect and landscape designer, Calvert Vaux (1824-1895), the house was later converted into the Newburgh ‘City Club’. Over the years it suffered a fire and was swallowed up by nature, with a jungle of trees growing inside and vines of ivy crawling up the exterior walls. Even though its windows are boarded up and it remains without a roof, the massive brick structure is significant, as it’s one of the last standing buildings by Downing. By entering the secret garden, the historical relevance of the building — and both Downing’s and Roth’s shared intention for architecture and nature to live in harmony — can be experienced in a new and poetic light.