Visitors to the Holley House first encounter with the house took place in the front hall whose colonial-era wainscoting “Dutch” door, wide plank flooring, circa 1850 staircase, and eclectic mix of Victorian and colonial furnishings were both charming and, in the case of artist Childe Hassam, inspirational. The front hall appears much as it did in 1912 when Childe Hassam painted Clarissa MacRae sitting in front of the bookcase. Across the hallway, there is a painting of Clarissa’s twin sister, Constant MacRae. In 1900, a young, New York artist named Elmer MacRae married Edward and Josephine’s daughter, Emma Constant Holley, and the couple had Clarissa and Constant in 1904. Together, this family maintained the boardinghouse and the art colony into the twentieth century.

Photograph of the front hall today

“Constant Feeding the Ducks,” Elmer MacRae, c. 1912, oil painting

Photograph of artist, John Twachtman and a student painting en plein air Photograph of Josephine and Constant Holley on the front porch, c 1895

Photograph of John Twachtman

Childe Hassam (1859-1935) is one of the most well-known American impressionist painters. Hassam frequented the Cos Cob art colony from 1896 to 1916 and was inspired by the New England landscape and the old Holley House, which he often portrayed in his paintings. In Clarissa, he features one of the MacRae twins in addition to the front hall of the Holley House.

American impressionism, based on an artistic movement which started in France, utilized broad brushstrokes and vibrant colors, and emphasized the use of light. These characteristics are exhibited in Elmer MacRae’s Constant Feeding the Ducks. Many impressionist painters preferred to paint en plein air, or in the open air, where they could embrace the natural light. This had become easier by the end of the nineteenth century with the invention of the collapsible zinc paint tube. Artists visiting the Holley House often set up their easels on the landscape surrounding Cos Cob Harbor, including MacRae who painted Constant Feeding the Ducks, which features one of his twin daughters, on the grounds of the boardinghouse.

Before moving to Cos Cob, Elmer MacRae was a student at the Art Student’s League in New York City. The League was a membership organization for artists, many of whom traveled to the Holley House in the 1890s to take classes from John Twachtman (1853 – 1902). Known as a “painter’s painter,” Twachtman, a Greenwich resident, was well respected by his fellow artists and students. He became an important figure in the art colony and encouraged his students to try new approaches, such as alternating oils with watercolors and pastels. After Twachtman’s death in 1902, MacRae, who had a talent for organization, helped maintain the continuity of the art colony.