Yaddo Tours Offer Rare Behind-the-Scenes Access

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Yaddo mansion contains many secrets within its parlors, hidden doors, and winding hallways.

There’s the ornate, regal-looking chair dubbed “Truman”, in honor of Truman Capote, who is said to have enjoyed sitting there many years ago, perhaps while writing to Patricia Highsmith to encourage her to apply to the famed artists’ retreat. (Highsmith would not only attend Yaddo, but also bequeath her entire estate and all future royalties to the organization.)

There’s the sled, carved sometime in the 1600s and gifted to Yaddo’s founders Spencer and Katrina Trask by Queen Marie of the Netherlands.

There’s the Latin inscription above the fireplace that, when translated, reads: “The flame unconquered by fire, Yaddo rises up again in peace.” An etching of a phoenix rising from the ashes is a nod to a fire that destroyed the first mansion on the property.

There’s a grandfather clock near the grand staircase that was permanently stopped by author Elizabeth Ames so that Yaddo artists in residence would be protected from the passage of time.

Around 1,400 people are expected to uncover these secrets and many more during tours offered on Sept. 27. It’s the first time since 2021 that the public can stroll through the retreat’s historic mansion and grounds via a guided tour, which will include stops in Spencer and Katrina’s bedrooms, various spaces across the mansion’s first and second floors, the West House, Greenhouse Studios, and the Saratoga Studio.

The timing is ideal, as Yaddo will get a bit messy this winter when it begins a construction project that will increase accessibility on the property via a permanent ramp and auto-operating door that leads into one of the mansion’s entrances. The artists’ retreat is also in the midst of a project that will allow the primary part of the mansion to go electric and eliminate the use of fossil fuels. The improvements should be ready in time for Yaddo’s upcoming 100th anniversary of artists first arriving on site, which occurred in 1926.

Tours will be offered on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 8:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 4 p.m., with each lasting about 90 minutes. Tours will run rain or shine, and tickets range from $75–$85 depending on the time selected. Yaddo merchandise will also be available, with a commemorative ornament and book available for pre-order online. A private VIP tour and cocktail reception will be held on Friday, Sept. 26 at 5 p.m. Tickets for this exclusive evening are $250. All proceeds from the tours directly support residencies for artists.

Yaddo is a nonprofit retreat in Saratoga Springs that has hosted thousands of artists that have collectively earned 83 Pulitzer Prizes, 1 Nobel Prize, 13 Academy Awards, 71 Emmy Awards, 34 MacArthur “Genius” Fellowships, 71 National Book Awards, 500+ Guggenheim Fellowships, and 16 Tony Awards. Some of its most famous residents include Truman Capote, James Baldwin, Leonard Bernstein, Saul Bellow, Patricia Highsmith, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Jonathan Ames, Noah Baumbach, Jonathan Franzen, Langston Hughes, David Foster Wallace, Mario Puzo, Flannery O’Connor, Dorothy Parker, and many others.