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Bard site 27, Sands House

The Purpose of the Investigation


In 2005, Bard College proposed to construct the Reem and Kayden Center for Science and Computation. The building permit approval process occasioned archaeological testing around the nearby Sands House dormitory that was built in 1841 as the Blithewood farmer's residence in the style of the nearby Gardener’s Lodge, the first Gothic Revival cottage in America. Charles Sands, nephew of the College's founder, John Bard, lived in the house until ca.1885. The testing found a refuse deposit and foundations of outbuildings.

In 2006, the College decided to expand the Center into the location of the Sands House outbuildings. Their disturbance necessitated further excavations to remove densely packed artifacts discarded in a privy shaft and to determine the identity of other structural remains.

About the Site

Robert Donaldson built the Sands House in 1841 for Robert Adam, a close nephew who managed the farm of the adjacent Blithewood estate.  Its design reflected the style of the Blithewood Gardener’s Lodge, the first Gothic Revival cottage in America, designed by architect A.J. Davis in 1836.  After John Bard bought Blithewood in the mid-1850s, and donated land for St. Stephens [now Bard], Charles E. Sands bought the house from the College to live near his uncle. 

About the Investigation

Bard professor Christopher Lindner directed students from Bard and Bryn Mawr in the excavation. Cartographer Susan Winchell-Sweeney and Trevor Johnson '07 made the maps using GIS (Geographic Information Systems). Susan Hinkle Lindner directed the laboratory analysis and edited the documentation. Patterson Schackne '99 (MS '05) and Paulos Ashebir '09, respectively, photographed the artifacts and constructed this web presentation.

Artifacts Exhibit

The Sands site exhibit accompanies the permit compliance report by Prof Lindner. Blake Grindon '11 assisted in organizing the first Bardaeology exhibit at the Science Center, and subsequently at the Bard library. The link below provides access to photographs of the artifacts in the actual exhibit, currently in storage, along with descriptions and their catalogue entries.