NORTH SALEM, N.Y. - The Hammond Museum & Japanese Stroll Garden -- considered by many to be North Salem’s hidden gem -- is asking the town to help it increase visibility for its exhibitions, programs, and events.
The ultimate goal is to ensure its viability long into the future.
“We are here to tell you about and invite you to partner with us on what we call ‘the new Hammond’,” the nonprofit organization’s executive director, Elizabeth Hammer, told Town Board members in December.
Getting the word out has been a challenge.
“I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard someone say they’ve lived in the area for decades and they’ve never heard of the Hammond,” she said, adding that it’s working on that issue by reaching out more frequently to local newspapers such as the North Salem News, using social media, creating brochures, and putting up flyers at the Ruth Keller Memorial Library and at the post office.
The county’s arts events calendar has been picking up Hammond doings and North Salem’s representative on the county Legislature, Erika Pierce (D-Katonah), has helped by posting those on her site as well.
Mostly, current information can be found on the Hammond’s website and in its weekly newsletter.
“Marketing is a thing to work on because you have to cover a lot of territory. It’s very time consuming,” Hammer said.
She thanked Supervisor Warren Lucas for offering to mention goings-on at the Hammond in his town Facebook page, northsalemnyinfo.
Hammer attributed the recent increase in visitors as well as participation in programs and events to these efforts.
Located at 28 Deveau Road, the Hammond is open to the public from April to November.
In 2023, it had just under 5,000 visitors, which was “double” from the year before. At the close of this past season, that number had risen to 8,690, Hammer said, noting that North Salem residents made up the second highest number of visitors in 2024.
The Hammond also has boosted its active memberships from 165 in December, 2023, to 208 this fall. And the number of individuals can be much more since family memberships cover multiple people. Of these, 17 were held by North Salem households, she said.
Accompanying Hammer were Hammond trustees Deborah D’Agostino, a member of the North Salem Board of Education, and artist Lenore “Lee” Adams. (Adams is vice president of Lawton Adams, a construction materials business based in Somers.)
Goals
Founded in 1957 by Natalie Hays Hammond, the museum has been working hard for the past two years to improve its cultural offerings and physical spaces, most notably its 3 1/2 -acre stroll garden, at the center of which is a tranquil pond.
One of the goals has been to permanently reduce the amount of yellow iris that had been choking the pond’s perimeter. Also known as Iris pseudacorus, it’s an invasive species that originated in Eurasia and northern Africa.
Pruning of the garden’s many mature Japanese trees is being expertly carried out by arborist Ralph Padilla, Hammer said.
Meanwhile, the museum itself chalked up a successful last season with “a series of appealing and high-quality art exhibitions” and the reintroduction of pottery classes.
“But we have so much more work to do,” she said, adding: “Our gardens, grounds, museum, and residence still need a lot of improvement.”
Community Partnership
Acknowledging that no museum is an island, the Hammond said it continues to find ways to give back to the community.
“Whenever an opportunity has presented itself to partner with, and support, local organizations and people, we’ve done so enthusiastically,” Hammer said, pointing to several examples.
For instance, it provided space -- free of charge -- to the Hudson Valley Human Rights and Holocaust Commission as it marked International Day of Tolerance in November and to a Brownie troop from nearby Somers for its bi-monthly meetings.
With the support of the town, the Hammond continues to host concerts by the Norm Hathaway Big Band, which was founded by late North Salem resident Norm Hathaway and his wife, Lorraine.
Several local high school students have enjoyed mentorships and done community service thanks to the Hammond. Folks who have a library card can visit it for free.
The preferred, but not exclusive, caterer for weddings and special events is Hayfields Market, a foodie favorite located just a few minutes away on Bloomer Road.
All of this is well and good, but “we really are just getting started,” Hammer said, noting that the Hammond is eager to find other ways in which it and the town “can support and benefit each other.”
“Our goal is that North Salem residents make up a lively and large percentage of all of the projects that we offer,” she added.
What are some of the possibilities being weighed?
Maybe a “free day” once a month for North Salem residents, discount rates for private events, and meeting spaces for more groups?
“We would be delighted to work with local public service organizations on events and activities that could be a genuine benefit to us and our partners,” Hammer said, asking Town Board members for their thoughts on how the Hammond can grow “into an organization that is relevant and is enjoyed by our neighbors in North Salem.”
Fondly recalling working at restaurants at the Hammond when he was a teen, Lucas told the Hammond contingent that it’s a “special place,” especially the stroll garden, and he’d “like to see it used.”
“The first time I was there, I was amazed that something like that could even be in North Salem,” he added.
Lucas pointed out that the town runs programs out of its new community center and that the library hosts events and programs as well.
Then there are art studios and businesses in the hamlet of Croton Falls that have pottery and other classes.
It takes a bit of effort on everyone’s part to make sure these offerings aren’t being unnecessarily duplicated or that big events aren’t happening on the same day, he noted.
Councilman Martin Aronchick, whose eclectic jazz trio, Chick’s Candy Store, frequently plays at the Hammond, wholeheartedly agreed.
“Coordination is key, so that we can help each other,” he said.
Lucas suggested that maybe the town could help out by doing things at the Hammond that it can’t in its own space.
Meanwhile, just getting the word out about the Hammond is “a big help,” Hammer emphasized.
Figuring out a way that local organizations can “complement each other,” rather than “compete” makes sense, she added, praising the library for its cooperation.
“Cathleen Sulli’s (library director) just wonderful,” Hammer said, noting that the Hammond and library have talked about the latter’s setting up readings that are related to the former’s exhibits.
“They would do the books and we’d do the art … as opposed to us starting a book group,” Hammer said.
Asked if she’s met face to face with the town’s superintendent of recreation, Lauren Rosasco, to plot out similar partnerships, Hammer responded: “She’s on my list.”
D’Agostino said she’d sat down with Rosasco last summer to figure out a way that the recreation department, the museum, and the library can avoid holding major events or programs on the same day or weekend.
“That’s happened a couple of times, so now we’ve started working on a community calendar,” she said.
Lucas suggested that rec could include Hammond events in its communications to the public as well.
North Salem is a “small town” and there’s lots of competition -- such as school sports -- for bodies, he pointed out.
The key to getting folks to come out is to offer them a variety of things that they’re “really interested in” and can’t get anywhere else, such as yoga, which is a “big draw” at the community center on Owens Road, Lucas said.
Hammer thought another potential “area for growth” would be more involvement with the schools.
But that would have to be done slowly, because children’s programs “take a lot of staff,” she said, pointing out that because Japanese culture is part of the state’s Global Studies third-grade curriculum, the Hammond has frequently been asked to give little learners tours.
Keeping It Accessible
The Hammond makes a “modest” amount from its programs and events.
“I prefer to make things often free with museum admission because, if you’re a member, you get to do it all for free.
Then it doesn’t put up another barrier to people,” Hammer said.
The real cash cows are weddings and other private events.
The Hammond also gets some financial support from the county nonprofit ArtsWestchester and other sponsors.
The Way to a Visitor’s Heart
Food is also a proven way to increase visitorship.
Besides bringing in income, catered events generate publicity.
“There’s more people who say that they’ve heard about the Hammond because they attended a wedding there,” Hammer explained.
“People really equate museum-going with eating now,” Hammer said, pointing to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), which has an “insanely expensive” two-Michelin-starred restaurant, casual cafes, and a seasonal bar.
Having a full-time restaurant at the Hammond isn’t feasible or practical at present, although it has managed to revive its massively popular Mother’s Day Brunch.
(Lucas remembered that decades ago, the Hammond would serve lunch every day on the patio.)
There could possibly be some sort of weekend dining options on the menu in the future, Hammer said.
Recalling that “a lot of popular ideas kind of petered out, but not for want nor desire by the public. I’m not quite sure why,” said Aronchick, who’s played at the Hammond for more than a dozen years.
Being a “fly on the wall,” gives him a unique perspective and that’s why, he said, he asked Hammer and the trustees to come talk to the Town Board.
“There’s something new going on there. There’s a real energy and an interest in being a local resource,” Aronchick said, allowing that before the current leadership, there was a perception of a certain kind of “aloofness” on the part of the museum.
“I think what’s needed is for people to recognize that there’s a new approach because the Hammond really is a jewel in this town. It’s for that reason that I think it’s worthy of everyone’s support,” he added.
Thanking Hammer, Adams, D’Agostino, and other members of the museum board for “breathing new life into an important institution,” Aronchick suggested that the town can help just by using its own “bully pulpit” to let people know about the Hammond, so that the museum/garden can continue to “grow and thrive.”
Good to Know
For more information about the Hammond, visit its website at www.hammondmuseum.org, call (914) 669-5033, or email info@hammondmuseum.org. Its mailing address is: 28 Deveau Road, P.O. Box 326, North Salem, NY 10560. The spring semester of classes is scheduled to start on March 17. The museum and garden will reopen in April.
Hammond History
Hammond History
The Hammond was brought to life by the late Natalie Hays Hammond in 1957.
She was born in Lakewood, N.J., in 1904. Her father was John Hays Hammond, a mining engineer, diplomat, and philanthropist from San Francisco, who was one of the discoverers of the long-lost Kind Solomon’s Mines in South Africa.
Her mother was Natalie Harris of Vicksburg, Miss., who founded the War Children’s Christmas Fund in support of European orphans during World War 1.
Her brother, John Hays Hammond Jr., was an inventor who founded the Hammond Museum and Castle in Gloucester, Mass.
Hammond, who although engaged seven times never married, was a Broadway set and costume designer, an art collector, a miniaturist, an author, and a needlepoint artist.
After traveling the world with her father, she was inspired to create the Hammond Museum & Stroll Garden in 1957.
It includes a traditional Japanese tea room imported from Kyoto that’s used for tea ceremonies.
“This became the core of her passion to introduce a peaceful gathering where East meets the West,” the Hammond said.
After she moved to North Salem, her home and grounds became the Hammond Museum & Japanese Stroll Garden.
The garden incorporated indigenous plantings with popular and rare Japanese and Chinese specimens as well as species native to Westchester.
In 1979, she was awarded the Medallion Award of the Westchester Community College Foundation for founding the Hammond Museum and for her art. Hammond died in 1985.
Posted on the Hammond’s website is her poetic description of a stroll garden’s purpose:
“As people often travel to escape routine problems and obligations, or to escape themselves, so should they find peace in an unhurried journey through a stroll garden.
To please the eye, there are the textures of stone scrolled with the delicate designs of lichen, the patterns of tree trunks and clusters of foliage, the play of light and shadow, the varying shades of green as well as the seasonal colors of great beauty.
To please the ear, there are the songs of native birds, the hum of insects, the chorale of frogs, the occasional splash of carp in the lake, the crunch of pebbles underfoot, the whisper of wind through the pines.
To please the sense of scent, there are dry pine needles in the sun, the fragrance of flowering shrubs, a breeze through mimosa or the pungency of loam after a night rain.
How much time do we grant for the refreshment of the spirit? Must every thought be measured by its attainment; must every phase of life be walled by a conclusion, or may we not think to the exquisite borderline of wonder, wherein we relax that we are infinitely small within the scheme of things and find our immortality through the appreciation of the light and shadow of a single hour, through the iridescence of a spider’s web.”
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