Country House Culture: Architecture in the age of Jane Austen

Details:

Led by Executive Director and Curator Jennifer Carlquist, this illustrated lecture examines the late-18th and early-19th-century architecture Jane Austen knew, from houses where she lived and visited to important buildings used as settings for Austen adaptations.

Drawing on photographs, film stills, and period renderings, it explores how architecture shaped daily life and later visual interpretations of Austen’s world, and how this architectural sample influenced country houses such as Boscobel while continuing to inform our understanding of the period in England and America.

This program is part of our larger Winter Sunday Salon series, offering a range of performances, lectures, and interactive events to commemorate the 250th birthday of Jane Austen and her enduring legacy.

About Jennifer Carlquist

Jennifer Carlquist is a 30-year museum professional celebrating historic landscapes, buildings, and interiors; their contents; and contexts; as powerful tools for community engagement. She joined Boscobel as Curator in 2015, creating the award-winning exhibitions Hudson Hewn: New York Furniture Now (2016), Make-Do’s: Curiously Repaired Antiques (2017), and as Executive Director has launched free exhibitions in the Visitor Center, digital tour options on the grounds, an annual Chamber Music Festival, a Community Tree Initiative, and led major site improvements including a 5,000-sq ft seasonal program Pavilion, ADA upgrades, and a Native Meadow.

A recognized field leader, Ms. Carlquist lectures on museum practice and design history, and has served on advisory and grants panels for the Greater Hudson Heritage Network, Preservation League of NYS, Victorian Society Summer Schools, and the Attingham Summer School. She holds a certificate in Museum Management and is a graduate of the Cooper-Hewitt’s M.A. Program in the History of Design and Curatorial Studies, the University of Minnesota.