Shakespeare Unveils Actor Housing

Hopes to build 32 residences for seasonal performers

Hudson Valley Shakespeare has applied to the Philipstown Planning Board to begin building a 32-bed residential compound for its performers, who have been housed at a hotel in Fishkill.  

Adam Stolorow, an attorney for HVS, and architect Susan Rodriguez introduced the project to the board on Oct. 17, years earlier than anticipated in the master plan approved for the theater organization in July.  

HVS, known until a rebranding this year as the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, broke ground last month on the first phase of its new home at the former Garrison Golf Course, an open-air theater with concessions, bathroom and back-of-house buildings. The nonprofit had said that actor lodging would follow in five to 15 years. Instead, HVS would like to begin construction in 2025. 

Davis McCallum, HVS’s artistic director, said on Tuesday (Oct. 22) that a $10 million state grant for the theater, along with other funding awards, has helped the organization close the gap in a fundraising campaign for actor lodging.  

During a groundbreaking ceremony in September, HVS said $50 million in private and public funding had been raised for the theater, ecological restoration at the property and financial reserves, with an additional $8 million needed for the lodging.  

“We’re still diligently raising money to make the artist lodging possible, and won’t be in a position to proceed until that effort is successful,” he said.   

In its application, HVS wants to start building the residences as the theater complex is being constructed and have performers occupy the units for the 2026 season. With 12 fewer units than the 44 approved in the master plan, the impacts will be “either the same or less as what was previously studied,” said Stolorow.  

In place of hotel rooms, actors would spend the festival’s season living in one of five residential buildings forming an L-shaped compound in the northwest section of HVS’s 97-acre property. Four of the buildings — two-story cottages totaling 1,000 square feet each — would have two separate bedrooms with a private bath on each floor, and a kitchen and living area off the entrance.   

An additional 16 one-bedroom units with kitchens and bathrooms would be contained in a fifth “barn” building totaling 2,500 square feet. Attached to the building is a common kitchen and dining area, along with a laundry room. Set among existing and newly planted trees, the buildings would have gray metal roofs and natural wood siding, said Rodriguez.   

“They all have porches and a connection to the natural environment,” she said.   

Philipstown law would prohibit artists from occupying the housing for more than nine consecutive months. During its offseason, HVS would be allowed to rent the units to guests for stays of less than a month.   

Sen. Charles Schumer visited Philipstown in August to announce a $1.5 million federal grant for the outdoor theater, which will be the first purpose-built theater in the nation certified LEED Platinum, the highest rating for sustainable design. It will have solar panels, a green roof, natural ventilation and rainwater-capture systems.