American Idyll: Paul Taylor's Mattituck Cottage. Design and text by Jerabek and Olshan (Andy Jerabek and Alan Olshan).

American Idyll: Paul Taylor's Mattituck Cottage. Design and text by Jerabek and Olshan (Andy Jerabek and Alan Olshan). No publisher. No date. 9 1/4" x 12" 62 pages Hardcover with no dust jacket. No publication markings what-so-ever on the cover of the book. Front cover is slightly bowed. Maybe very light cover edge wear. Inscribed on the first blank page, "Dear Jordan -/ Thank you for/ all of your support!/ Fondly/ Paul" in what appears to be Paul Taylor's handwriting. No other previous owner markings. No tears, folds or creases to pages. Binding is tight with no looseness to pages. Not ex-library, not remaindered and not a facsimile reprint. For sale by Jon Wobber, bookseller since 1978. LC29a "For more than 50 years, Paul Taylor lived in the hamlet of Mattituck, New York, where his cottage offered an invigorating view of Long Island Sound. In summer the large wooden deck was flanked by flowers and an explosion of colors; above the shrubs floated an army of hummingbirds and butterflies, and beneath the deck crawled the occasional turtle with painted toenails. In winter, the ever present feeders lured squirrels, deer and enormous birds of prey. But more than flora and fauna, bay and bamboo forest, and scaled down church (salvaged from a televised version of 'Speaking of in Tongues'), the cottage itself captivated with a startling array of wonders. Among these artworks Paul made from anything that once lived, and furniture he crafted from driftwood found on the beach below, reached only through a gauntlet of ticks and brambles, weather worn stairs, ladders and ropes. Although he maintained a residence in New York City, this cottage, acquired through numerology, astrology and sheer luck, was Paul's spiritual home. This was the sanctuary - nature preserve both inside and out - to which he returned as soon as he could leave theater or studio. The journey from Manhattan to Mattituck began at the witching hour, rejuvenated the man and revitalized the artist. For friends lucky to spend time here, 3605 Soundview Avenue will always be the House That Paul Built. This record ensures that while its treasures may move elsewhere, its nurturing spirit will never vanish." - from the forward, the one page of the book that does not consist of photographs. About ten years ago, Paul Taylor sold the Mattituck Cottage which meant so much to him and those close to him. This book was published to memorialize the house for dancers, board members and associates. Approximately 300 copies were made. Two photographers were involved with the project, the first one taking photos of the art, and the second taking more standard photos of the house. Shortly after Paul left the house, it was flooded, the inside basically gutted and the outside needing to be redone. The art that survived was given to dancers and friends. There was a story written about the house in the New York Times Magazine in 2009. The house that exists today may on the very surface resemble the House That Paul Built, in fact there is very little, if any, remaining of the work that Paul Taylor put into it. Paul Taylor died in 2018. - In conversation in 2026 with Alan Olshan who produced the book 3605 Soundview Ave, Mattituck, NY "[Taylor] is interviewed at his country home in Mattituck. In the interview, he talks about a little house he built on the property. He tells us that he made himself some rules: He would build the house only with found objects, and he would use no nails except for the ones found in the wood as it washed up from the Long Island Sound. In a recent conversation, Paul said to me that he thinks everyone can build a little house. He’s right—but they won’t, and he did—and his garden is beautiful, too." - https://www.juilliard.edu/news/135571/paul-taylor-1930-2018-memoriam "Paul Belville Taylor Jr. (July 29, 1930 – August 29, 2018) was an American dancer and choreographer. He was one of the last living members of the third generation of America's modern dance artists.[1] He founded the Paul Taylor Dance Company in 1954 in New York City." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Taylor_(choreographer) - I encourage anybody interested in the modern arts that is not familiar with Paul Taylor, to read the entire Wikipedia article as this little bit comes nowhere close to doing the importance of Paul Taylor justice.