ABOUT OUR BUILDING
Located in the heart of downtown Ithaca, New Roots has occupied the Clinton House since our founding in 2009. On the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, the Clinton House was built between 1828 and 1829 as a luxury hotel, and it also served as Ithaca’s first professional office building. Designed in the Greek Revival style by Ira Tillotson, the building was named for DeWitt Clinton, the former governor of New York State. Dubbed “the finest hotel west of the Hudson” when it opened, at least four U.S. presidents, as well as numerous notable film actors, have stayed in the Clinton House.
19th-century stereograph image of the Clinton House
Clinton House under renovation – 1973
After its long and storied history as a hotel building, the owner of the Clinton House announced plans to demolish it in 1973, opting to construct a Holiday Inn in its place. Thankfully, that year, Historic Ithaca purchased the building and carried out some preliminary restoration work.
Since New Roots moved into the Clinton House in 2009, we have lovingly renovated the first and second floors to fit our school’s needs, while being conscious of the historic character of the building. Some of our newly-renovated spaces include a music room, a yoga studio, and an art room.
The most famous room in the building, the Mural Lounge, features a wall of beautiful paintings. Now housing our music program, the lounge used to be the hotel’s bar. The mural was completed in 1949 by J. O. Mahoney, then a Professor of Art at Cornell University.
Clinton House Mural Lounge
Students have many opportunities to walk out of the Clinton House into the wider community and its facilities through our programs, which enhances the school’s collegiate feel. Our downtown Ithaca campus provides us with many great spaces to support our school program while enhancing the community-based education that New Roots is known for. We cook and serve lunch in the beautiful social hall of the Greek Orthodox Church, we hold community meetings in the auditorium of the Community School for Music and Arts. We use facilities such as the gyms at the Southside Community Center and the Henry St. John building, as well as local gorges, trails, and parks for diverse physical education activities.
PE at Henry St. John
New Roots Farm at Kestrel Perch
Graduation at CSMA