In 1914, an article in the New York Times, "ART AT HOME AND ABROAD; Elverhoi School of Decorative Art Recalls William Morris's Band of English Rebels" highlighted the work of the Elverhoj colony, linking it firmly to the designer-craftsmen ideal of William Morris:“The simplicity of the little colony, a more rugged and primitive simplicity than obtains at Old Lyme, the presence of workshops and tools, together with studios and easels, the evidences that the builders themselves have been to a degree the handiwork of the artists, a certain keen absorption on the materials of the crafts and their relation to technical processes, recall the fearless Morris group setting their stubborn faces against Industrial England.”[6]Founder A. H. Andersen chose to site the colony in Milton-on-Hudson, New York, perched directly above the Western Shore Railroad, on the shore of the Hudson River,.
Patrons traveled to the colony from Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, New Paltz and New York City to enjoy theater performances, exhibitions, concerts, classes and lectures.
Morton graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen[12] before leaving Denmark for Racine, Wisconsin.
Larsen described the men and women of the colony as "a group of earnest workers [...] striving to develop an American school of decorative art."
[19] Bookbinder Sterling Lord, who went on to co-found The Oakwood Binders (of Pittsfield, Massachusetts), was also affiliated with the colony during its early years.
[20] Other associated artists include Pauline Fjelde (who taught tapestry weaving during the early years of the colony's annual summer school),[21] David Ericson (an instructor of painting),[9][22] and metalsmith Clyde P. Miller (who married member Henrietta Scott in 1925 a few years after joining the colony).
The Elverhoj Theater drew Broadway performers [33][7] and at the end of that decade, the colony expanded by adding a Moorish-style dining terrace to the original Sears building.
[1] Soon after, Andersen declared bankruptcy and finally, in late September 1937, the public auction of "the contents of the Studio and Gift Shop and the Museum, formerly known as The Elverhoj Art Collection, on the premises at Milton, N. Y.” was held.
[34] By November 1937, speculation that followers of Father Divine were purchasing the former Elverhoj property appeared in local newspapers.