Sembrich at Bay View

Two years prior to buying the Bay View property, Sembrich had become a naturalized United States citizen. At the outbreak of World War I (WWI), because Sembrich held a German passport, her estate Villa Monticello in Nice, France was seized by the French government. It was not until 1921 that the government liquidated property and returned the proceeds to Sembrich following a lengthy appellate process. It was the same year that Sembrich began to search for a new permanent home.

Prior to her purchase of Bay View, the façade of the building was in the Italianate style. This colorized photograph shows the house as it was when Sembrich leased the property in 1922.

Following the purchase of the estate, the house was renovated in the summer of 1923. The original Italianate façade was replaced with a new design in the Spanish Revival style.

This 1928 postcard (printed by The Thatcher Studio) shows Bay View and the still waters of Lake George. The house, situated on Bolton Bay, boasted pristine panoramic views of Lake George. The setting was perfect and proved an excellent retreat from the busy life of New York City.

Previously, the porch of Bay View was lined with shrubs and flowerbeds. As part of Sembrich's renovations, the shrubs were replaced with vines which covered the bannister of the large front porch.

Sembrich's arrival in Bolton Landing was a celebrated occasion. While renovations were being completed to the building and property, local residents took notice of the international celebrity in their midst.

News of Sembrich's purchase of Bay View made headlines across the United States. This clipping from "The Evening News" in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is one of many announcing the singer's new summer locale.

In 1924, Louise Homer, a fellow Metropolitan Opera star and Lake George resident, arranged a special reception at the Lake George Club in honor of the area's newest musical resident.

Falcon recalled that Madame Sembrich was constantly keeping herself busy throughout the day. Sembrich also had a modest staff, including a cook, a personal maid, a house maid, a chauffer, and a caretaker at the estate. Some of the staff, including Therese Kinnesberger, travelled with her between New York and Bolton Landing.

Therese Kinnesberger was employed by Sembrich before World War I, serving as her cook in Europe. Following the outbreak of war and Sembrich’s emigration to the US, Sembrich hired Kinnesberger to join her staff in the United States. She traveled with Sembrich and remained in the singer's employ until Sembrich's passing.

Another member of Sembrich’s entourage, Berta Mielke, had been Sembrich's personal maid and secretary for almost four decades. Berta was one of Sembrich's most trusted confidants and she was a fixture in the singer’s life. Berta was first hired during Sembrich's first London season. Mielke travelled with Sembrich on almost all of her tours and kept Sembrich well organized.

On the occasion of her 25th anniversary of their association a dinner and reception were held in Mielke's honor at the Gotham Hotel in New York City. The menu for the evening was printed in silver.

In the summer of 1927, she passed away at Bay View. According to Frank LaForge's memoirs, Sembrich was deeply saddened by the passing of Berta. A funeral service was held in the parlor of Bay View and her remains were transported to Berlin for burial.

Sembrich's kindness is also echoed by her longtime accompanist Frank La Forge. "Madame's generosity was extended even to a street singer and an organ grinder. She would remark, 'We must be kind to them and give them money, for they are our colleagues.'"

Sembrich rose early each morning and tended to her gardens after an early breakfast. Bay View boasted several large gardens and Sembrich employed a gardener to maintain the property's landscaping.

Sembrich's adoration of nature is reinforced by another recollection by La Forge from their time on Lake Geneva. He remembers hiking with Sembrich and the great singer pausing to listen to a songbird. When the bird finished its song, Sembrich stated "Nature is the supreme teacher!," and then resumed her hike.

In the fall of 1920, Madame Sembrich and Juliette returned to Europe to settle legal matters surrounding the seizure of Villa Monticello. On this trip, Sembrich and Juliette met a war orphan named Anita. They were so taken by the child, that she was adopted by Juliette. From the time of her adoption, Sembrich treated Anita as her granddaughter. Anita spent many summers at Bay View.

Juliette would build her own home named Pine Hill on the southern edge of the Bay View property. She, her mother Pauline, and daughter Anita would stay each summer and visit Sembrich at Bay View. The house was built with a stucco façade, similar to both Bay View and The Sembrich Studio.

This photo, taken on the steps of Bay View, also includes Anita's dog Rover. This dog is seen in a number of photos at both Pine Hill and Bay View.

Sembrich loved animals, particularly dogs. While summering in Switzerland, she was reported to have broken several ribs after she fell saving a dog from a speeding automobile. Frank La Forge's memoirs document several examples of Madame Sembrich's affinity for animals.

Bay View also had a farm on the western side of State Route 9N (then Bolton Road). Anita is seen here holding a cat identified as "Fluffy" on the back of the photo.

Sembrich enjoyed her time at Bay View with friends and family. This photo, not from the Thatcher Archive, is from a series taken by Lake Placid photographer G.T Rabineau in 1922, during Sembrich's first summer at Bay View. The Rabineau series shows Bay View's farm buildings and original caretaker cottage. Unfortunately, Thatcher's archive documents very little of the estate on the western side of the highway.

Ugo Ara, a former member of the Flonzaley Quartet founded by Edward de Coppet, wrote several essays of his observations of Sembrich, while visiting Bay View.


"The same loftiness of purpose, iron will, and spirit of sacrifice which have characterized the whole of Madame Sembrich's career and made of her one of the most conscientious artists of her time, are now applied to her new line of activity, and everything in her home and around is so regulated as to render her efforts and the efforts of her pupils , fertile and profitable to the highest degree."

-from Ugo Ara's "Madame Sembrich at Home: An Outline of her Home Life at 'Bay View' on Fascinating Lake George."

Students were not only taught music lessons but were expected to take up additional subjects including literature and physical recreation. Ara's essays recall:

"For the young students who gather around 'Bay View,' exceptional opportunities are limitless. It is the firm conviction of their great mentor that the Art of Singing does not consist only in sustained scales, arpeggios, runs, staccato, legato, and sostenuto - no matter how perfectly performed, but in an intellectual, artistic, and balanced development. Young aspirants are therefore constantly encouraged to occupy themselves with diction, literature, foreign languages, piano, and physical culture."

-from Ugo Ara's "Madame Sembrich at Home: An Outline of her Home Life at 'Bay View' on Fascinating Lake George."

Sembrich became very involved in the social life of Lake George. Her students were often seen performing at local musicales. The Wiawaka Holiday House, located on the eastern shore of Lake George, still welcomes guests and occasionally hosts chamber music performances at the house.

From 1927-34 Sembrich organized a performance by her most promising students to raise money for the Tri-County Association for the Blind. This event was extensively covered by the Post Star, Lake George Mirror, and The Glens Falls Times. This and other performances took place in the Lake George High School Auditorium, the Bolton Central School Auditorium, The Lake George Club, the Church of the Blessed Sacrament (now the Bolton Historical Museum), and several venues in downtown Glens Falls.

Of the many students that studied at Bay View, students in this photo from the Curtis School of Music in Philadelphia, appeared most frequently in the papers form 1926-1932. Reviews of each student can be found in several local papers from the time. Seated farthest forward in the photo is American soprano Natalie Bodanya who garnered fame at the Metropolitan Opera for her portrayal of Micaela in Bizet's Carmen. Her portrayal is considered one of the greatest creations of the role on The Met stage. Though none of the other students pictured sang at The Met, each went on to have successes on other stages across the US and Europe.

Harriet Eels (left) stands with Madame Sembrich on the front lawn of Bay View. Eels would play a key role in perpetuating Sembrich's Legacy. Following Sembrich's death, Eels would become one of the earliest members of the Board of Directors of the Marcella Sembrich Memorial Association. In this capacity, Eels traveled and gave lecture recitals on the life and career of her beloved mentor.

Sembrich's musicales would draw large crowds and all proceeds were donated to charity. Her musical colony continued to flourish and Sembrich organized benefit concerts for the Tri-County Association for the Blind every summer until her death in 1935. Letters from the Sembrich Collection reveal that the fall of 1934 was quite mild and Sembrich stayed at Bay View until mid-October. Only a few month’s later, she passed away from emphysema in her apartment on Central Park West. After her passing, Juliette sold the majority of the estate, but preserved a 4.5 acre parcel that included Madame Sembrich’s teaching studio. The studio was converted into a memorial to the great singer and continues to perpetuate her memory and legacy.

In this photo at the same spot, the gelatin layer was etched away by Fred Thatcher to remove the initials. The resulting alteration also blends well with the tree bark. Using modern cameras and software, photos were taken directly from Thatcher's negatives. The resulting images maintain the same quality and sharpness of detail as the original negatives.