Arcadian Movement. The arrival of the Shepaug Railroad in Washington in 1872 introduced rail service to New York City, which brought an influx of new visitors. Architect Ehrick Rossiter, then a recent graduate of the local Gunnery prep school, saw an opportunity to establish an understated alternative to Greenwich, Newport, and the ostentation favored by the nouveaux riches of the day.[9] In collaboration with a coterie of wealthy New York patrons, Rossiter remade the Washington Green area into an idyllic summer colony, transforming it into an idealized version of the quintessential New England village.