There is a lot of history around the New York area and many mansions, historic places, and Gilded Age homes. One can probably spend months visiting all of these but it’s also nice to select a few for a weekend escape in the area. Some are privately owned, some have been converted to hotels or venue settings, but others have been gifted to historical societies or the national and state parks. Many are renovated to their former glory and accessible for tourists.
We recently spent a weekend visiting a select few of the more popular historic homes around the outskirts of NYC.
At the end of October, we just happened to be there on some of the last days that many of these mansions were open to the public. Some were closing for a month while they decorated for Christmas. While it was a little late for the perfect foliage viewing, we still managed to enjoy some of the fall colors and we also appreciated the cooler temperatures.
Historic places to see near NYC
Vanderbilt Hyde Park Historic Mansion
Hyde Park was one of the many homes owned by the Vanderbilts. Located a couple of hours north of NYC along the Hudson River this house was designed for Frederick and Louise Vanderbilt.
Purchased in 1895, Hyde Park’s architecture was inspired from the earlier 1847 Langdon mansion that stood in its place before the new construction.
A seasonal home initially, after Louise passed away in 1926, Frederick took up residence in Hyde Park full time and stayed until his passing in 1938. At that time, he left the home to Louise’s niece Margaret who in turn donated the home and furnishings along with the land to the US Government. It became part of the National Park Service and was opened to the public in 1940.
We loved the Vanderbilt Hyde Park estate and even though we only spent a morning there we enjoyed our visit very much. If you have more time, just walking around the expansive grounds is a treat.
Even the guest house, which was used as a temporary residence during construction, was well preserved. This is where you buy your mansion tour tickets. The guest house took a mere 66 days to build, whereas the mansion itself was completed in 26 months.
Before getting on our 10 am tour (the first one of the day), we walked down the path past the mansion to the formal Italian gardens. These fell into disrepair initially after the mansion was donated to the National Park Service because of lack of funding during World War II. However, they have since been restored and maintained through the work of many volunteers and donations.
In 1984, three Hyde Park women established the Frederick W. Vanderbilt Garden Association, an all-volunteer group dedicated to the maintenance of the formal gardens. In late October the annuals were already removed but we saw nice rose bushes and a few more hearty flowers. We can imagine how spectacular these gardens must look when they are in full bloom during the summer.
The mansion’s interior can only be visited with a park ranger. The ranger/guide we had was very knowledgeable and animated the hour-long tour nicely making it fun.
The building itself is a work of art with ornate sculptures in the masonry and beautiful marble and wooden carvings. The Vanderbilts hired 60 European artisans that camped out in tents on the lawn to get it all done in record time.
The rooms are decorated with the original furnishings. In the dining room we saw a couple of orreries, mechanical models of the solar system and planets. One with the Sun in middle, the other with the Earth in center.
There are 4 guest bedrooms on the second floor all with their own bathrooms. These bedrooms were for close friends and those with the highest social standing. There are also 5 more guest bedrooms up above on the third floor for those of lower status. These were adjacent to the female servants’ quarters.
Check out Louise’s bedroom complete with a birthing rail around the bed. Almost an exact replica or Marie Antoinette’s bedroom in Versailles!
It took 60 staff to run the estate, 20 for the interior and 40 for the grounds. Compared to other Vanderbilt homes this one was quite modest (although it sounds quite funny describing it this way).
Mr. Vanderbilt on his passing left the staff and servants with whom he had spent much of his later years a good part of his fortune.
Culinary Institute of America (CIA)
Not far from the Vanderbilt mansion is the CIA. We took our chances and got lucky to get an early lunch table at the American Bounty restaurant in their tavern. We were told you must book at least two weeks in advance for the French or Italian restaurants. The bakery is closed on the weekends.
We enjoyed a top-notch lunch here with a parsnip and nutmeg soup, short rib with slaw on grits, and a fresh pasta adorned with beef and butternut squash with fresh spices. Delicious.
Franklin D. Roosevelt Historic Home
Also, just minutes away is the former home of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The lot of land is huge and on it you can visit an impressive museum featuring the life and times of President Roosevelt and Eleanor’s Roosevelt.
Numerous exhibits and memorabilia are on display about their life and FDR’s presidency. There are a wide range of exhibits starting with the recovery from the Great Depression to the Second World War, and more.
The interior of the house is only accessible by guided tour. There are great views from the back including an old wooden bench in the spot where the former president loved to sit and admire the view. We sat down for a bit and took it all in.
Staatsburgh’s Mansion and Mills Memorial State Park
About 10 miles down the road within Mills Memorial State Park you’ll find the Staatsburgh State Historic Site. Constructed in 1832, the Staatsburgh mansion, locally known as Mills mansion, is a great example of the Gilded Age homes of the era.
Inspired by a Greek revival architecture style, the mansion went through an extensive renovation in the 1890s when it was expanded to 65 rooms and 14 bathrooms. In 1938, the home, grounds, and furnishings were all donated to the State of New York by Mrs. Gladys Mills Phipps.
The interior is only accessible by guided tour. You can book time-slot tickets online and pay when you arrive. While compared to the Vanderbilt mansion it needed a little love, there are ongoing restorations and it’s a great example of the lavish homes as they were during the Gilded Age. Keep in mind also that it’s run as a State Park not a National Park, so the renovation pockets are not quite as deep. Do walk down the hill and admire the water views.
The first home was built in the 1700s but in 1832 disgruntled workers burnt many of the homes down along the Hudson River and it was subsequently rebuilt.
The interior is filled with authentic and restored furnishings and tapestries. We enjoyed a lovely and informative tour that included a lot of insights into how the house was run and how the pecking order of the guests would establish everything from which bedroom they had to where they sat at the dining room table and with whom they walked in.
Staatsburgh is also linked to the ill-fated Titanic as Mr. and Mrs. Mills had tickets to sail on the Titanic’s second voyage from New York. She lost her cousin in the tragedy. See the newspaper on the table in the hall. You can read more about this on the Staatsburgh State Historic Site website.
Lyndhurst Mansion
This mansion was designed in 1838 and grew from a country villa to a Gothic Revival style mansion. It’s simply beautiful rivaling many we’ve visited in Europe.
Down by the river there is an 18th century bowling alley and it’s definitely worth walking down the path to peek in through the windows. There is also an old steel overpass going over the railroad which was used to get to the boats.
Originally build for William Paulding Jr., the estate was sold to George Merritt. The Merritt family extended it in 1860. Jay Gould, the railroad tycoon, bought it and lived in it from 1880 until his death in 1892. In 1961 Anna Gould left everything to the National Trust for Historic Preservation and it was opened in 1965 as a museum. Gould’s entire art collection was donated along with the mansion and is on display in the rooms.
Some scenes from the “Gilded Age” television series were filmed in this property’s library.
While it’s impressive to see all the decorative pieces on display, we were told that they have over 10,000 artifacts in storage. They cycle these out at various times such as Halloween and Christmas to give the house a theme.
Much of the material in the rooms is false or painted. Pine painted to look like oak, plaster painted to look like embossed leather or marble. At the time it actually cost more to have artisans paint the replicas than use the real materials. It was a show of wealth. The latest thing to show off.
While not a Gilded Age mansion per se (it was constructed earlier) it had all the earmarks of a great estate and was just beautiful. This was our favorite of the tour.
Old Westbury Gardens and Westbury House
The former home of John Phipps and Margarita Phipps, this home was completed in 1906. There are over 200 acres of lovely grounds to explore, it’s a delight to see.
We started by admiring the spectacular English style gardens. Even in late October we saw blooming roses, dahlias, and even lilacs believe it or not!
The house itself was a 1680 replica of a Charles II style building. Like a massive British estate. And the furnishings were designed after the 1730 Georgian period.
It took a staff of 20 people to run the property with 44 rooms and 22 bathrooms. There were 14 formal guest bedrooms. An additional 70 grounds workers were required to maintain the gardens and expansive grounds.
The Movie “Age of Innocence” was filmed here.
We highly recommend the Behind the Scenes Tour: Secrets of the Service Wing. It was a lot of fun and we got to visit parts of the house that are not open during other tours. And we also learned a few fun facts about the lavish lifestyle of the people living there.
It was pointed out that the masters would change clothes 5 times a day, dressing for each meal and various daily activities. That made for a lot of laundry and a full separate laundry house was required!
The Mansion at Glen Cove
What was originally known as the Manor, this 1910 estate made up of 55 acres used to belong to John Teele Ruth Baker Pratt. It is a brick Georgian mansion which has now been converted to a hotel and multipurpose venue.
John T. Pratt passed away in 1927 and was an executive at Standard Oil Company. Ruth Baker Pratt was the first republican congress woman in NY. She maintained the estate until her death in 1965. Movies such as “North by Northwest” were filmed here as was “Sabrina” among others.
While we were excited to stay at a mansion on our last night, the once elegant manor seemed bare and empty. We toured the large rooms with bare floors, and it seemed that all the art had been taken off the walls except for a few prints and photos.
We’d stayed at other castle or manor hotels rich in history and expected to tour the rooms and enjoy artwork and tapestries. We tried to picture the mansion in its former glory when we walked the halls.
The guest room itself was reasonably priced, comfortable, and breakfast was included. They were doing renovations (including the massive indoor pool with overlook). So perhaps one day it will return to its former glory.
Conclusion
We had a great weekend touring these historic homes and mansions and also enjoyed some terrific meals.
It was a nice getaway, and we did just about all of it on travel points too, which was a bonus.
See our post: Travel Tip: Are You Leaving Points on the Table?
We will likely return to the Long Island area to see more of the mansions and perhaps go further out to the vineyards. Or maybe further north into the Catskills. Maybe both.
If you have tips or suggestions about the area, please leave them in the comments or write to us.