Rhinebeck Area Historic Survey, RichaAd Citowtey

27. Turn right on Church Lane then sharp right on Depot Lane past the former Haight Mill operated by Ben Wheeler. This is now being renovated for living quarters. 28. Thence to former Railroad Station which is being remodelled by Walter Yovaish. Dismount here. 29. Opposite is the former Paper Mill. Mr. and Mrs. Sam Robinson have invited us to see the interior and Mr. Robinson will tell us the history of the building. 30. Then up Bulls Head Road to Grist Mill Lane. Turn left. First house on right belongs to Paul Gardiner. This is a very ancient house which Paul is restoring but he does not feel that the interior should be shown now. 31. Pass the home of James Cunningham, former home of Herbert Kellar, Justice of the Peace. Perry Van Benschoten lived there previously. His son Chester Van Benschoten is celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary here in Stanfordville today. 32. Next on right is the home of Mrs. Ruth Walling. Her house was the main house of a farm and grist mill complex built over 200 years ago. But the Mill burned and the dam was washed away in a hurricane so Grist Mill Lane is purely residential now. 33. In the early 1800's Daniel Lawrence had a Print Shop on this road. Anthony Collins, who has a Book Shop in Bangall now has several Daniel Lawrence books dated from 1803 to 1810. 34. Proceed to Route 82 and turn left. Return to Grange to pick up cars. Leave Stanfordville via Route 82, which meets Route 44 at Washington Hollow - just twelve miles from Poughkeepsie. 35. The last house in the Town of Stanford, owned by Mrs. Ida Rogers, is an old Colonial on the left. This was part of the route for slaves on their way to Canada after the Civil War.

RHINEBECK AREA HISTORIC SURVEY By Richard Crowley

I. Summary February 1974 Sixteen miles of historic properties on the Hudson River in the Townships of Rhinebeck and Red Hook, Dutchess County, trace their origin and long life as private properties to a single source. They began when Chancellor Robert R. Livingston, in 1775, inherited the vast landholdings of his grandfather, Robert of Clermont, his father, Judge Robert of Clermont and his mother's father, Colonel Henry Beekman, Jr. These lands included the 17,000 acres of Clermont (the lower third of Livingston Manor), the Beekman Patents and purchases in Dutchess County and the 240,000 acre Great Hardenburgh Patent in the Southern Catskills. With these assets and the responsibilities of managing the many saw mills, grist mills and other enterprises necessary to the development of the area, it is not surprising to find that the Chancellor and each of his nine brothers and sisters established a separate household along the river, and that distinguished husbands lent their assistance (see IV History). As families grew, children and then grandchildren, building their own places on the land or enriching the earlier houses, produced a district of great architectural variety and incredible landscaping. There are now 37 significant properties which fill almost entirely the sixteen miles of bluffs between Clermont and Staatsburgh, interrupted by the river landings at Tivoli, Barrytown and Rhinecliff. Perhaps the earliest description of them occurs in Downing's 1849 Landsdape Gardening. "There is no place in the .Union, where the taste in Landscape Gardening is so far advanced, as on the middle portion of the Hudson." He then describes Blithewood, Montgomery Place and Ellerslie, while mentioning Clermont as "the show place of the previous age." Nineteenth Century guidebooks and Twentieth Century photographic histories have given random descriptions; the Architects Emergency Committee published in 1937 drawings of Clermont and Montgomery Place, but there has been no cohesive study of all 37 properties in the district until 1973. Amazingly, the entire sixteen mile district still retains its historic character. Only a short amount of time more and massive development, subdivisions, sale of unused land by institutions, further private economic difficulties and another winter's deterioration will have taken their toll. Sixteen properties currently are endangered. The need for immediate preservation is undeniable. In 1969 the Dutchess County Planning Board prepared Landmarks of Dutchess County, 1683-1867, Architecture Worth Saving in New York State, published by the New York State Council on the Arts, which included a photograph and brief history of 13 of the 37 properties. In 1973 the Dutchess County Landmarks Association began the Rhinebeck Area Historic Survey with a grant of $6500 from the Council on the Arts and a donation of $100 from the Rhinebeck Historical Society. This concern and funding encouraged the Historic American Buildings Survey of the National Park Service to arrange a cooperative recording area survey as a pilot project, costing approximately $23,000. Student architects and historians measured and drew the main building at

Rokeby, the near-ruin but still magnificent Linden Grove, and the plan of Rose Hill. Research included the further work of National Register nominations for Wilderstein and Leacote. H.A.B.S. photographic recording for all five properties is planned to include all outbuildings. The project has already drawn the attention of the New York State Board for Historic Preservation, The Nature Conservancy and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. II. Programs February 1974 1. For the second summer of measured drawing and historical research, the Dutchess County Landmarks Association has received another grant from the Council on the Arts for $5000 and another donation from the Rhinebeck Historical Society for $200; the American Association of Landscape Architects may sponsor a graduate landscape architect to join the summer team. For a cooperative project with the Historic American Buildings Survey there is lacking approximately $6500 in local funds. This recording work has provided vital tools for preservation and understanding of the many generations of activity which have left their marks on the river bluffs. The presence of young, talented researchers has generated hopes for the future. 2. National advisors to the Historic American Buildings Survey have proposed a photogrammetric mapping of the entire district to record landscaping achievements and building relationships. Initial costs would include surveys for ground control points followed by low-level aerial photography in both stereo blackand-white and in infrared. Detailed photogrammetric mapping, using the facilities of Cornell University, would be coordinated with architectural, historical and landscape studies of each property to locate tertam n features, significant plantings and all buildings, as well as forgotten foundations and potential archeological sites. The advisors urge the underwriting of the whole map project before undertaking any part of it. The budget for this project, subject to refinement, has been calculated at $25,000. Since three of the properties are owned by the State of New York, a pro-rata division of costs may be possible. 3. Special funding is needed for related research, recording and development. National Register listings must proceed to enable the nomination of the district as a whole. While the State Board for Historic Preservation has suggested this, they lack the staff to effect it. Analysis of property assessments and other preliminary data should occur on a professional level. A complete inventory of slides and photographs are the means for education and communication to others of this vast district. New concepts in ecological and environmental preservation and protection for the historic buildings and their vast grounds should be developed. The National Trust has suggested that there be a meeting of all owners, local government officials and state and national interests to develop awareness and begin to establish methods.

4. The Spring of 1974 will see the formation of an active local preservation group founded by concerned residents of Rhinebeck and Red Hook. This organization, which has already filed application for notfor-profit incorporation with the State of New York, will assist in the preservation of endangered properties on a practical level, developing alternate uses, accepting easements and with the ability for property acquisition. Efforts will begin soon to enroll members and to establish a revolving fund for the necessary capital expenses. III. Properties February 1974 Descendant Owner Published 1942 Published 1969 Endangered 1. Clermont 1730-1778/Clermont State Park 2. Eversleigh 1843/Teviot 3. Rose Hill 1843/Leake Watts Home/ Catholic Worker Farm Village of Tivoli 4. Green Hill 1790/The Pynes 5. Sunning Hill 1794/Callendar House 6. William R. Ham House c1860 7. The Meadows 1790/De Veaux Park/ Almont/L. G. Hamersley House 1918/Ward Manor 8. Bard College 1860 9. Mill Hill 1795/Annandale/ Blithewood 1910 10. Chateau de Montgomery 1805/ Montgomery Place 11. Massena 1797-1870/St. Joseph's Institute 1930's/Unification Church 12. Maizefield 1795 Hamlet of Barrytown 13. Edgewater 1820 14. Sylvania c1910 15. La Bergerie 1813/Rokeby 16. Steen Valetje c1855/Mandara 17. Ravenswood 1836/Orlot 1940 18. The Meadows 1848/Leacote 1875 19. Marienruh 1881/Alice Obolensky House 1926/Teen Challenge Inc. 20. Ferncliff c1860/Ferncliff Nursing Home 21. Ankony c1830 Village of Rhinebeck 22. The Grove 1795/Schuyler House 23. Robert Sands House 1796/ The Homestead

III. Properties (continued)

Village of Rhinebeck (cont.) 24. Rhinebeck House 1775-1828/ Grasmere 25. Kip-Beekman-Heermance House 1700 26. Ellerslie/Cardinal Farley Military Academy/Holy Cross Campus 27. Wildercliff 1799 28. Wilderstein 1852/1888 29. Linden Grove 1853 30. Whispering Pines 1906/Briessen Mansion/Ranelagh House/Robert Marvin House 31. Linwood 1794/Linwood Retreat House 1968 32. Glenburn 1838/1905/1915 33. Linden Hill c1842/Foxhollow Farm/ Rhinebeck Country School 34. William Starr Miller House 1890/ Rhinebeck Country School 35. The Locusts 1844/Lytle Hull House 1940 36. Staatsburgh 1792-1832-1895/ Endekill Farm/Ogden Mills Museum 37. The Point c1857/Norrie State Park Institution 1942 Published 1969 Published Endangered

IV. History i, February 1974 Creation of the district by the heirs of Judge Robert and Margaret Beekman Livingston: JANET (1743-1828), the eldest child, married Richard Montgomery in 1773. They had begun construction of Rhinebeck House in 1775 when he was commissioned a general in the Revolutionary Army and was killed in his first battle at Quebec. The building was finished but proved to have associations too sad for its mistress; in 1802 she began another house, calling it Chateau de Montgomery or Montgomery Place, with "a decent plan from France," overlooking the South Bay at Annandale. Janet herself planted the hedgerows of black locust trees at both properties which have developed into striking features of the district. CATHARINE (1745-1752) died at the age of seven. ROBERT R. (1746-1813), the eldest son, married Mary Stevens (1752-1814) in 1770. He became Chancellor of New York State and one of the committee of five appointed to draft the Declaration of Independence. He retained the Clermont property and began the first of several houses for himself on the place. Belvidere, with its round room, was burned by the British in 1777, along with the main Dwelling House. His mother immediately began the rebuilding of Clermont but the Chancellor's duties, including serving as U.S. Minister to

to France and the negotiation of the Louisiana Purchase, kept him from building until 1804. The new house was planned with four pavilions linked by a two story block to form the letter H. Later called Arryl House and then Idele, it burned and remains a brick and stone ruin with some of its fluted pilasters still attached. Its heavy mahogany doors have been removed to Callendar House. Clermont has been acquired by the State of New York from Janet C. Livingston and her sister, Honoria Livingston McVitty. MARGARET (1749-1823) married in 1779 Thomas Tillotson of Maryland (1752-1832), Surgeon General to Washington's army. In 1794 they built the first Linwood of brick with white stone trim to house wedding presents of furniture from George and Martha Washington. While the sad story of John B. James' loss of Linwood ddr ring remodellings by A.J. Davis, its acquisition and new building by Jacob Ruppert and its present transformation into Linwood Retreat House is a long tale, the place, high above Vanderburgh Cove, still demonstrates the perfection of a southerly view scarce in the Hudson Valley. HENRY B. (1750-1831) married in 1781 Ann Hume Shippen of Philadelphia and retired from his army career to his grandfather Beekman's stone house at Rhinecliff. This place was originally built about 1700 by Hendrick Kip, patentee, and although destroyed by fire early in this century, served as the model for the U.S. Post Office in Rhinebeck. CATHARINE (1752-1849) married in 1793 Freeborp Garrettson (1752-1827), the circuit-riding minister who carried the new doctrines of Methodism to North Carolina, New England and all between. In 1799 they built Wildercliff, a two story wooden house which is still standing, now embellished with side wings and gambrel-roofed dormers. JOHN R. (1755-1851) fought in the Revolution, married Margaret Sheafe of Boston in 1779, married Eliza McEvers in 1789 before, in 1797, building Massena, named after Napolean's marshall, and famous for its glass and iron domed library. In 1851, when Massena was beginning to be famous for its magnificent gardens and park, its owner was photographed by Matthew Brady and became, at the age of 97, the oldest man ever so recorded. Massena burned in 1870 and was replaced by a brick and terra-cotta mansion desined by Sturgis & Brigham, still used by the Christian Brothers of St. Joseph's Institute. GERTRUDE (1757-1833) married in 1779 General Morgan Lewis (1754-1844) who became the third Governor of New York State. In 1792 they purchased land from Pawling's patent south of Rhinebeck and built Staatsburgh. A fire in 1832 required the immediate rebuilding of the house which, phoenix-like, became larger, with a Doric portico and two side wings, in which guise it survived until 1895 when Ruth Livingston Mills had Stanford White enlarge it into a palace for the weekends. Neighbors began to be wary of accepting invitations because of the expense of visits there. Staatsburgh is now open to the public and operated as a museum by the Taconic State Park Commission. JOANNA (1759-1829) married Peter R. Livingston; they bought Rhinebeck House from Janet and rebuilt it after a fire in 1828. It was enlarged in 1861 and survives as Grasmere, a very large red brick house trimmed in white with a marble porch, a walled and patterned garden and with axial vistas through pairs of beech trees. Grasmere even once had a maze.

ALIDA (1761-1822) married in 1789 a Revolutionary officer from Pennsylvania, John Armstrong (1758-1843), who began his local career building The Meadows in brick and marble, then Mill Hill in 1795 before leaving for France as Minister to replace his brother-in-law. Napoleon rewarded him with 19 ewes and a ram from the royal fold at Merino. Armstrong's duties as General and then Madison's Secretary of War in 1812 kept the flock from a permanent home, but in 1815 La Bergerie was finished in stuccoed fieldstone, three rooms deep and two rooms high, with a huge skylighted monitor piercing the roof, and filled with Napoleonic furniture. When their daughter, Margaret, married William Backhouse Astor and acquired the property she called it "Rokeby" and it is still called that by her descendants who inhabit it. Rokeby is still farmed, plowed carefully around ornamental stands of honey locusts, Kentucky coffee trees, Ginkos, and primeval oak and hemlock forest artfully sculpted by Ludwig Ehlers. EDWARD (1764-1836), the youngest brother, married Mary McEvers in 1788, became Mayor of New York, gave his fortune to make good an aide's error, moved to New Orleans to make another, married Louise D'Avezac de Castera in 1805, wrote the model penal code for Louisiana and befriended Andrew Jackson. When Jackson became President, Livingston was his Secretary of State. These duties kept him away from the Hudson Valley until after the death of his sister, Janet, who left him Montgomery Place. There his daughter, Cora Barton, wife of the famous naturalist, depended on Alexander Jackson Davis to design wings, pavilions, balustraded porches, farmhouses and parkland gazebos, with plantings selected by Downing. Montgomery Place remains in the family as a careful farm with crops of peaches and apples. The 40Legoing LivingAton pant o4 the hi/stony waz ne4enned to by Stephen Henty ()tin in an addters to the DCHS at Gtenbann, pubtizhed in the DCHS Yeanbook in 1918.

Five other properties complete the roster of Federal mansions in the Rhinebeck area: The Pynes (Green Hill), at Tivoli, was purchased by John Reade, husband of Catherine, the daughter of Robert Gilbert Livingston, in 1790. A stone dated 1764 has been found in the foundation. Two pavilion-like wings, added in 1797, are decorated with bevelled coigns on flush ship-lap siding and now bear a range of Greek Revival windows. Callendar House, at Tivoli, was built by Mrs. Reade's brother, Henry G. Livingston, in 1794, as Sunning Hill. Philip H. Livingston purchased it and in the 1830's it was embellished with a dozen monumental wooden columns. Additions include a two story wing by McKim, Mead and White commanding a vista southward over the wide lawn (which yielded up the skeletons of an Iroquois chief and his horse during regrading) to the North Bay behind Cruger's Island where the original Clermont was launched. Both Callendar House and the Pynes have remained in the family. Maizefield, at Red Hook, was built by General David Van Ness about 1795 in brick with oval and rectangular panels gracing its facade. Later polygonal wings, columned porches and a brick attic have increased its size. William Chamberlain, a later owner and a New York Central Railroad director, tried to reroute the railroad away from the Hudson and established the "Hucklebush Line" to prove that it was possible.