Lyndhurst, also known as the Jay Gould estate in Westchester, New York, is a Gothic Revival country house that sits in its 67-acre (27 ha) park beside the Hudson River in Tarrytown, New York, about a half-mile south of the Tappan Zee Bridge on US 9. The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966.
Designed in 1838 by Alexander Jackson Davis, the house was owned in succession by New York City mayor William Paulding Jr., merchant George Merritt, and railroad tycoon Jay Gould. Paulding named his home “Knoll,” although critics quickly dubbed it “Paulding’s Folly” because its unusual design includes fanciful turrets and asymmetrical outline. Its limestone exterior was quarried at Sing Sing in present-day Ossining, New York. Merritt, the house’s second owner, engaged Davis as his architect and, in 1864–1865, doubled the size of the house, renaming it “Lyndenhurst” after the estate’s linden trees. Davis’ new north wing included an imposing four-story tower, a new porte-cochere (the old one was reworked as a glass-walled vestibule), a new dining room, two bedrooms, and servants’ quarters. Gould purchased the property in 1880 to use as a country house, shortened its name to “Lyndhurst, ” and occupied it until his death in 1892. In 1961, Gould’s daughter Anna Gould donated it to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The house is now open to the public.
Unlike later mansions along the Hudson River in Westchester, Lyndhurst’s rooms are few and of a more modest s and strongly Gothic in character. Hallways are narrow, windows small and sharply arched, and ceilings are fantastically peaked, vaulted, and ornamented. The effect is gloomy, somber, and highly romantic; the large, double-height art gallery provides a contrast of light and space. The house sits within a landscaped park, designed in the English naturalistic style by Ferdinand Mangold, whom Merritt hired. Mangold drained the surrounding swamps, created lawns, planted specimen trees, and built a conservatory. The park is an outstanding example of 19th-century landscape design with a curving entrance drive that reveals “surprise” views of rolling lawns accented with shrubs and specimen trees. The 390-foot-long (120 m) onion-domed, iron-framed, glass conservatory, when built, was one of the largest privately-owned greenhouses in the United States. EZ Westchester Junk Removal
Restaurants Nearby
- Los Tigers Restaurant is located at 185 Valley St, Sleepy Hollow, Westchester, NY
- The Bistro is located at 475 White Plains Rd, Tarrytown, NY
- Tarry Tavern is located at 27 Main St, Tarrytown, NY
- RiverMarket Bar and Kitchen is located at 127 W Main St, Tarrytown, NY
- Hudson Farmer & The Fish Restaurant is located at 11 River St, Sleepy Hollow, NY
Check out other attractions like Neuberger Museum of Art