MANSIONS AND HISTORIC SITES

Three centuries of New York State history are preserved within the borders of Dutchess County. From rustic early Dutch homesteads to opulent Gilded Age mansions commanding Hudson River views, visitors can directly experience the heritage of America.

The Franklin Delano Roosevelt National Historic Site (www.nps.gov/hofr) in Hyde Park includes the Presidential Library and Springwood, the lifelong home of America’s beloved president. The house often served as the Northern White House for many of FDR’s meetings with heads of state. The property also includes the gravesites of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and beautiful rose and perennial gardens.

The site’s principal attraction is the FDR Library and Museum (www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu). Constructed in the tradition of Hudson Valley Dutch farmhouses, it was the nation’s first presidential library. Technology and history unite at the museum through interactive multimedia exhibits. “The Damnedest Near Thing,” dramatizes turning points of World War II that shaped the modern world. Audio and video elements in a replica of FDR’s highly secret war room transport visitors into the drama of strategic war planning. “What if Britain Falls” is an interactive video game that lets visitors play at making presidential decisions. In addition, a sculpture, “BreakFree” by Edwina Sandys, depicts the barbed-wire-entangled figures of a man and woman and is made from graffiti-covered pieces of the Berlin Wall.

Nestled in a 180-acre wooded plot just a few miles from the FDR site is Val-Kill, Eleanor Roosevelt’s famed retreat. It is characterized by wildflowers, stone fireplaces, knotty pine paneling, walls of books and hundreds of personal decorating touches. The simple home belies the complexity of a woman who used it to host presidents, kings, prime ministers and other world leaders.

Hyde Park is also home to the Vanderbilt National Historic Site (www.nps.gov/vama). The centerpiece of the property is a magnificent beaux-arts limestone palace that represents part of the Gilded Age of Hudson River mansions. Frederick W. Vanderbilt, grandson of “Commodore” Cornelius Vanderbilt, and his wife Louise used the property as a spring and fall home. Exquisite Italian marble is used extensively in the mansion’s interior, which is furnished in Italian and French motifs and includes tapestries and other art treasures from around the world. Until the 1930’s, the Vanderbilts held lavish balls at the estate, drawing guests from America’s wealthiest families and European nobility. A national historic site since 1940, the estate’s grounds include numerous formal gardens and sweeping Hudson River views.

The Mills Mansion National Historic Site, Staatsburg, is the former fall and winter country retreat of financier Ogden Mills and his wife Ruth Livingston Mills. An imposing 65-room beaux-arts structure, the home was expanded and redesigned for the family in 1895 by renowned architect Stanford White. A massive stone wall and iron gate guard a rambling drive to the main house, which has a magnificent view of the Hudson River, framed by century-old trees. The home’s interior with Louis XIV, XV and XVI furnishings, rich wood paneling and an outstanding art collection evokes an era when wealthy Americans brought European culture and influences to the United States. Mills Mansion is said to have inspired Edith Wharton’s novel “The House of Mirth.” Wharton was a frequent visitor to her Aunt Elizabeth Jones’ estate in Rhinecliff, a showplace that inspired the neighbors to try “keeping up with the Jones’s.” During its heyday, Mills Mansion was staffed by 25 servants.

Annandale-on-Hudson is home to the 434-acre Montgomery Place (www.hudsonvalley.org), built in 1805 by Janet Livingston Montgomery. Flower gardens, a waterfall and walking trails surround the 23-room residence. The orchards, greenhouse and plant nursery are still in operation. The main house, which overlooks the Hudson River and provides Catskill Mountain views, was twice remodeled by celebrated architect Alexander Jackson Davis and is one of the Hudson Valley’s finest examples of Federal style architecture. Inside the mansion, antique French wallpaper is barely visible behind art and artifacts assembled by seven generations of passionate collectors. Furniture of every period, military memorabilia and family portraits of sturdy Dutch women, handsome Revolutionary War heroes and signers of the Declaration of Independence literally fill the house.

On a 40-acre site high above the banks of the Hudson River sits Wilderstein (www.wilderstein.org), a remarkably intact 1888 Victorian Queen Anne mansion. Lived in by three generations of the Suckley family, the estate features grounds designed in the American Romantic Landscape style by Calvert Vaux and interiors and window treatments by J.B. Tiffany. Walking trails take visitors through meadows, wooded areas and extensive lawns. FDR’s sixth cousin, Daisy Suckley, lived here until her death at age 99. She was the close confidant of her famous cousin, and she raised and gave him his beloved Scottie, Fala.

Locust Grove, the Samuel Morse Historic Site (www.morsehistoricsite.org) in Poughkeepsie was the home of Samuel Morse, portrait painter and inventor of the telegraph. Purchasing the estate in 1847, Morse remodeled the house to resemble a Tuscan villa. He developed the gardens in the style of landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing. At the new Visitors’ Center, screen an introductory video and view exhibits on the “Father of the Information Age,” the first to communicate using electricity. He patented the telegraph and invented Morse code. The “American Leonardo,” he was considered America’s finest painter, and was a teacher, politician, landscape designer and inventor. He brought Daguerre’s photographic process to America and was Matthew Brady’s teacher. The house contains extensive furniture, china and art collections. The formal gardens are being replanted to accurately reflect the original design, and a Heritage Vegetable Garden recreates kitchen gardens from each wave of immigrants that arrived in here from the mid-1700’s on. An extensive trail system rewards with Hudson River views.

Dutchess County has numerous historic home museums that were once owned by more everyday citizens. Mount Gulian Historic Site in Beacon is a reconstructed 1730 homestead, including a 1726 Dutch barn. The home was the Revolutionary War headquarters of General von Steuben. It was also the birthplace of the Order of the Cincinnati, our country’s first veterans’ organization, and the origination of the name of the city in Ohio. Clinton House (dchs@vh.net) in Poughkeepsie is a Dutch Colonial stone house built in 1765 and rebuilt after a fire by Army masons under General George Washington. It is also home to the Dutchess County Historical Society. Glebe House (dchs@vh.net), also in Poughkeepsie, dates to the same period. Originally a farm/rectory, the brick dwelling has been restored to represent typical 18th and 19th century homes.

Dutchess County’s oldest house, the Madam Brett Homestead, can be found in Beacon. Built in 1709, the Dutch farmhouse museum brings to life seven generations of the Brett family through collections of furnishings, clothing and documents. It was one of the only farms during Colonial times to be run by a woman (following the death of her husband.) Van Wyck Homestead Museum (vanwyckhomestead@hotmail.com) in Fishkill was constructed in 1730 by Cornelius Van Wyck. During the Revolutionary War, the home was a major encampment and supply depot and at various times sheltered John Jay, Alexander Hamilton and George Washington. Another residence with ties to the war is the John Kane House (www.pawhistory.com) in Pawling. It served as Washington’s headquarters in the fall of 1778. Now a local history repository and museum, it includes The Lowell Thomas Rooms, which chronicle the radio pioneer’s life and career.

The Little Red School House, a 19th century one-room school in Hyde Park, was built in 1846. It was moved in 1976 to the grounds of the North Park Elementary School and is used today as a history education center. In Pawling, an area settled by Quakers, is the Oblong Meeting House, constructed in 1764. It was appropriated by General Washington’s troops in 1778 for use as a military hospital.

Any historic tour of Dutchess County would not be complete without a visit to the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome (www.oldrhinebeck.org) in Rhinebeck. This living history museum presents World War I and pioneer Lindbergh-era aircraft (1900-1937) in displays, airshows and barnstorming rides available to the spectators in open cockpit biplanes. It is an opportunity to see an exciting era of history brought to life amidst the roar of rotary engines and the smell of burnt castor oil.

Nearly every Dutchess County historic site offers a schedule of events throughout the year with activities such as antique car shows, food and wine festivals, costumed reenactments, lawn concerts, authors and expert speakers, and holiday candlelight tours. Foreign language tours are also available at several sites.