Rock Lawn and Carriage House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
|
|
Rock Lawn and Carriage House
|
|
North elevation and partial east profile in 2013,
following renovation |
|
 Location in New York
Location in the United States
|
|
| Location | Garrison, NY |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Peekskill |
| Area | 12.3 acres (5.0 ha) |
| Built | 1852–1853 |
| Architect | Richard Upjohn (house), Stanford White (carriage house) |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival, Italian Villa |
| MPS | Hudson Highlands MRA |
| NRHP reference No. | 82001254 |
| Added to NRHP | November 23, 1982 |
Rock Lawn is a beautiful old house located in Garrison, New York. It was built a long time ago, in the mid-1800s. A famous architect named Richard Upjohn designed the main house. In 1982, this house and its separate building, called a carriage house, were added to the National Register of Historic Places. This means they are important historical sites in the United States. The carriage house was designed by another well-known architect, Stanford White, around 1880.
Rock Lawn is special because it's the only house in the Hudson Highlands area designed by Richard Upjohn in the Italian villa style. This style makes houses look like fancy Italian country homes. Later, a powerful politician named Hamilton Fish II owned the house. He was a long-time member of the New York State Assembly and a very influential person in Putnam County politics. During his time, more parts were added to the house. More recently, the house was owned by Patty Hearst and her husband Bernard Shaw. It has been updated and renovated in the early 2000s.
Contents
Exploring Rock Lawn and Its Surroundings
The Rock Lawn house and its carriage house sit on a large piece of land, about 12.3 acres. It's located in Garrison, which is a small community in the town of Philipstown. The property is close to the Hudson River, and the land slopes down towards it. This gives amazing views across the river to the United States Military Academy at West Point. The area around the house has open spaces with some big, old trees.
Many other historic buildings are nearby. The Garrison Union Free School and St. Philip's Church in the Highlands, also designed by Upjohn, are close by. Down the hill, you can find the Garrison Landing Historic District, which is a charming area by the railroad tracks. Other interesting old houses, like the Wilson House and the Mandeville House, are also in the area. Even a local golf course has part of the Garrison Grist Mill Historic District.
An iron fence runs along the north side of the property. A gate in the middle opens to a winding driveway. This driveway leads to a large covered parking area next to the house. Tall trees, including some newly planted silver lindens, help hide the house from the street.
In front of the house's north side, there's a small garden with a curved path. To the east of the covered parking, you'll find a fenced swimming pool. It has a stone deck and a hot tub next to a rock that creates a small waterfall into the pool. The driveway continues past the pool to the carriage house. The south and west sides of the property also have fences.
The Main House's Design
The main house has several parts: a main section, a southern section, a wing that connects them, and a garage wing.
Main Section Details
The main part of the house is two stories tall. It's made of brick covered in a plaster-like material called stucco. It sits on a strong stone foundation. The roof is shaped like a pyramid (a hip roof) and has a large stone chimney. On the west side, another hip roof and chimney rise even higher. At the southeast corner of the main section, there's a round part with a cone-shaped roof.
The main entrance is in a section that sticks out from the front (north) of the house. A few steps lead up to double wooden doors. These doors have small glass panes on the sides (sidelights) and a curved glass window above (a transom). Above the entrance, there's a stone band (a beltcourse) that continues around the house.
On the second floor, there's a large arched window in the middle, with two smaller, narrower arched windows on either side. These windows have many small bars (muntins) that divide the glass. The same stone band runs above and below these windows.
The third floor has a single round window, called an oculus, in the center of the roof. The roof has wide overhangs (eaves) with exposed wooden beams (rafters). On the sides, there are rectangular windows with stone tops (lintels) and bottoms (sills).
The stone bands and arched windows continue on the west side of the house. On the first floor, there's a bay window that sticks out, with a wooden railing (balustrade) on top. This railing creates a balcony. Double glass doors open onto this balcony.
Connecting Parts of the House
A long wing extends from the south side of the main house. On its east side, there's a two-story curved stone porch (portico) with a slanted roof. This porch has steps and iron railings. The main entrance to the house is now here, through a beautiful arched double wooden door.
The porch has two long windows on the first floor, on either side of the entrance. On the second floor, the windows are round-arched. The roof above them has wide, overhanging eaves. On both sides of the south wing, there are three-part windows.
On the west side, the main house connects to a stone section with a two-story bay window. This bay window has a balcony on top, which can be reached from a high row of windows (a clerestory). The first floor of the bay has narrow French doors with stone steps.
The second floor has four narrow windows, similar to those below. Another railing (balustrade) is below the south side, accessed by a door.
The balcony connects to a tall, three-story tower with a hip roof and a stone chimney. Below the balcony, the first floor has three French doors with sunburst patterns in their transoms, also with stone steps. Two stone bands (stringcourses) go around the tower. The upper band is where the round arches begin for the three narrow French doors on the third story. These doors open onto a small balcony with a railing.
At the end of this wing is a south section, similar in shape and size to the main section. Its south side looks just like the north side of the main section. A part of its southwest side is fenced off as a dog run.
On the west side of the south section, there's an eight-sided tower that is two and a half stories tall. It has a gently sloped cone-shaped roof. Its first floor has narrow French windows with curved transoms and stone sills and lintels. Above them, each side has a gently arched window. The third floor has rectangular windows, like those in the main section.
The Garage Area
A garage wing extends from the east side of the south section. It's one and a half stories tall with a cross-shaped hip roof. It has a single dormer window on the east side. The bottom part of the garage is stone, and the top part is stucco.
Its north side has five curved garage doors. These wooden doors have square glass panes above them and fancy metal lanterns on the sides. A stone path is in front of the doors.
On the east side, there's a single window in the middle of the first floor. A stone band runs around the building just below the wide, overhanging eaves. The central part of the north side has two narrow arched windows. The east dormer has a similar window.
The Carriage House
The carriage house is a one-and-a-half-story building made of wood. It sits on a stone foundation and is covered in wooden shingles. The roof is a special shape called a gambrel roof, which has two different slopes on each side. The western part, where horses and carriages were kept, has a large garage opening with a small roof sticking out. On the north side, a stone chimney with a narrow window separates it from the main part of the building.
Next to the chimney is the main entrance, a wooden door with a small roof supported by decorative pieces (brackets). To its east are three small windows. West of the main entrance is a single window near the corner.
Two more windows are near the corners of the first floor on the west side. The west side also has a second entrance in the middle. Next to it on the north are three more small windows.
On the upper level, both of the front gambrel roofs have two more windows. A special three-part window, called a Palladian window, is in the center of the west peak. The eastern side has a former entrance for loading hay. In the center of the roof, there's an eight-sided wooden cupola with slatted openings (louvers) and a cone-shaped metal roof.
A Look Back in Time: History of Rock Lawn
The main part of Rock Lawn was built in 1853 for Henry Belcher. He owned the ferry company that carried people and goods between Garrison and West Point. The ferry terminals were visible from his new house. Richard Upjohn's Italianate design for Rock Lawn was his only house of this style in the Hudson Highlands.
Later in the 1800s, the house became the home of Hamilton Fish II. He came from a long line of important political figures. Hamilton Fish II was a lawyer and a member of the New York State Assembly, eventually becoming its Speaker (the leader of the assembly). He also led the Republican Party in Putnam County, which gave him a lot of power in state politics. During his time at Rock Lawn, the house was expanded, and other buildings were added. Around 1880, a young architect named Stanford White designed the carriage house in a style called the Shingle Style.
In the early 1980s, Patty Hearst and her husband, Bernard Shaw, bought the mansion. They lived there with their children until Bernard Shaw passed away in 2013. Around that time, they had just finished a big project to restore and renovate the house, which changed how its outside looked.
