Rockwood Hall facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Rockwood Hall |
|
|---|---|
Hand-colored photograph of the east facade
|
|
| Location | Mount Pleasant, New York |
| Elevation | 150 feet (46 m) |
| Built | 1849 |
| Original use | Private residence |
| Demolished | 1941–1942 |
| Current use | State park |
| Architect | Gervase Wheeler; Ebenezer L. Roberts, Carrère and Hastings |
| Architectural style(s) | Elizabethan style |
| Owner | New York State |
Rockwood Hall was a huge mansion located in Mount Pleasant, New York. It sat right on the Hudson River. This grand home was most famous for being the residence of William Rockefeller. He was the brother of John D. Rockefeller. Both brothers were important co-founders of the Standard Oil Company.
Other people who owned the property included Alexander Slidell Mackenzie and William Henry Aspinwall. At its largest, the estate covered about 1,000 acres (400 ha). The mansion itself had an amazing 204 rooms! This made it the second-largest private house in the U.S. at that time. Only the Biltmore mansion in North Carolina was bigger. Today, the Rockwood Hall estate is an 88-acre (36 ha) part of the Rockefeller State Park Preserve.
One of the first people to live on the land was Alexander Slidell Mackenzie. He lived there from 1840 to 1848. Later, a rich merchant named Edwin Bartlett bought the property. He hired Gervase Wheeler to design the house, which was built in 1849.
By 1860, Bartlett sold the house to William Henry Aspinwall. He lived there until 1875. His son, Lloyd, then lived in the house until 1886. William Rockefeller bought the estate next. He made many changes to the house and property. He even hired the famous firm Carrère and Hastings to help with the inside of the mansion.
Rockefeller passed away at Rockwood Hall in 1922. His family sold the property to investors. They turned the house and land into the Rockwood Hall Country Club. The club went out of business in 1936. After that, it became the Washington Irving Country Club. By 1940, the property was empty again. Its owner, John D. Rockefeller Jr., decided to tear down most of the buildings, including the mansion.
In 1946, Rockwood Hall was even suggested as a possible location for the United Nations headquarters. John Jr.'s son, Laurance Rockefeller, sold some of the land to IBM in 1970. This part of the property was later bought by New York Life. Now, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals owns it. The rest of the property was sold to New York State. It became parkland within the Rockefeller State Park.
Contents
Rockwood Hall's History
Early Owners and Builders
One of the first owners of the property was Alexander Slidell Mackenzie. He lived in a farmhouse there from 1840 until he died in 1848. Commodore Matthew C. Perry also spent summers nearby. In 1839, Perry bought land next door and built a stone house called The Moorings. He lived there year-round with his family. Around 1853, Perry sold his country home and moved back to New York City.
A merchant named Edwin Bartlett bought the property around 1848. He tore down the old farmhouse. Then, he built Rockwood, an English Gothic castle made of local stone. Bartlett hired Gervase Wheeler to design this impressive house, which was finished in 1849.
Bartlett sold the house to his business partner, William Henry Aspinwall, in 1860. Aspinwall used it as his summer home. He improved the property and bought more land, making his estate 200 acres (81 ha) big. Aspinwall often traveled from New York City to Rockwood Hall on his yacht, the Firefly. He could dock it right at his property.
When Aspinwall died in 1875, his son Lloyd Aspinwall lived there until his own death in 1886. Then, William Avery Rockefeller, Jr. bought it for $150,000. His decision to live in Mount Pleasant even convinced his brother, John D. Rockefeller, to build his own estate, Kykuit, nearby.
Rockefeller's Grand Estate
William Rockefeller made his property much larger, expanding it to about 1,000 acres (400 ha). He either greatly updated or completely rebuilt the castle. He nearly doubled its size. Some people, including Rockefeller himself, said he rebuilt the house entirely. He supposedly used the old stone to build a new barn or stables.
Rockefeller spent about $3 million on the house. This was a huge amount of money back then. He wanted it to fit his style perfectly. He hired Ebenezer L. Roberts to oversee the building work. He also hired the famous architectural firm Carrère and Hastings for the inside of the house. Rockefeller even paid $6,000 to repave a two-mile road. This made it easy for him to travel from Rockwood Hall to the Tarrytown railroad station.
The finished house had 204 rooms. It was 174 feet long and 104 feet wide. It was the second-largest private house in the U.S. at the time. Only the Biltmore mansion in Asheville, North Carolina was bigger. Rockwood Hall was also thought to be the second most expensive private home.
Rockefeller moved into the newly finished house around May 1890. In 1895, his daughter Emma got married at the house. Much of the mansion was decorated for the big event. In 1914, during a time of conflict, Rockefeller's homes were at risk. The Tarrytown village president, Frank Pierson, helped protect the homes. He gathered more police to keep rioters away.
Rockefeller planned for Rockwood Hall to be his summer home. But in his later years, it became his year-round residence. He died there in 1922. His funeral also took place at Rockwood Hall. The estate gates were closed and guarded by police during the service.
From Mansion to Country Club
After Rockefeller's death, his family tried to sell the property. But no single buyer could be found. The mansion was closed, and its furniture was removed. About 20 caretakers looked after the estate. In 1924, a group of investors bought most of the property. They formed Rockwood Hall, Inc.
This company turned the estate into a country club. It had a golf course, a swimming pool, and other fun facilities. The 18-hole golf course was designed in 1929. The club even hired a famous Australian golfer, Joe Kirkwood Sr., as its first golf professional.
In 1927, Rockefeller's nephew, John D. Rockefeller Jr., bought 450 acres across the road from Rockwood. The country club later sold more land to John Jr. to help pay off its debts. The Rockwood Hall club started to build up debts, especially during the Great Depression which began in 1929. The club eventually went bankrupt in 1936.
During the summer of 1937, the Rockwood Hall Country Club leased the house and grounds to the Washington Irving Country Club. The old coachhouse and stable were even used for summer theater shows from 1938 to 1940.
The Mansion's Demolition
Chase National Bank took over Rockwood's mortgage. In 1938, John Jr. bought the Rockwood Hall Country Club and its 220 acres from the bank. By 1941, John Jr. saw no use for the site. The buildings were falling apart badly. So, he decided to tear them down.
In late 1941 and early 1942, John Jr. ordered the demolition of the mansion. The coachhouse, greenhouses, and other buildings were also torn down. Only the two gatehouses were left standing. The debris was dumped into the Hudson River. Care was taken not to damage the property's walls, trees, roads, and terraces. Today, the only things left are the gatehouse on U.S. Route 9 and the mansion's terraced foundation.
Property's New Life
John D. Rockefeller Jr. gave Rockwood Hall to his son Laurance Rockefeller in 1946. Later that year, the property was suggested as a location for the United Nations headquarters. Laurance and Nelson Rockefeller offered the site for free. Their father, John Jr., was careful about the idea. He worried that the UN might expand onto other Rockefeller properties nearby.
Laurance sold 80 acres of the property to IBM in 1970. This was for the IBM World Trade/Americas Building. A rule was that the building couldn't be tall or seen from the main estate. New York Life later used the site. Most recently, the biotech company Regeneron bought the property for its DNA Learning Center. Laurance wanted to donate Rockwood Hall to New York State. He made the IBM sale to help the town of Mount Pleasant with lost tax money. While Laurance owned the remaining land, he let the public use it for hiking and fishing.
From the early 1970s until 1998, Laurance Rockefeller leased the estate to New York State. It was used as a public park for just $1 a year. He also paid for the property's upkeep. In 1972, he announced he would donate the land to the state. People wanted the park to have walking trails and a nature center. They did not want camping or sports facilities.
In 1998, Rockefeller gave the 88-acre property to a fund. Half of the fund's earnings went to New York State. The other half went to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. At that time, the land was one of the few large undeveloped areas left on the lower Hudson River. New York State later bought the cancer center's portion. This meant the state fully owned Rockwood Hall.
Mansion's Design
Outside the Mansion
The house was about 500 feet east of the Hudson River. It sat 150 feet above the river. The building was designed in the Elizabethan style, like an old castle. When Rockefeller owned it, the house was 174 feet long and 104 feet wide. Its outside walls were made of huge blocks of rough gray stone. This stone came from local quarries. The inside walls were made of brick.
The outside walls were 3.5 feet (1.1 m) thick at the bottom. They were 2 feet thick on the upper floors. All the walls were built on solid rock. The house was described as looking like a Scottish castle. This was fitting because of the Rockefeller family's Scottish background.
The house had two walled terraces at its base. One was used as a tennis court. The other was at the front of the house for the driveway. The back, facing the river, had a beautiful mosaic design. There was also a wide, stone-roofed veranda around the house. The house had towers, turrets, and castle-like walls. It was built high on a hill, at the highest point of the estate.
The house had an uneven design. It had a square main part and an L-shaped wing for servants. The main part had three stories and an attic. There was a four-story tower at one corner. The roof was covered with red tiles and had a golden weather vane. The main entrance was on the north side, under a covered driveway. The doors were huge and made of beautifully carved oak.
Inside the Mansion
The inside of Rockwood Hall had 204 rooms. There were 21 fireplaces in total. The first floor had an entrance hall, a drawing room, a library, a music room, and a dining room. It also had a breakfast room, a billiard room, a conservatory, and a study.
Two main hallways crossed the house. They had mosaic floors and walls covered in American oak. The ceilings were made of papier-mâché with domes. Each dome had five electric chandeliers. At the center of these halls was the main staircase. It led to the top floor. Above the staircase was a dome of cathedral glass.
The main entrance led into a beautiful vestibule. It was decorated with mosaics and polished marble. Beyond this was the main hall. It had American oak walls and a large fireplace with bright orange and white mosaic tiles. The reception room had stained-glass windows and dark mahogany wood. The music room was a delicate green color. The library, in the corner, had dark wood walls and a black marble fireplace. Each room in the house had its own unique style.
The dining room and library opened onto a south veranda and terrace. The dining room was made of mahogany. Its walls were covered with oil paintings. The billiard room had a domed ceiling with paintings. The breakfast room had light wood walls and a blue ceiling with zodiac signs.
The second and third floors were for sleeping. They had 14 bedrooms in total. Each bedroom had its own bathroom and fireplace. The walls in each bedroom were made of different kinds of wood. They had different designs and paintings. The attic had about 12 rooms for servants. The servants' wing also had 15 bedrooms.
The house was heated by hot air. Electric buttons in the rooms could call servants. Two Otis elevators went from the basement to the attic. One was for servants and goods. The other was a fancy elevator for the family and guests. The house was built to be fireproof. All the doors in the house, except the main entrance, slid open and closed. The floors were made of shiny, inlaid American oak.
Rockwood Hall's Grounds
The property is in Mount Pleasant, New York, in Westchester County, New York. It is west of U.S. Route 9. It's about 3 miles north of Tarrytown. The property also borders the Hudson River for about 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km). The lawns and gardens covered 26 acres (11 ha) of the property.
The mansion's outside was decorated with large pots of tropical plants. In one area, several acres were used for Southdown sheep. These were William Rockefeller's pets. Another area held Jersey cattle. They produced milk and butter for the mansion.
Frederick Law Olmsted designed the beautiful landscape for William Rockefeller. It had hills, valleys, woods, and meadows. Olmsted planted young trees and moved old ones. He planted rare trees like Golden Oak and Weeping Beech. These trees blocked the view of Rockwood Hall from Route 9. There was also a formal garden, a flower garden, a vegetable garden, and 17 greenhouses. Two streams and several artificial ponds were on the property. Swans and ducks lived in the ponds during summer.
The grounds had a network of winding carriage roads through the woods. These roads were 16 feet (4.9 m) wide. A large drainage system was built to control flooding.
Other buildings on the property included a three-story stable, a carpenter's shop, and a paint shop. There was also a stone ice house, a farm barn, and 17 greenhouses. Rockefeller also built a shed for his private train car. The stone ice house used rock salt to keep meats and vegetables fresh. The main granite stable had 40 stalls for horses. It also had an indoor riding court. The coach house had living spaces on its second floor for stable workers' families. The stone boathouse had many boats. The farm barn had 32 stalls for cows and stables for farm horses and sheep.
The farmland on the property was mainly used to grow hay and potatoes. Two small brooks ran through the grounds, which had trout.
During Rockwood Hall's time, the property had three entrances. Two had stone gatehouses. The main entrance gate had an old milestone in the wall. It read "Thirty miles from City Hall, New York City".
Legacy and Today's Park
The design of Rockwood Hall inspired the Sacred Heart Academy in Cincinnati, Ohio. This building was built from 1864 to 1867. It is described as a "copy reversed left-to-right" of Rockwood Hall.
The Present-Day Park
In 2014 and 2015, the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture used sheep and goats at Rockwood Hall. This was an experiment to improve the land's health. It also helped control invasive plants. A shepherd would move the animals every few days. They would graze on plants like akebia and porcelain berry. This project gave the farm more land for their sheep. It also helped the park by controlling unwanted plants and improving the soil.
When William Rockefeller owned the estate, about 100 Southdown sheep roamed the grounds.
-
Rockwood's foundation
-
The estate's north gatehouse
-
View of the Tappan Zee Bridges and Hudson River
-
Former tennis court
See also
In Spanish: Rockwood Hall para niños
