Sleepy Hollow Country Club facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Sleepy Hollow Country Club

Club information
Established	1911
Type	Private
Total holes	27
Website
Sleepy Hollow Country Club
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
Map of the Scarborough Historic District; country club land is green
Location	777 Albany Post Road (US 9), Scarborough, New York 10510
Area	338 acres (0.5 sq mi)
Built	1892–5
Architect	McKim, Mead & White (Mead supervising)
Architectural style	Italian Renaissance Revival
Part of	Scarborough Historic District (ID84003433)
Added to NRHP	September 7, 1984

The Sleepy Hollow Country Club is a famous club in Scarborough-on-Hudson, Briarcliff Manor, New York. It started in 1911. The main building, called Woodlea, was once a huge 140-room mansion. It belonged to Colonel Elliott Fitch Shepard and his wife Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt Shepard.

The mansion was built between 1892 and 1895. It cost about $2 million back then. This would be like spending over $70 million today! The famous architects McKim, Mead & White designed it. In 1984, the estate became part of the Scarborough Historic District. This means it's a special historic place.

Woodlea looks like an Italian Renaissance Revival building. It has fancy Beaux-Arts details. The outside is made of light brown Italian bricks. The house is very large, with about 65,000 to 70,000 square feet inside. This makes it one of the biggest private homes in the United States.

About the Club

Golfing at the club, c. 1920

The club today covers 338 acres (0.5 sq mi) of land. It has a 27-hole golf course with cool tree-limb footbridges. There's a main clubhouse, a pool, and ten tennis courts. You can also find four platform tennis courts and four squash courts.

The club has eighteen guest rooms for visitors. It also has areas for skeet and trap shooting. For horse lovers, there's a stable for 45 horses. There are twenty paddocks and a large indoor riding arena. The club offers shops for golf and paddle sports. There's also a fitness center.

Kids can enjoy golf, tennis, squash, and riding. The clubhouse has three dining rooms. It can host up to 400 guests for events. The club has 570 members. Many famous people have been members. These include Bill Murray and James Patterson. Several members of the Rockefeller family are also current members.

Club History

Woodlea's riverfront facade

Elliott and Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt Shepard

How the Club Got Its Name

The Sleepy Hollow Country Club started in 1911. This was before the nearby village of North Tarrytown changed its name to Sleepy Hollow in 1996. The club is named after its location. It sits in the valley of the Pocantico River. This river was once called Slapershaven, which means "sleepers' harbor" in Dutch. Over time, this name came to mean the whole valley. Today, "Sleepy Hollow" usually refers only to the village.

The 19th Century Story

Map of the country club, 1931

The clubhouse, Woodlea, was first a private home. It kept the name of an older house on the property. Colonel Elliott Fitch Shepard bought the land in the early 1890s. He owned about 500 acres (0.8 sq mi). He started building the current mansion in 1892. It was finished in 1895.

In 1892, Shepard also built Scarborough's first dock. This helped bring building materials to his property. Shepard died in 1893. His wife, Margaret, finished the mansion. After he died, Margaret only lived there in spring and autumn.

In 1906, a businessman named Archibald S. White bought the property. He paid between $1 million and $1.5 million. He bought it as a gift for his wife. Around 1910, Frank Vanderlip and William Rockefeller bought the estate. They paid only $165,000 for it. This was a huge bargain! Vanderlip's wife thought the house was too big for them. So, the Vanderlip family stayed in their nearby home, Beechwood.

From 1900s to Today

The clubhouse's south entranceway and west facade, 1914

Vanderlip and Rockefeller decided to create a country club. They gathered a group of important people. This group included John Jacob Astor IV, who later died on the Titanic. The country club officially started on May 11, 1911. It had 600 members.

At first, the club rented Woodlea for $25,000 a year. In 1912, the club bought the property for $350,000. They then built the golf course. They also added an outdoor garden theater. The club spent four years updating the house. They made the kitchen and service areas ready for more people. They also turned one of the stables into a garage. More tennis courts and a toboggan slide were added too.

The famous landscape architects, the sons of Frederick Law Olmsted, designed the grounds. The first golf course was designed in 1911. It was updated in 1935. Around 2008, it was redesigned to have 27 holes.

In 1917, the club had 1,000 members. William Rockefeller bought more land for the club. This made the club's total area 480 acres (0.8 sq mi). New buildings were added in the 1920s. These included a manager's house, a skeet house, and a swimming pool.

After the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the club faced tough times. Membership went down. They had to sell horses and close Woodlea for most of the time. The golf house became the main clubhouse. In 1933, famous golfer Bobby Jones played at the course.

Hillside Italian garden, c. 1906

The house originally had a beautiful Italian garden. It had vine-covered pergolas and marble benches. This garden was taken down in the 1960s. The golf house was also taken down in 1967. A new wing was added to the clubhouse in 1962. It has a pro shop, dining areas, and locker rooms.

The club hosted the NYNEX Commemorative golf tournament from 1986 to 1993. In 1989, professional golfer Bob Charles set a record there. In 2002, the club hosted the U.S. Women's Amateur Golf Championship. In 2014, the club updated its snack bar and locker rooms. They also added solar panels. A new pool facility and tennis shop were built in 1968.

Club Buildings and Design

Woodlea Mansion

Southwest view, 1895

The Woodlea mansion was designed by McKim, Mead & White. W. R. Mead was the main architect. It's interesting because Mead didn't usually design buildings for the firm. He was related to the Shepard family.

Outside Look

Woodlea was likely modeled after Kimberley Hall in Norfolk

Woodlea's outside looks like an Italian Renaissance Revival building. It might have been inspired by Kimberley Hall in England. It has classic details like urns and columns. The house also shows the American Renaissance style. The building has a Beaux-Arts style. This means the outside design shows how the inside is used. For example, the servant quarters are in a separate wing. This wing has lower ceilings and smaller windows.

Woodlea is made of light brown Italian bricks. It has light limestone trim. It is three stories tall. The house has fancy stone around the windows. It also has classical balustrades (decorative railings). The third floor is separated by a stone line. The roof has brick chimneys.

The west side of the house is the most decorated. It faces the Hudson River. You can see the river from its terrace and windows. The main entrance is on the south side. It has a grand entrance with columns. The house is described as "low and spreading," even though it's very tall. It has about three miles of wide driveways.

Inside Look

The inside of Woodlea is also very special. It has marble fireplaces and wood panels. The ceilings have a special "coffered" design. The floors are made of parquet (wood blocks in patterns). There's also lots of carved wood and plaster. In 1895, the furniture alone cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. It included rare tapestries and Italian marble.

From north to south, the central corridor, main hall, and south vestibule

From north to south, three banquet halls
(formerly the dining room, parlor, and living room)

In 1906, the house had 16 bathrooms and 65 rooms. Twenty of these rooms were for servants. The main door opens into a fancy marble entrance. This leads to the main hall. The hall has white wood panels and a carved marble fireplace. It also had fancy tapestries.

The first floor has three main rooms connected in a line: the living room, drawing room, and dining room. These rooms could be combined for big events. The living room had green silk walls. The drawing room was white and gold. The dining room had dark mahogany wood.

The house also had a huge pantry and a well-equipped kitchen. The breakfast room was green and white. The morning room was made of oak with red striped walls.

The library, currently a banquet hall

The library was a quiet room with tall bookshelves. It used to have a billiard table. The house had many bedrooms, most of them large. Mrs. Shepard's room was the biggest. Each room had its own unique style. One special room was the Moorish room. It had furniture inlaid with mother of pearl. The third floor had bedrooms, a children's suite, and a large playroom.

The rooms were designed to be comfortable and easy to use. Unlike some old mansions, the kitchen was close to the dining room. The rooms are very tall, and the doors are large. The main staircase is also very grand.

Stable Building

The club's stable

The golf and tennis house (c. 1931), originally the residence of J. Butler Wright

The club's entranceway and south gatehouse

The stable was also designed by McKim, Mead & White. It was built with the same light yellow bricks as the main house. It's two and a half stories tall. The roof has special vents. The stable is built into a hill. It has 51 stalls for horses in a basement level.

The first floor was used for carriages, then cars. Now, it's an indoor riding ring for horses. There's also a reception area and a tack room. A small apartment for the riding instructor is also there.

Gatehouses

The club has two gatehouses at its entrances on Route 9. They are small, two-story buildings. They were built in the 1890s, at the same time as the main house. They look similar to Woodlea, with brick and stone details. The club's tall gateways are made of carved stone and iron from France.

Pool House

Left to right; the pool and skeet houses

The pool house was built in 1968. It's made of brick. It has locker rooms in one section and a refreshment area in another.

Skeet House

The skeet house was built around 1925. It's a small, one-story log cabin. The inside is rustic. It has a small kitchen and a large multi-purpose room.

Logan Memorial Riding Ring

The riding ring

This large building, about 17,000-square-foot (1,600 m²), was finished in 1929. Mrs. Thomas F. Logan paid for it. She spent about $300,000, which would be like spending over $5 million today. The building is 180 feet long and 95 feet wide. Its outside is made of stucco over concrete blocks.

The inside has a large riding ring. It's open all the way up to the roof. There are also lockers and changing rooms. A multi-purpose room on the second floor has a big window. This window lets you watch the riding below.

Carriage Barn Complex

Carriage barn complex

This complex is even older than the main house. It was built around 1875. The main building, the brick carriage house, was designed by McKim, Mead & White. It has a steep roof. This complex is now used to store and maintain the club's golf carts.

Seen on TV and in Movies

Sleepy Hollow Country Club has been a filming location for many TV shows and movies.

• In 2011-2012, the show Pan Am filmed a lot of its third episode there.
• Other shows include 666 Park Avenue, The Good Wife, 30 Rock, Daredevil, and Gotham.
• Movies like The Six Wives of Henry Lefay and The Bounty Hunter also filmed scenes there.
• Beyoncé's music video for "Best Thing I Never Had" was filmed at the club in 2011.
• It was also used for the series Z: The Beginning of Everything.
• The club was used in Quantico and Madam Secretary.
• The film The Greatest Showman used the club as a base for filming in 2017.

Images for kids

• 

  Panorama of part of the course

Scorecard

See also

• List of Gilded Age mansions
• National Register of Historic Places listings in northern Westchester County, New York
• History of Briarcliff Manor