Montgomery Place

This article is about the historic estate in the Hudson Valley. For the neighborhood in Saskatoon, see Montgomery Place, Saskatoon.

Montgomery Place
Front (east) elevation, 2008
Montgomery Place is located in New York
Montgomery Place
Montgomery Place is located in the United States
Montgomery Place
Map
Interactive map showing the location for Montgomery Place
LocationAnnandale-on-Hudson, NY
Nearest cityKingston
Coordinates42°0′52″N 73°55′8″W / 42.01444°N 73.91889°W / 42.01444; -73.91889
Area379 acres (153 ha)[1]
Built1803
ArchitectAlexander Jackson Davis; Peter Harris
Architectural styleFederal, Italianate
Visitation30,000[4] (1998[4])
NRHP reference No.75001184
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMay 2, 1975[3]
Designated NHLApril 8, 1992[2]

Montgomery Place, now Bard College: The Montgomery Place Campus, near Barrytown, New York, United States, is an early 19th-century estate that has been designated a National Historic Landmark. It is also a contributing property to the Hudson River Historic District, itself a National Historic Landmark.[5] It is a Federal-style house, with expansion designed by architect Alexander Jackson Davis.[6] It reflects the tastes of a younger, post-Revolutionary generation of wealthy landowners in the Livingston family who were beginning to be influenced by French trends in home design, moving beyond the strictly English models exemplified by Clermont Manor a short distance up the Hudson River. It is the only Hudson Valley estate house from this era that survives intact, and Davis's only surviving neoclassical country house.[7]

Andrew Jackson Downing praised the landscapes of the estate, work he had informally consulted on that was not completed in its final form until almost the mid-20th century. The southern 70 acres (28 ha) of the estate, which he called the Wilderness and is today known as the South Woods, is the oldest oak forest in the Hudson Valley.[7] It has grown to 380 acres (150 ha), and includes many outbuildings. A network of trails and paths connects them and offers both quiet wooded tracts and views of the river and Catskill Mountains.

The estate was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. Ten years later, the Livingston descendants sold it to Historic Hudson Valley, a regional historic preservation group.[8] The district was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1990, and Montgomery Place received that designation itself in 1992.[2] In January 2016, Bard College purchased the estate from Historic Hudson Valley.[9] Montgomery Place is located on Annandale Road near Barrytown, just off NY 9G. Montgomery Place grounds are open from dawn to dusk year-round. Mansion tours are available seasonally.[10]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference NRHP nom was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "Montgomery Place". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. September 15, 2007. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011.
  3. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  4. ^ a b Rozhon, Tracie (August 20, 1998). "From Gehry, A Bilbao on The Hudson". New York Times. Retrieved June 15, 2009.
  5. ^ Neil Larson (September 19, 1990). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Hudson River Historic District" (pdf). National Park Service. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. ^ Susan Stein, ed. (1981). "Montgomery Place Mansion (HABS No. 5627)". Historic American Buildings Survey data pages. Historic American Buildings Survey. Retrieved November 15, 2007.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ a b Haley, Jacquetta (September 19, 1989). "National Historic Landmark application, Montgomery Place". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Archived from the original on June 1, 2012. Retrieved June 13, 2009.
  8. ^ Strom, Stephanie (November 16, 2009). "A Revolutionary War Widow's Estate Becomes a Preservation Battleground". New York Times. Retrieved November 17, 2009.
  9. ^ Kemble, William J. "Bard College completes $18M purchase of Montgomery Place". The Daily Freeman. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  10. ^ "Bard College: The Montgomery Place Campus".