Grasmere is a national

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

and estate located at Rhinebeck,

Dutchess County, New York Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later orga ...

. It was built by Janet Livingston Montgomery, widow of General

Richard Montgomery Richard Montgomery (2 December 1738 – 31 December 1775) was an Irish soldier who first served in the British Army. He later became a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and he is most famous for l ...

History

The property that became Grasmere was originally part of a patent granted to Colonel Henry Beekman. Upon the death of Col. Beekman, this portion came to his son, Henry Beekman, whose daughter Margaret married

Robert R. Livingston Robert Robert Livingston (November 27, 1746 (Old Style November 16) – February 26, 1813) was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat from New York, as well as a Founding Father of the United States. He was known as "The Chancellor", afte ...

of Clermont. In July 1773, their daughter Janet married retired British officer

. After their marriage, Janet's maternal grandfather, Henry Beekman, gave them a cottage on the Post Road north of the Beekman Arms in Rhinebeck in which to reside. Montgomery bought some surrounding land and set to work fencing, ploughing fields, and laying the foundation for a larger home called "Grasmere". He also built a grist mill on the Landsman Kill. Having enlisted in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

, Montgomery was killed in December 1775 during the Battle of Quebec. The Grasmere estate was built by the widowed Janet Livingston Montgomery, who had inherited the land from her grandfather. The bricks were made from clay from a field south of the house that came to be called "the Brick Lot". In 1802 she built

Montgomery Place 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 R ...

Annandale-on-Hudson Annandale-on-Hudson is a hamlet in Dutchess County, New York, United States, located in the Hudson Valley town of Red Hook, across the Hudson River from Kingston. The hamlet consists mainly of the Bard College campus. Municipal services Emerge ...

in order to be closer to the river. After moving there in 1805, she rented the Grasmere estate, to her cousin Catherine Duer, daughter of Major General William and Sarah Livingston Alexander. At that time it was called "Rhinebeck House".Crosby, Maunsell S., "The Story of Grasmere", ''Year Book of the Dutchess County Historical Society'', Volumes 13-22, DCHS 1928, p. 24
/ref> She then rented it to her sister Gertrude and brother-in-law Morgan Lewis, who occupied Grasmere for nine years.Smith, James Hadden. ''History of Dutchess County'', Syracuse, New York. D. Mason & Co., 1882, p. 159
/ref> In 1822, Janet Montgomery sold the property to her sister Joanna, wife of their cousin

Peter R. Livingston Peter Robert Livingston (October 3, 1766 – January 19, 1847 Rhinebeck, New York) was an American politician who served as Acting Lieutenant Governor of New York from February to October 1828. Early life Peter Robert Livingston was born on Oc ...

. The manor house was destroyed by fire in 1828 and rebuilt on the ruins of General

's earlier house."Historic Homes; Country Estates", ''Historical and Genealogical Record Dutchess and Putnam Counties New York'', Chapter XIII, pp. 267-280, A. V. Haight Co., Poughkeepsie, New York, 1912
/ref> Upon his death in January 1847, the childless widower Peter Livingston, bequeathed the estate to his brother Maturin. When Maturin died the following November, it then passed to his widow Margaret Lewis Livingston, sole heiress of Gov. Morgan and Gertrude Livingston Lewis. Margaret gave Grasmere to her son Lewis. Lewis lived there, along with his sons, James Boggs Livingston and Lewis Howard Livingston, until his death in 1886. Lewis H. Livingston died in 1893. Grasmere then passed to Margaret Livingston Lee, the daughter of Lewis's younger brother Henry Beekman Livingston.Reynolds, Cuyler. ''Genealogical and Family History of Southern New York and the Hudson River Valley'', Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1914, pp. 1343 et seq.
/ref> Margaret Lee rented the property for a time to a farmer who grew rye. In 1893 it was purchased by Mrs. F.A. Crosby. Some of the land was sold to Alice Olin Dows, which then became part of "Foxhollow Farm".''Historical and Genealogical Record Dutchess and Putnam Counties New York'', Press of the A. V. Haight Co., Poughkeepsie, New York, 1912
/ref> Maunsell S. Crosby ran a successful crop and dairy farm at Grasmere. In 1954 the property was purchased by Louise Clews who subsequently married Robert Livingston Timpson. Mrs. Clews Timpson held a couple of charity masked balls at Grasmere.

Estate

It consists of 12 contributing buildings and four contributing structures. The main house was originally built about 1828 and expanded with a second and third story in 1861. Mrs. Crosby added the west wing. Starting in 1894, the dilapidated wooden farm buildings were gradually replaced with stone structures built from old stone fences that separated the fields. Maunsell Crosby added a wing in 1907. The building is a three-story brick dwelling with restrainted classically inspired design. It sits on a stone foundation and has a hipped roof. In addition to the manor house the contributing buildings / structures include: a barn, three garages, five sheds, the formal gardens, stone walls / gateposts, two

corn crib A corn crib or corncrib is a type of granary used to dry and store corn. It may also be known as a cornhouse or corn house. Overview After the harvest and while still on the cob, corn is placed in the crib either with or without the husk. The ...

s, two tenant houses (c. 1916), and a stone stable complex (c. 1901). The driveway is lined with mature locust trees planted by Janet Montgomery. By the mid-19th, it included as dependencies the separately listed

Benner House The Benner House is located on Mill Street in the village of Rhinebeck, New York, United States, just off U.S. Route 9. It was built by a German immigrant, Johannes Benner, in the 1730s. It is the oldest house in the Village of Rhinebeck. It ...

, Fredenburg House, and Steenburg Tavern. Much of the Grasmere land has been restored to active farm use in recent years. The 1901 stone barn was rebuilt after a fire and has been adapted for use as a wedding venue. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1987.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in New York Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Houses completed in 1824 Houses in Rhinebeck, New York National Register of Historic Places in Dutchess County, New York