Lyndhurst, also known as the Jay Gould estate, is a Gothic Revival country house that sits in its own park beside the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

Tarrytown, New York Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North ...

, about a half mile south of the Tappan Zee Bridge on

US 9 U.S. Route 9 (US 9) is a north–south United States highway in the states of Delaware, New Jersey, and New York in the Northeastern United States. It is one of only two U.S. Highways with a ferry connection (the Cape May–Lewes Ferry, betwe ...

. The house was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1966. and

History

The home was designed in 1838 by

Alexander Jackson Davis Alexander Jackson Davis, or A. J. Davis (July 24, 1803 – January 14, 1892), was an American architect, known particularly for his association with the Gothic Revival style. Education Davis was born in New York City and studied at ...

, and owned in succession by New York City mayor

William Paulding Jr. William Paulding Jr. (March 7, 1770 – February 11, 1854) was a United States Representative from New York and the 56th and 58th Mayor of New York City. He was the Adjutant General of New York for two non-consecutive terms. Early life Paulding ...

, merchant George Merritt, and railroad tycoon

Jay Gould Jason Gould (; May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) was an American railroad magnate and financial speculator who is generally identified as one of the robber barons of the Gilded Age. His sharp and often unscrupulous business practices made him ...

. Paulding named his house "Knoll", although critics quickly dubbed it "Paulding's Folly" because of its unusual design that includes fanciful turrets and asymmetrical outline. Its

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

exterior was quarried at

Sing Sing Sing Sing Correctional Facility, formerly Ossining Correctional Facility, is a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York. It is about north of ...

in present-day

Ossining, New York Ossining may refer to: * Ossining (town), New York, a town in Westchester County, New York state *Ossining (village), New York, a village in the town of Ossining * Ossining High School, a comprehensive public high school in Ossining village * Ossi ...

. Merritt, the house's second owner, engaged Davis as his architect, and in 1864–1865 doubled the size of the house, renaming it "Lyndenhurst" after the estate's linden trees. Davis' new north wing included an imposing four-story tower, a new porte-cochere (the old one was reworked as a glass-walled vestibule), a new dining room, two bedrooms and servants' quarters. Gould purchased the property in 1880 to use as a country house, shortened its name to "Lyndhurst" and occupied it until his death in 1892. In 1961, Gould's daughter Anna Gould donated it to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The house is now open to the public.

Architecture

Lyndhurst's rooms are strongly

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

in character. Hallways are narrow, windows small and sharply arched, and ceilings are fantastically peaked, vaulted, and ornamented. The effect is at once gloomy, somber, and highly romantic; the large, double-height art gallery provides a contrast of light and space. The house sits within a landscape park, designed in the English naturalistic style by Ferdinand Mangold, whom Merritt hired. Mangold drained the surrounding swamps, created lawns, planted specimen trees, and built a conservatory. The park is an outstanding example of 19th-century landscape design with a curving entrance drive that reveals "surprise" views of rolling lawns accented with shrubs and specimen trees. The onion-domed, iron-framed, glass conservatory was one of the largest privately owned greenhouses in the United States when constructed.

In popular culture

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's holiday television film ''

The Halloween That Almost Wasn't ''The Halloween That Almost Wasn't'' is a 1979 American television special that revolves around Dracula (Judd Hirsch) trying to save Halloween from the Witch (Mariette Hartley) who threatens it. It won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Individual ...

'' (1979), a.k.a. ''The Night Dracula Saved the World'', was shot here. The scenes were used as the backdrop for both

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered to be both the prototypical and the archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some ...

and the Witch's castle. It later aired on the Disney Channel during its Halloween season, until the late 1990s. *From 1992 until the program changed filming locations from New York to Los Angeles in 2009, Lyndhurst served as the exterior of “Wildwind,” the home of

Dimitri Marick Dimitri Marick is a fictional character from the American ABC soap opera ''All My Children''. The role has been most notably portrayed by Michael Nader, previously famed for his role on '' Dynasty''. Former head writers Agnes Nixon and Lorraine B ...

, in establishing shots on the ABC daytime drama All My Children. Elements of Lyndhurst's interior architecture influenced the design of the Wildwind sets. *Lyndhurst was the set for the movies ''

House of Dark Shadows A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

'' (1970) and ''

Night of Dark Shadows ''Night of Dark Shadows'' is a 1971 horror film by Dan Curtis. It is the sequel to '' House of Dark Shadows''. It centers on the story of Quentin Collins and his bride Tracy at the Collinwood Mansion in Collinsport, Maine. David Selby, Lara Pa ...

'' (1971), both based on the gothic soap opera ''

Dark Shadows ''Dark Shadows'' is an American gothic soap opera that aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966, to April 2, 1971. The show depicted the lives, loves, trials, and tribulations of the wealthy Collins family of Collinspo ...

''. It is also seen in '' Reversal of Fortune'' (1990) and '' Gloria'' (1999). *The

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

Channel's ''

The Men Who Built America ''The Men Who Built America'' (also known as ''The Innovators: The Men Who Built America'' in some international markets) is an eight-hour, four-part miniseries docudrama which was originally broadcast on the History Channel in autumn 2012, and o ...

'' filmed at Lyndhurst in the summer of 2012. *''

Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some criti ...

'' (2013) was filmed at Lyndhurst in January 2013. *Lyndhurst was featured on Season 1, Episode 3 of

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...

's '' Castle Secrets & Legends'' series (original airdate February 9, 2014). *Lyndhurst was also used as a filming location for ABC's ''

Forever Forever or 4ever may refer to: Film and television Films * ''Forever'' (1921 film), an American silent film by George Fitzmaurice * ''Forever'' (1978 film), an American made-for-television romantic drama * ''Forever'' (1992 film), an American ...

'' in 2014, using the cottage on the property for exterior shots. *Lyndhurst's landscape, bowling alley, and mansion interior were used as a filming location for NBC's

The Blacklist ''The Blacklist'' is an American crime thriller television series that premiered on NBC on September 23, 2013. The show follows Raymond "Red" Reddington (James Spader), a former U.S. Navy officer turned high-profile criminal who voluntarily s ...

, starring

James Spader James Todd Spader (born February 7, 1960) is an American actor. He has portrayed eccentric characters in films such as the drama ''Sex, Lies, and Videotape'' (1989) for which he won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor, the action scie ...

. *In 2017, the Lifetime series

Project Runway ''Project Runway'' is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on December 1, 2004. The series focuses on fashion design. The contestants compete with each other to create the best clothes and are restricted by time, mater ...

filmed an episode at Lyndhurst, challenging the designers to draw inspiration from the exteriors and gardens. *The 2021 and 2022

Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is an all-breed conformation show, traditionally held annually at New York City's Madison Square Garden. The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is one of a handful of benched shows in the United States. Dogs ...

was held outdoors at Lyndhurst on account of concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. *Lyndhurst serves as a filming location for

The Gilded Age (TV series) ''The Gilded Age'' is an American historical drama television series created and written by Julian Fellowes for HBO that is set in the United States during the Gilded Age, the boom years of the 1880s in New York City. Originally announced in ...

. The mansion interior serves as the home of the character Aurora Fane and her husband and the Lyndhurst Carriage House is the location of the New York Globe Offices. Season 1 also featured the Lyndhurst grounds and greenhouse. The ferry terminal in the series' premiere episode was modeled after the Lyndhurst Bowling Alley.

Gallery

File:Gould office.jpg, Gould's office Image:Lyndhurst, North Library.jpg, The north library Image:Lyndhurst, Dining Room Fireplace.jpg, A dining room fireplace Image:Lyndhurst, Tarrytown, NY - park.JPG, A view from the front park Image:Lyndhurst Mansion 02.JPG, The estate in bloom

References

Notes Further reading * Dwyer, Michael Middleton, editor (2001) ''Great Houses of the Hudson River'', Preface by

Mark Rockefeller Mark Fitler Rockefeller (born January 26, 1967) is a fourth-generation member of the Rockefeller family. He is the younger son of former U.S. Vice President Nelson A. Rockefeller (1908–1979) and Happy Rockefeller (1926–2015). He is th ...

. Boston, Massachusetts:

Little, Brown and Company Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emily ...

in association with

Historic Hudson Valley Historic Hudson Valley is a not-for-profit educational and historic preservation organization headquartered in Tarrytown, New York. The organization runs tours and events at five historic properties in Westchester County, in the lower Hudson Valley ...

External links