Wave Hill is a estate in the
Hudson Hill section of
Riverdale in
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Wave Hill currently consists of public horticultural gardens and a cultural center, all situated on the slopes overlooking 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 ...
, with expansive views across the river to the
New Jersey Palisades. The estate includes two houses and a
botanical garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
. The oldest part of the main house, Wave Hill House, dates back to 1843; Glyndor House dates from 1927 and contains a multi-room art gallery. Perkins Visitor Center, which was originally a garage, contains a gift shop and an information desk.
During the late 19th century and early 20th century, numerous highly notable people resided in Wave Hill, either because they owned it, leased it, or stayed there as guests. In 1960, the estate was given to the
City of New York, and Wave Hill is now a cultural center as well as a garden. In addition to visual arts exhibits, paid-ticket concert series take place on some Sunday afternoons in Armor Hall. Wave Hill is listed on 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 ...
and is a
New York City designated landmark
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
.
History
The original Wave Hill House was a gray
fieldstone
Fieldstone is a naturally occurring type of stone, which lies at or near the surface of the Earth. Fieldstone is a nuisance for farmers seeking to expand their land under cultivation, but at some point it began to be used as a construction mate ...
mansion built in 1843 by lawyer
William Lewis Morris
William is a male given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norm ...
.
[Herman, Michele, "Wave Hill" in ] It was owned from 1866 to 1903 by publisher
William Henry Appleton
William Henry Appleton (January 27, 1814 – October 19, 1899) was an American publisher, eldest son and successor of Daniel Appleton.
Early life
William Henry Appleton was born on January 27, 1814 at Haverhill, Massachusetts. He was the eldest ...
, who enlarged the house in between 1866 and 1869 and again in 1890, and added greenhouses and gardens to the grounds.
During these years, the house was visited by
Thomas Henry Huxley
Thomas Henry Huxley (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
The storie ...
, who helped
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...
bring
evolution by natural selection
Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Charle ...
to the public's attention.
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
's family rented Wave Hill during the summers of 1870 and 1871, and
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
leased it from 1901 to 1903.
[ ''Note:'' This includes an]
''Accompanying 19 photographs''
/ref>
The house was purchased in 1903 by George Walbridge Perkins
George Walbridge Perkins I (January 31, 1862 – June 18, 1920) was an American politician and businessman. He was a leader of the Progressive Movement, especially Theodore Roosevelt's presidential candidacy for the Progressive Party in 191 ...
, a partner of J. P. Morgan, along with adjacent property, including Glyndor, a house built by the Harriman family in 1888, which later burned down and was rebuilt in 1927. In 1910, Perkins added an underground building for recreation which included a bowling alley. Perkins performed extensive landscaping on the site and leased Wave Hill House to an eminent ichthyologist
Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octobe ...
, Bashford Dean
Bashford Dean (October 28, 1867 – December 6, 1928) was an American zoologist, specializing in ichthyology, and at the same time an expert in medieval and modern armor. He is the only person to have held concurrent positions at the America ...
of the American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...
, who built a stone addition to the building as a private museum, Armor Hall.
Other famous residents of the estate included the conductor Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orch ...
(1942–1945) and chief members of the British Delegation to the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
(1950–1956). In 1960, at the suggestion of Robert Moses
Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...
, the Perkins-Freeman family deeded Wave Hill to the City of New York. In 1983, the estate was added to the roster of 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 ...
. Before 1987, the estate was known as Perkins Garden. During that year Parks Commissioner Henry Stern renamed it Wave Hill.
In 2005, Wave Hill was among 406 New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
arts and social service institutions to receive part of a $20 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation, which was made possible through a donation by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...
.
On an annual basis, about 65,000 people visit Wave Hill, making it one of the most popular sites in Riverdale.
Gardens
Wave Hill's formal gardens feature a variety of plants, usually based on type. Garden areas include:
* The T. H. Everett Alpine House, named for Thomas H. Everett, who advocated for the preservation and restoration of Wave Hill as a New York City Landmark and who was mentor to its founding Director of Horticulture, Marco Polo Stufano
Marco may refer to:
People
* Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco
* Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor
* Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin
* Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish co ...
* Herb and Dry Gardens
* Aquatic & Monocot
Monocotyledons (), commonly referred to as monocots, (Lilianae ''sensu'' Chase & Reveal) are grass and grass-like flowering plants (angiosperms), the seeds of which typically contain only one embryonic leaf, or cotyledon. They constitute one of ...
Garden
* Bee hives
A beehive is an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species of the subgenus '' Apis'' live and raise their young. Though the word ''beehive'' is commonly used to describe the nest of any bee colony, scientific and professional literature ...
in the woodland area
* The Herbert & Hyonja Abrons Woodland, of native second-growth forest, with a woodland path that stretches around the perimeter of the property
* The Marco Polo Stufano
Marco may refer to:
People
* Marco (given name), people with the given name Marco
* Marco (actor) (born 1977), South Korean model and actor
* Georg Marco (1863–1923), Romanian chess player of German origin
* Tomás Marco (born 1942), Spanish co ...
Conservatory—including a cactus room, a tropical room, and a palm room
* The Perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
Flower Garden
* Pergola and vistas of 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 ...
and the New Jersey Palisades
* Special Collections, including the Shade Border, Elliptical Garden and Conifer
Conifers are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single ...
Slope
* Wild Garden
Additionally, Wave Hill's gardens is a hotspot for birding in New York City, with 127 species to date — including ruby-throated hummingbirds, great blue herons, and bald eagles.
It also abuts Riverdale Park
Programs
Wave Hill offers a variety of programming around horticulture, the arts, and education.
Shop
The Shop contains gifts from local artists as well as nature-themed and handmade items. The Shop is located in the Perkins Visitors Center.
Gallery
File:Cactus house at Wave Hill 2014.JPG, The cactus and succulent collection
File:Woodland path Wave Hill 1.jpg, Part of the Abrons Woodland path
File:View at Wave Hill.JPG, A view with carnivorous plants in the foreground
File:Glyndor House, August 2019.jpg, Glyndor House
File:WaveHill-Pergola.jpg, alt=Wave Hill's Pergola, Wave Hill's Pergola overlooking the Hudson River
File:WaveHill-Spring-Chionodoxa.jpg, alt=Wave Hill's Woodlands in the spring., Wave Hill's Woodlands in the spring, with chionodoxa blooming.
See also
* List of botanical gardens and arboretums in the United States
* List of New York City Designated Landmarks in the Bronx
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), formed in 1965, is the New York City governmental commission that administers the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. Since its founding, it has designated over a thousand landmarks, clas ...
* National Register of Historic Places listings in the Bronx
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{National Register of Historic Places in New York
Arboreta in New York (state)
Art museums and galleries in the Bronx
Botanical gardens in New York City
Historic house museums in New York City
Houses in the Bronx
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in the Bronx
Museums in the Bronx
National Register of Historic Places in the Bronx
New York City Designated Landmarks in the Bronx
Parks in the Bronx
Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City
Riverdale, Bronx