Unlike John D Rockefeller, William Avery Rockefeller liked to flaunt his wealth.
Hi everyone ken here welcome to this house.
Today we are exploring the country estate known as Rockwood Hall in Tarrytown New York.
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Originally built in 1848 by Edwin Bartlett, Rockwood Hall started as a grand castle with
gothic revival influence. It’s second owner, Lloyd Aspinwall, expanded the castle with
several additions, but the 200 Acre estate known as Rockwood Hall would become best associated with
it’s third owner, William Avery Rockefeller Jr., brother and business partner of John D.
Rockefeller. Upon taking possession, he purchased an additional 800 acres and had the mansion all
but torn down, repurposing parts of it for the out buildings. It was speculated, but never
confirmed that the tower of the original mansion was incorporated into the design of the new home
as an editorial in 1890 edition of The Decorator and Furnisher wrote that the , “hall must have
been one of the limitations imposed by the old plan since its space does not count as it should”
Though William had purchased the estate for 150,000 dollars,
he ended up spending 3 million dollars or the modern day equivalent of about
92 million dollars expanding the mansion into a 204 room castle with lavish estate grounds.
If entering the property from the south, you would pass between stone urns and be stopped by
the guard in the second empire style gatehouse. Entering the property from the north, you would
have a more humble experience, passing the guard’s brick bungalow behind a low lying stone wall.
After clearing with the guards, you would continue towards the house,
winding through the forests, safely admiring views of the Hudson River as the drive wrapped above a
cliffside. You would encounter open pastures with livestock freely roaming about, and see
one of the largest Bavarian styled barns in the country with sheep gently grazing in the fields.
Finally, you would see the side of the castle set atop a hill and continue on to it’s proper entry.
Standing at 104 feet wide by 174 feet long, the 3 and a half foot thick stone block walls
rose 80 feet high to the top of the square tower. Surrounded by a wrap around porch
composed of stone arches and accented by a port-cochere to welcome visitors.
After passing through a vestibule, you would enter the central hall
decorated with wood paneled walls with 3 hand painted murals overhead
separated by egg and dart molding. To one side was an inglenook containing a
large stone fireplace surrounded by built in wood benches, set below a hand stenciled groin vault.
To the side,
you could gain entry to the stair hall ascending with stone niches receding at each landing.
To the other side of the central hall was the Library, with a geometrically patterned wood
ceiling set above floor to ceiling built in bookcases which rounded out into niches
containing busts. The room was decorated with new, oversized furniture and accented by antiques.
Behind the staircase was the Dining room finished out with floral patterned carpet
and a floor to ceiling fireplace flanked by fluted, wood columns. Nautical murals
decorated the frieze below the coffered ceiling from which 4 identical chandeliers were suspended.
While William had intended for Rockwood Hall to be a vacation home, he and his wife
fell in love with the estate and made it their permanent home until William’s passing in 1922.
At this time, it was willed to his nephew, John D Rockefeller Junior
who sold it to an investors. It became a country club for a few short years before
the great depression hit, at which point John repurchased the estate, and in 1941 decided to
demolish the castle in lieu of maintaining it. He then gifted the grounds to his son,
Laurance who donated the land and surviving out buildings to the State of New York in 1998.
Today, the site can be visited as the Rockefeller State Park Preserve which maintains the carriage
trails offering visitors breathtaking views of the natural landscape. You can still find ruins
of the former castle such as the foundation of rockwood hall at the top of the hill along with a
terrace which once contained tennis courts. At the bottom of the hill, you can still enjoy the north
gatehouse which has been meticulously maintained appearing as if though untouched by time.
Thank you all for watching I really hope that you enjoyed this video.
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