In the mid 1800s, William Backhouse Astor’s wife, Margaret Armstrong Astor inherited her
father’s house.
The simple, 20 room rectangular mansion known as La Bergerie had been finished in 1815 and
was built on a plot of land which had been in the family since 1688.
Coming from the Livingston and Armstrong bloodline, Margaret also inherited a large fortune on
top of the family mansion.
Of course, her husband was an Astor, the head of one of the wealthiest families in the New
World.
The power couple decided to move to the well-established estate and update it to the second empire
style by adding 28 more rooms, a tower, and a fashionable mansard roof.
Entering the home, you would arrive in the grand stair hall, styled with parquet wood
flooring and artisan plaster work on the ceilings.
The décor ranged from antique European tapestries to busts of the family’s ancestors.
The couple hired famed gilded age architect to expand and decorate the drawing room boasting
two fireplaces, each with gilded mirrors in place of upper mantels.
The exterior wall was punctured by deep window encasements allowing natural light to flood
the space when the interior shutters were opened and set flush with their encasements.
The dining room continued with parquet flooring set below an antique dining set.
The walls were decorated with family portraits set in gilded frames.
Perhaps the most grand of the first floor additions was the library set in the tower
with built in bookcases reminiscent of the gothic and Italian renaissance revival styles.
Up on the ceiling, a dramatic pinwheel radiated from the center to pierce the pointed frieze.
As we begin our journey upstairs, we could choose between several staircases strategically
placed around the house.
But whichever way we ascend, we will find ourselves at the second floor stair landing.
The second floor stair landing was finished out in glossy tile meant to reflect sunlight
arriving through clerestory windows.
Looking up, we can a stained glass skylight centered on the cupola, the first thing the
family would see in the morning as they exited their bedrooms.
The bedrooms were furnished with heavy wooden furniture above plush rugs with fine art suspended
from the picture rails.
The mansion was now set for many more generations of the network of intermarried families to
comfortably in.
La Bergerie was renamed to Rokeby, and the estate changed hands to Margaret Astor Ward
and her husband John Winthrop Chanler.
Tragically, they both died from a bout of pneumonia.
The will provided that their 10 children, now know as the Astor Orphans, would each
receive the modern day equivalent of about 500,000 dollars per year for the rest of their
lives and their eldest son, John inherited the mansion with all of its furnishings.
He sold out his stake of the property to his sister, and eventually, the money began to
dry up.
Unlike their relatives living in New York City, the country side of the family had not
kept up with modern investing and their fortunes slowly disappeared over the next few generations.
In the 9th generation, Rokeby had passed to Margaret Aldrich who ran the 420 acre estate
as a dairy farm and house museum.
But by the time it had passed to her son, Richard.
There was no more money in the family.
The farm was struggling, the house was falling apart, and the family lived in the attic out
of the way of museum visitors.
In the 11th generation, the family was living in poverty inside of the mansion.
Alexandra Aldrich gave an interview in which she expressed that she would have preferred
to live in a “simple ranch, prefab house(s)” saying about her middle class neighbors, “I
wanted to live like them.”
Thankfully, there is still hope for the mansion’s survival.
Between historical tax credits and preservation grants, the house was able to receive some
much needed maintenance.
In addition to the family’s continued occupancy of the house, the newest generation has become
innovative with funding the house, opening it up as a special events space and wedding
venue.
Hopefully, this is just the start of Rokeby’s renewal and the next chapter of this mansion’s
history will be prosperous.
What do you think?
Is the mansion doomed or does it have a chance?
Let me know your thoughts down below in the comments section.
And while you’re there, make sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an
exciting episode of "ThisHouse"