The Jay Gould Estate, also known as Lyndhurst, was designed by Alexander Jackson Davis in 1838. The estate is located in Tarrytown, NY which is one of our favorite destinations for day trips. It’s about a 35 to 44 minute Metro-North train ride from Grand Central depending if you take the express or local train. It’s also my favorite train route and if you read my posts regularly, you know I love trains, choo choo!
Lyndhurst was first owned by the mayor of NYC William Paulding, Jr., then by George Merritt (merchant), and lastly Jay Gould (railroad tycoon). NY owes it to Anna Gould, daughter of Jay, who donated the estate to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1961. Gould bought the property in 1880 to use as a country house.
The exterior is made of limestone that was quarried from Sing Sing which is located in Ossining, NY.
The original mansion was smaller and was named ‘Knoll’ but was soon renamed to ‘Paulding’s Folly’ because of the mansions unusual design (asymmetrical outside and fancy turrets). George Merritt, the second owner doubled the size of the house. Construction lasted from 1864-1865 and he renamed the estate ‘Lyndenhurst’ for all the linden trees on the property. Gould shortened the name to ‘Lyndhurst’. Compared to other estates along the Hudson Valley, Lyndhurst is modest. Another thing that stands out is it’s Gothic character.
The mansion is surrounded by an English styled park. Merritt hired Ferdinand Mangold to design it. The surrounding swamps were drained and cultivated into lawns, trees, and a conservatory was built. The park was the first of it’s kind along the Hudson River. It’s a good example of 19th century landscape design.
There’s a bowling alley on the property, how cool is that? I’d love a bowling alley on my property if I could afford vast amounts of land and an animal sanctuary.
Lyndurst has been featured in a few TV shows and movies ; NBC’s The Blacklist, ABC’s Forever, Reversal of Fortune, etc.
Tours of the mansion are offered, you’ll get to visit the first and second floors on a tour. I’m guessing they don’t allow photography inside the mansion since we don’t have any. We went on this tour a while ago so I don’t remember that much. I didn’t take notes back then either.
We even got to see some deer! Love seeing deer because we don’t get out of the city that often. Can still count the numbers of deer I’ve seen on two hands.
The Old Croton Aqueduct Trail passes along the property as well. This really is one of our favorite escapes from the concrete jungle because it’s so close to Manhattan. It’s about a 50 minute train ride from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn to Grand Central so this is a really easy commute for us. We can visit towns, mansions, walk, and hike without driving.
Jebus Mews & Andrea 
As you pointed out about asymmetry design, I can see it too. However, I think the mansion look quite good and rather eye entertaining than symmetrical design. Love your picture of the deer jumping in mid-air.
Love the deer. They were running on their own, we weren’t chasing them. I was so excited, my friends had to tell me to be less excited to not disturb the deer. They also looked at me like I was nuts. I was like, “Seriously, I never really see deer.”
Yes, I think they are also curious at us too.
I love the deer and don’t blame you for being excited. Living in the city you don’t get to see them often. There are parks here when you can see entire herds of elk (and not the guys who wear funny hats).
When I lived on the coast of Washington in a small town if you were out early in the morning you would sometimes see deer grazing on the lawns.
I get raccoons here on my patio….well, not so much since I stopped leaving ca tfood out and making Diavolo eat indoors. They are still around though.
We’ve seen raccoons 3 times in Brooklyn, 1x in Park Slope and 2x in Bay Ridge. We’ve seen possums in Battery park in Manhattan and in Bay Ridge. It amazes me how much nature there is here. Never thought I’d see raccoons. I’ve heard they have them in Manhattan.
The decadence of this place is simply astounding ~ incredible architecture but then placed in such a natural surrounding. It is not what I would imagine for a mansion ~ deer running on the grounds, simply beautiful. Wishing you all a great weekend.
Thanks Randall! I tend to forget there’s a whole world outside of Manhattan and Brooklyn. This is the ‘little’ mansion. We have yet to check out the Rockefeller estate. This is about 40 min outside the city and you can get a breath of fresh air.