Buildings & Grounds

The ancestral home of John Jay and his family is located on the historic Boston Post Road. It boasts ancient landmarks like a British broad arrow cut into stone as well as one of the last remaining mile markers of the Westchester Turnpike. Visitors who travel to the estate today can experience its 10,000 year old scenic vista of Long Island Sound framed by sunken stone ha-ha walls.

From the same spot where Jay stood to toast the end of the Revolutionary War, one can gaze out on the water and imagine the limitless possibilities that a young Founding Father envisioned for his nation.

1838 Jay Mansion

The centerpiece of this National Historic Landmark is an 1838 Greek Revival mansion with soaring Corinthian/Egyptian composite columns built by Peter Augustus Jay atop the footprint of his father and grandfather’s original home “The Locusts.” Like other Westchester homes barraged by the British, the Jays’ farmhouse had been damaged during the Revolutionary War but Peter Augustus still salvaged original timbers, nails and shutters from the first structure to reuse in the second house that still stands today. In fact the rear veranda of the 1838 house has the exact same dimensions as the circa 1745 house and retains that first colonial home’s simpler and more modest style. Visitors can literally see centuries of history being uncovered here.

But how do we restore an historic treasure and stay mindful of modern considerations related to sustainable practices? Despite the fact that there is no LEED category that fits historic sites, we decided to track what we could do and what we chose not to do so as to be true to the historic fabric of the buildings and grounds. It created a fascinating discussion.

Find Out How Smart Choices Inform Our Stewardship and Influence the Restoration

1907 Van Norden Carriage House

The second building to be restored by JHC is the 1907 Van Norden Carriage House, a Classical Revival masterpiece in its own right; it serves as the JHC Visitor Center and houses the permanent exhibit The Design of Providence that explores the cultural imprints that mankind leaves on the landscape and how that very same landscape shapes human character and behavior. The Carriage House is the site of regular performances of “Striving for Freedom,” an interactive theatre production about slavery in New York, as well as concerts, community events, and lectures for groups up to 150 people.

1917 Palmer Tennis House

The 1917 Palmer Tennis House is believed to be the third oldest indoor facility of its kind in the country and carries both architectural and historical importance. in 2015, a grant of $391,056 in Federal Superstorm Sandy funds was secured by Congressman Eliot Engel and awarded to JHC for purposes of rehabilitating the structure for community use and youth clinics. Once preserved, the tennis house can be a community location to teach children the sport of tennis in a historic setting. JHC is seeking private and corporate donors to complete the restoration of this facility.

Landscape

“[The Jay H]ouse and landscape as they work together uniquely create…one of those all-too-rare, soul nourishing, mind-enlarging moments that change our sense not only of ‘where’ we are but of ‘who’ we are.”

– Tony Hiss, Author of Experience of Place

Nowhere else in Westchester County can you see such a variety of man managed landscape features that span a 10,000 year period –the narrative of the Jay Estate begins with a Paleo-Indian meadow valued for hunting and horticulture, and stretches to a pastoral colonial farm, to formal boxwood gardens and American elm allees, to an arboretum of native trees and to apple, cherry and peach orchards.

Thanks to the donations of Jay, Van Norden, Talcott and Palmer descendants, the Jay Heritage Center is fortunate to have a wealth of photo documentation that will help us oversee the historic and environmentally sensitive restoration of this nationally significant American landscape. Extensive archaeological explorations also help tell the pre-contact story of this magnificent place.

Our goal is to be a model for preservationists and our community as we document the steps involved in removing invasive species, stabilizing core area structures and features like stone walls, and replanting native shrubs, flowers, grasses and even heirloom vegetables.

Preservation of the meadow is of paramount concern as the grassland birds that have historically relied upon this habitat are an increasingly threatened and diminishing group. We are pleased to be working with Larry Weaner Design Associates on this renewal project.

Stone Walls

One of the most distinctive landscape elements at the Jay Estate in Rye are the dry laid stone walls built to separate the core home area and gardens from the pastures. Captain Samuel Lyons helped manage the Rye farm for John Jay after the death of Jay’s father; in a ledger kept for Jay he notes an expense of “100 Rod Stone fence” in 1786. Jay’s eldest son Peter Augustus Jay would later erect additional stone ha-ha walls in 1822 to frame the meadows but also direct water drainage on the farm.

During the Jay and Van Norden / Talcott residency, much of the land was still agricultural and populated by livestock so the walls were especially functional and several double layered sections likely served as watering troughs for animals. No mortar was used in any of these 18th and 19th century fences.

The stones in the walls are as unique as thumbprints; in fact they have been invaluable in figuring out where certain photos in our archives were taken on the property.