Mansion, Carriage House, Gardens & More

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.

One could also imagine the hurt and hurdles that still lay ahead for all who were cruelly not yet allowed to partake in that liberty.

The ancestral home of the Munsee-speaking Wickquasgeck is located on today’s busy Boston Post Road thoroughfare. The land still boasts ancient landmarks like middens of oyster shells along with a British broad arrow cut into stone. One of the last remaining mile markers of the Westchester Turnpike circa 1801-2 can be found nestled into the property’s perimeter wall. Visitors who travel to the estate today can experience a rich but complicated 10,000+ year history and enjoy a 3/4 mile vista of Long Island Sound.

Sunken Gardens, Meadow and Orchards

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.

JHC 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.

1838 Jay Mansion

The centerpiece of this National Historic Landmark is an 1838 Greek Revival mansion with soaring Attic “Tower of the Winds” inspired columns. The house was commissioned by Peter Augustus Jay to be built atop the footprint of his father and grandfather’s original home that had itself been purchased from and likely built by the Budd family, founders of Rye. Like other Westchester homes barraged by the British, the Jay family farmhouse had been damaged during the Revolutionary War but the builder, Edwin Bishop, salvaged original timbers, nails and shutters from the first structure to reuse in the second house that stands today. The rear veranda of the 1838 house has the exact same dimensions as the circa 1700s house and retains that first colonial home’s simpler and more modest style. Visitors can literally see centuries of history being uncovered here.

Of all the enslaved women and men who left their imprint on this place, Caesar Valentine and his family would have been the ones to truly see the transformation as the old plantation style house was razed in 1836 and a new structure styled in the language of democracy was erected. The new house became the home of the now freed members of the Valentine family who would live and work there through at least 1847.

In addition to restoring all the cultural narratives of this building, how do we 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.

Historic Jay Gardens

A coordinated rehabilitation of the Historic Jay Gardens and the Jay Meadow has long been of paramount concern to JHC. We are pleased to be working with Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects and Larry Weaner Design Associates on these renewal projects approved by the New York State Office of Historic Preservation (SHPO). The benefits to humans and wildlife are already visible!

Phase I of the Gardens was launched in May 2020 during the pandemic and has been largely completed and the transformation of each garden “room” is already dramatic. (Before and after photos of a neglected swimming pool now transformed into a reflecting pool). A Grand Opening of the gardens will take place in Spring 2022.

1916 Palmer Tennis House

1917 Palmer Tennis House shoring

The 1916 Palmer Tennis House is believed to be one of the oldest remaining indoor facilities 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 partially 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.

In 2020 during the pandemic, JHC successfully completed stabilization of one corner of the building. JHC is now seeking grants along with private and corporate tax-deductible gifts to complete the restoration of this facility.

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.