Itinerary
All times are approximate. Please note: this is an active program that will involve walking over uneven surfaces and climbing stairs.
Sunday, October 21st
10.00 a.m. Breakfast at the Bronson House
Situated on the outskirts of the city of Hudson, the house was originally built in the Federal style by local merchant Samuel Plumb in 1812. Purchased in 1838 by Dr. Oliver Bronson, the building was substantially remodeled in 1839 and 1849 by architect Alexander Jackson Davis. It is considered the first example of his Hudson River Bracketed style. A restoration project is in its early stages—though the house’s current state of desuetude is rather beautiful. Alan Neumann, president of Historic Hudson, a local architectural preservation organization, will tell us all about the house and the plans for its restoration.
11.00 a.m. The autumn landscape at Olana
Frederic Edwin Church, the great artist of the Hudson River School, lavished as much care and attention on the composition of the 250-acre landscape of his hilltop estate, Olana, as he did on any of his oil paintings. The result is a living work of art. After an introductory discussion about the artist and his estate, we’ll walk among trees that should be at their peak colors on trails that open—as Church planned—on lovely views of the Catskills and Taconic mountain ranges.
1.00 p.m. Lunch at Rokeby
Of the thirty-odd surviving estates built by descendants of the Livingston family—on parcels from an enormous 250-square-mile land grant bestowed by George I on Robert Livingston the Elder in 1715—none perhaps is more lovely and more resonant of American social and cultural history than Rokeby. Names affiliated by marriage such as Astor, Armstrong, Chanler, and Aldrich echo through the halls of the house, built in 1811 (though substantially altered), and one of the very few homes that remains in the family. We’ll be hosted for lunch by John Winthrop Aldrich and his wife, Tracie Rozhon, who will guide us through the house and its history.
3.15 p.m. Clermont
The first of the great Livingston estates on the Hudson River, Clermont was founded in 1740 and was the home of Robert “the Chancellor” Livingston, one of the five framers of the Declaration of Independence and the nation’s first Secretary of Foreign Affairs. The original Georgian manor was burned down by British troops in 1777, and its replacement was remodeled several times over the centuries as tastes changed.
4.30 p.m. Tea at Forth House
Though it’s considered one of the minor Livingston estates, Forth House is one of our favorites—a brick Greek revival jewel box built in 1835 with an octagonal addition and gardens edged in deep stands of pine. The owners, architect Jim Joseph and Broadway composer Scott Frankel, are marvelous hosts, and the spacious living and dining room of Forth House will be an excellent place to end the first day of our tour.
Monday, October 22nd
10.00 a.m. Breakfast at Staats Hall
We’ll begin the day in farm country near the town of Red Hook at Staats Hall, a house that, with its imposing Doric portico, makes a remarkable presence in the rural landscape. Built by landowner Henry Staats in 1839, the house has been extensively restored and refurbished by its present owner, the noted architecture and interiors photographer Pieter Estersohn. He’ll take us through the house and its grounds and sign copies of his beautiful and deeply-researched new book Life Along the Hudson: The Historic Country Estates of the Livingston Family, published by Rizzoli.
11.45 a.m. Montgomery Place and Blithewood
We’ll pay visits to two architectural trophies now on the campus of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson. Montgomery Place, built in 1805, is a Federal style gem with gardens admired as a premier example of the picturesque style of American landscaping. Blithewood, a stately neoclassical manor built in 1900, has a notable Italianate garden designed in 1903.
1.30 p.m. Lunch at Midwood
Woods Road in the village of Germantown gets its name from three estates whose entrances it connects: Northwood, Midwood, and Southwood. Built in 1887 for Robert Livingston Clarkson and Mary Otis, Midwood is a convivial clapboard Colonial revival house that is approached on a lovely lane that curves through forests of oak and maple. Our host will be philanthropist Joan K. Davidson, president emeritus of the J.M. Kaplan Fund and former New York state commissioner for parks and preservation.
3.30 p.m. The Stone Jug
We’ll make a quick stop to see a farmhouse known locally as the Stone Jug. Made of fieldstone and brick, the house was built in 1752 by Konradt Lasher, a member of one of the families of Palatine Germans who give the nearby village its name. Refugees from the War of Spanish Succession, the Palatines were brought to New York in 1710, and worked off the cost of their passage by clearing forests to make naval stores such as ship masts and pitch.
4.15 p.m. Wine and Chiddingstone
Our last stop will be at Chiddingstone, a charming architectural hybrid built in 1860 in the Bracketed Italianate style with late Georgian elements such as quoins and Palladian windows. Because the estate’s road is too narrow for our vehicle, we’ll park at the neighboring home of Carey Maloney and Hermes Mallea—principals of the New York architecture and interior design firm M Group, who oversaw the restoration of Chiddingstone in the early 1990s—and make the short walk over. We’ll return to Maloney and Mallea’s house—a modernist affair, reputedly built by someone with mob connections (it has its own bar room)— for a glass of wine and some snacks to end the day and the journey.
Space is limited. Bookings will be taken on a first come, first served basis. To reserve a spot, write us at hudsondaytrip@themagazineantiq
Participants will make their own hotel arrangements, if needed. A discounted rate is available from
We cannot, unfortunately, accommodate those who wish to come along only on a single day of the tour.