KYKUIT, The ROCKEFELLER ESTATE: Amazing Grounds, how sweet the views
Written: Oct 08 '03 (Updated Oct 09 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fantastic views and grounds.
Cons: Limited tours and no free time on the property.
The Bottom Line: The proximity to NYC makes this a must see on NY tours.
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| popsrocks's Full Review: Kykuit, The Rockefeller Estate |
The Rockefellers were well known for their status as being among the wealthiest of all Americans and for being very politically connected. In fact two men, John D Rockefeller SR, once the wealthiest man in the world as founder of Standard oil and Nelson Rockefeller the once Governor of NY State and also Vice President under Gerald Ford were the first and last men to live on the property I'm about to share with you. Not everyone knows what wonderful, giving, and well planning philanthropists the Rockefellers were.
During the tour we learned a bit of their legacy.
KYKUIT
Kykuit, pronounced Kye cut, a Dutch word that means "high look out". This is the name of a home and property that housed four generations of Rockefellers over the years.
It was was built by JDR. with his son JDR Jr. overseeing the planning and construction.
Many of the well to do of the day built their homes near the Hudson River, overlooking its banks. An example up the river a bit is the huge and ornate Vanderbilt Mansion Many others are up that way too including a more humble, yet, still magnificent Franklin D Roosevelt Home. Nearby JDR's home, on the south side of the Tappan Zee Bridge, is the Washington Irving Home, Sunnyside. This home was also restored by the Rockefeller family. While many of these homes were on constructed the banks of the river, JDR's home had a river view but more inland from a mountain top.
JDR had purchased 400 acres and then extended to 4,000 of property. Though much of this land was sold off there are still 2,500 acres of this land. It has commanding views of the Hudson River and the Palisades beyond. On the tour you get to see some of these grand vistas. They are incredibly beautiful!!
The TOUR
The only way to see this property is through a tour. You will be with a guide the full time you are investigating the home and grounds. There is no free time, on the grounds.
This tour does not start at the grounds themselves. It starts at the Philipsburg Manor. This is just a few miles north of the Tappan Zee Bridge on the east bank of the Hudson river off RT9. This place is a wonderful tour in itself that I hope to share with you in the near future. I might add that the Philipsburg Manor was restored by JDR Jr.
The wonderful part about the location of the visitors center is that you can get to this area easily by car or train. There is even a boat trip that leave Manhattan on the Waterway Boat Tours.
The Philipsburg Manor is an 18th century gristmill with surrounding buildings that were once worked by slaves and owned by a very wealthy man of the times. On our tour of the Philipsburg Manor I found the history and grounds are very interesting to learn more of.
Visitors Center and Tickets
You purchase your tickets at the visitors center of the Philipsburg manor. The Kykuit tours are very popular, especially on weekends. It's important to get there early. You will be put on the very next tour available. The prices are $20. for adults, $19. Senior, $17.for those under age 18.
Tours are 10AM-3PM daily except Tuesdays when they are closed. Week ends they end one hour later at 4PM.
Once you have your self stick ticket, you place it on yourself and then listen for boarding times on the 16 seat bus that will take you to the grounds.
If you have some free time there are a few things to do on the Philipsburg Grounds or nearby.
The visitors center where you purchased the tickets, also houses an area where you can get a bite to eat. They salads sandwiches and the like. Prices are fair. You pick up your food at a counter and then grab a table, first come first served, in a lovely setting just outside the center.
There is also a gift/museum shop with postcards, t-shirts, seasonal goods, and books.
Many times after visiting a destination I would purchase a book or some kind of information about the place I visited. It's a sort of souvenir and a source of new or additional information of the site I visited. I was disappointed that only one book discussed the Rockefeller Kykuit property. It cost more than fifty dollars!! I thought that unfortunate. I asked if they had anything else. I was told that nothing else was approved by those who run the estate. Too bad.
I have since learned that the official guidebook for Kykuit is being updated and reprinted and will be available in 2004.
We experienced the basic two hour tour that goes through some of the home, art gallery, limited outside grounds and the coach barn.
There is another tour that takes you out to the gardens on the property to study the sculptures and their placement on the grounds. This is a two hour tour.
There is one other tour that is fairly new. It is called the Grand Tour. This three hour tour is a combination of the other two. This is very limited. I believe it only goes out once per day in the morning at 9:45AM. Check the full schedules.
MOVING OUT, on our Tour
We were paged to go to the bus about five minutes before leave time. Be sure to be there. The tour will move on without you.
The bus was very clean and new. It had very large windows for viewing and a speaker system through which the driver gave us some facts while taking us on a short five to seven minute ride to the estate.
Once we arrived we were met by our guide who came aboard. Unfortunately I forgot her name. She was excellent!! She introduced herself and the bus moved through the gates of the estate and made its way to the home. Our guide told us a bit of the history and some info about the Rockefellers.
We were also shown what looked like a cave from the road. It was an alternate way for service vehicles to get to the house. John D did not like all the noise these trucks made, so he did as any wealthy person might do. He had a passageway made under the grounds to minimize noise and fumes in the house. As we moved along the short rout to the house we did get a glimpse of some of the outdoor sculptures. We caught site of the magnificent playhouse that is really more like a private country club for the family that is still used by them today. You see they need this place as the rallying point to start playing on the nine hole golf course that was part of the grounds. Unfortunately the tour does not take you to the playhouse . Sorry you won't be able to get a Tee time either.
As we entered another set of gates near the house we all got off. This is where we witnessed the first piece of grand art. They had a replica of Oceanus set up as an eye catcher outside the home. It is a duplicate of the one that is in Florence Italy. Many people took this fountain as a setting for picture taking.
The HOME
We gathered at the entrance of the home and were given information of some of the sculptures that were added by Nelson Rockefeller. We were told of his discerning eye for art and its exquisite placement.
We happened to have some people of Chinese descent on our tour. The guide took special note to show many of the pieces of art that were from the Ching and Tang Dynasties. These ceramics were beautiful.
There were two pieces in the understated foyer at the home's entrance and others throughout most of the house.
I just want to take a moment to mention the professionalism of our guide. She was very knowledgeable, she had a good sense of humor and she also took charge. There was a baby on our tour who started acting up as babies can. Our guide made a call on her radio and within a moment the mom and child were brought out to a comfortable area where mom could attend baby and we continued on our tour without interruption. Mom and baby did rejoin us a bit later when the child was quieted down.
Our guide also made sure she kept a young teenager interested in the tour by asking questions in a fun way, and giving information.
Our guide took us through the house. We were able to see the contributions of the different generations. Though the home was that of the wealthiest man in the world at the time, John D Rockefeller had the mansion built without the guild and garish that garnished many of the other homes of the time.
We were walked through the office and lady's drawing room and then to the music room. Over the years the organ that was in there was removed. As we were told of the rooms history we were also given pictures to look at that depicted the room at different periods of renovation.
As we were escorted through the home we entered a room with a fantastic view of the river. Our guide told us of the river views and her own personal love of them. At one moment as she said that she was just staring out and looking at her eyes it seemed, to me, she was reliving some memories of her past. It was just a moment, but I was certain she was taken back to some place and time that was very near and dear to her.
The ART GALLERIES
This particular tour did not take us upstairs. I believe the Grand Tour does take you to the 2nd balcony that offer views through the east and west sitting rooms. We did, however, get to see the wonders of the underground halls of the mansion. It was amazing!
We were lead through a series of hallways under the home. There were over a hundred pieces of art. In one area was a "living room" setting where Nelson would take guests and just sit, relax, and enjoy the art. There were many paintings and sculptures.
I was particularly struck by an Andy Warhol piece of art in that room. The downstairs tour ended with us observing the fine work of some ten or twelve huge tapestries that were hanging at the end of an L shaped section of hall.
These were all designed as replicas of Picasso work of which he helped design himself. These are truly amazing!! Unfortunately photos are not allowed inside the home.
SWIMMING POOLS?
Afterward, we were then led outside to some of the formal gardens. I was disappointed that we were rushed through the area. The tour was that interesting! Part of the gardens where we were guided once had two swimming pools. They are gone now, however the property is gorgeous! We did get to see some old photos of the garden of when the pools were there. Many more sculptures were in these gardens too.
We then went to the front of the home that overlooked the river. Looking down on the property you could see the land and how it is landscaped in terraces of settings. Oh, how I wish we had more time!
After circling the home we boarded another bus. Just a note here. You must take everything on and off with you on all buses. You do not go and come on the same one. There is a coat check at the visitors center for backpacks, strollers, and the like. You must supply your own car seat for younger children for the bus trip. They will store the seat for you while you are on the tour.
This bus, along with our guide, took us on a very short ride to the carriage barn. This was like no other stables I ever saw before. They were quite remarkable.
From many previous visits to Acadia National Park I had learned that the Rockefellers donated much of it to the Parks department. They had also built miles of carriage paths and stables that were constructed for future generations so the horse and buggy style of transportation would not be totally lost. I have been on these carriage rides in Acadia National Park. I thank the Rockefellers for their fore-sight and generosity.
The carriage barn was awesome. We did get to see many antique carriages, the stables, and what became the garage for many of the classic cars.
For auto buffs this is quite a find. Many period autos are stored there. I was also amused at the "car wash" inside the barn.There were two of them.
BACK to The FUTURE
We were given quite extensive information of the times and the history of the vehicles within the stone walls of the carriage barn. Afterward we returned to our bus, our guide said goodbye, and were taken back to the parking lot and visitors center where our journey began.
I have been on most of the tours along the Hudson from Manhattan's Cloisters up to Olana, well up north near the Rip Van Winkle Bridge. This tour of Kykuit was by far the most interesting, extremely informative, historically encompassing, and, with its unbelievably lovely gardens and settings, had me wanting to see more.
other Hudson Valley reviews by popsrocks
Hudson Valley
Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site
Home of Franklin D Roosevelt National Historic Site
Vanderbilt National Historic Site
Lake Taconic State Park
Mohonk Mountain House
Belvedere MansionA great place to stay in the mid Hudson area.
Hilton Hotel, in the lower Hudson Valley
New York Waterways Boat transportation from NYC
Recommended:
Yes
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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