Grasmere (Rhinebeck, New York)

History

The Grasmere estate was built by the widowed Janet Livingston Montgomery, who had inherited the land from her grandfather. In 1802 she built Montgomery Place in Annandale-on-Hudson. After moving there in 1805, rented the estate before selling the property to Peter Livingston in 1822. The manor house was destroyed by fire in 1823 and the original house was built on the ruins of General Richard Montgomery's 1773 house. Upon Peter Livingston's death in 1847, the estate passed to his nephew Louis H. Livingston. In 1893 it was purchased by Mrs. F.A. Crosby. Maunsell S. Crosby ran a successful crop and dairy farm. In 1954 the property was purchased by Louise Clews who subsequently married Robert Livingston Timpson. Mrs. Clews Timpson held a couple of charity masked balls at Grasmere.

Estate

It consists of 12 contributing buildings and four contributing structures. The main house was originally built about 1824 and expanded about 1861 and in 1907-1908. In 1861 Louis H. Livingston and his brother, James, added rounded Victorian tops to the first floor windows. Maunsell Crosby added a wing in 1907. The building is a three story brick dwelling with restrainted classically inspired design. It sits on a stone foundation and has a hipped roof. In addition to the manor house the contributing buildings / structures include: a barn, three garages, five sheds, the formal gardens, stone walls / gateposts, two corn cribs, two tenant houses (c. 1916), and a stone stable complex (c. 1901). The driveway is lined with mature locust trees planted by Janet Montgomery.

By the mid-19th, it included as dependencies the separately listed Benner House, Fredenburg House, and Steenburg Tavern. Much of the Grasmere land has been restored to active farm use in recent years. The 1901 stone barn was rebuilt after a fire and has been adapted for use as a wedding venue.

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.