Built 1811 Opened 1811 Added to NRHP 26 March 1975 | NRHP Reference # 75001181 Area 177 ha | |
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Similar Montgomery Place, Whitney Museum of American, Rhinecliff–Kingston station, Kingston–Rhinecliff Bridge, Wilderstein | ||
Rokeby, also known as La Bergerie, is a historic estate and federally recognized historic district located at Barrytown in Dutchess County, New York. It includes seven contributing buildings and one contributing structures.
Contents
History
The original section of the main house was built 1811–1815. Construction was interrupted by the War of 1812 when John Armstrong Jr. (1758-1843), the owner, served as a Brigadier General and later as US Secretary of War. Evidence suggests that the overall plan was designed by Armstrong himself. It started as a rectangular, 2-story structure with a hipped roof topped by a square, pyramidal-roofed cupola. It features a Palladian window. A 1 1⁄2-story addition constructed of fieldstone was built about 1816.
The property was subsequently acquired by William Backhouse Astor, Sr. (1795–1875), who enlarged the house in the mid-19th century, in brick with brownstone trim, with a semi-octagonal tower on the west side, a north wing, and a third floor throughout the building. The last major addition occurred in 1895 when Stanford White enlarged the west drawing room.
The landscaping was improved about 1840 and in 1911 by the Olmsted Brothers. The property also includes a pair of clapboarded wood-frame barns, additional stables (built about 1850 and destroyed by fire), greenhouse (converted to a garage in 1910, then to a residence in 1965), the square brick gardener's cottage, and a 1 1⁄2-story gatehouse. Additionally, there is a brick stable designed by McKim, Mead & White, and a private docking facility.
Residents
John Armstrong Jr. lived at Rokeby following his retirement in 1814 until his death at home in 1843, and is buried in the cemetery in Rhinebeck.
The house was later home to the Astor Orphans, the children of John Winthrop Chanler (1826-1877) and his wife Margaret Astor Ward (1838-1875), both of whom died of pneumonia at La Bergerie. They left instructions that their ten children were to be raised at Rokeby. Most of them grew up to become well known in politics or the arts. They included:
In 2013, former resident and Astor heiress Alexandra Aldrich (great-granddaughter of Margaret Livingston Chanler) published The Astor Orphan, a memoir set at Rokeby.
The house is currently the home to various artists and writers, including Processional Arts Workshop.
Heritage significance
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
Gallery
Photos of La Bergerie by Mark Zeek, 1979.