#aldermanor

The piece of land that Alder Manor resides on was the same ancestral home to the Weckquaesgeek, who were a part of the larger Wappinger chieftancy who generally lived in the Yonkers area as was the case for Lenoir Preserve. The informational plaques at Lenoir Preserve indicate that the land was originally inhabited by the Lenni Lenape tribe (translates to “true people”) and they called the area “Keskeskick”, which isn’t necessarily wrong as the Lenni Lenape is a broad name for any native who lived between essentially the Hudson Valley down to the area around modern-day Philadelphia. I don’t know the exact details, I’m sure they involved trickery, violence or misunderstandings, so I’ll put it in the nice way of saying, the Lenni Lenape were “pushed” out of the area in the 1600s and eventually a man named Frederick Philipse III, whose family had acquired the land two generations prior, then owned the property of what is now known as Lenoir Preserve and Alder Manor. 

Fast forward to the 20th Century and Alder Manor is a little bit of a New York history geek’s dream come true. AKA, my dream come true.

Alder Manor is also sometimes known as the W.B. Thompson Mansion, named after William Boyce Thompson, a mining tycoon and later Wall Street financier in regards to mining who had intended to use this palatial estate as his weekend home…

This part though is roughly where I suddenly became DEEPLY obsessed with the history of Alder Manor. 

Mr. W.B. Thompson, in all of his apparently ridiculous riches, commissioned the architecture firm of Carrere and Hastings, who are better known for being the architects of the NEW YORK FREAKING PUBLIC LIBRARY! YOU KNOW, THE ONE WITH THE LIONS AND BRYANT PARK OUT BACK AND THE BREATHTAKING OLD NEW YORK ARCHITECTURE?!!?!? You know which one I’m yelling about? 

..... I'm assuming you're as stunned and excited as me...

Anyway, Thompson lived in the house until his death in 1930, when it then passed on to his wife who lived there until her death in 1950. (If you’d like to see his absurdly nice mausoleum by the way, you can OF COURSE find it at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, like everyone else famous from the area.) Upon her earthly demise, Mrs. Thompson legally willed the Manor and estate to the Archdiocese of New York and Alder Manor was converted into the first Catholic high school in Yonkers. 

By 1989, the estate had switched hands again and was made a part of the Iona College campus due to space limitations in New Rochelle on the main campus. This was short lived, however, and the property began to be sold off to various developers.

The property has clearly been neglected and vandalized over the years, but since the late 1990s, the Irish Cultural Heritage Center, The Tara Circle, bought the manor and plan to revitalize it and turn it into their base of operations and an event venue. 

Alder Manor has actually been used for scenes in movies such as A Beautiful Mind, The Royal Tenebaums and Mona Lisa Smile, which as a movie nerd, pleases me greatly. 

BECAUSE OF COURSE, my favorite non-bird related part of Lenoir Preserve is NOT EVEN TECHNICALLY PART OF LENOIR PRESERVE. SOOOO, yes, I guess it is TECHNICALLY “trespa$$ing” but it’s owned by the Tara Circle, which is the Irish Cultural Heritage Center of Westchester and I’m Irish so I’m gonna say screw it. I get a free pass, and my free pass extends to my Italian boyfriend. LIVE LIFE ON THE EDGE (of a brick wall)! But also, don't vandalize things ever please.

The most recent time I came here with Rob, after I had decided to make this account, I looked at him as we were walking through the park and said “I don’t know how to sell this place when Untermyer is right down the road.” 

I still don’t really know how to sell it if you’re comparing it to Untermyer. Like, how do I convince someone who’s driving to the area to go here instead of Untermyer? The only mind-blowingly unique part about Lenoir Preserve is that Rob and I have seen a bald eagle there twice now. 

Lenoir Preserve has a few dedicated paths, one of which is very easy and nicely paved, one mansion that’s on the property (and under restoration currently) and a second mansion (that’s under restoration) with beautiful and dilapidated gardens that’s not.. quite… ON…. The property…., (more about that to come next) and is a really spectacular place to see some great birds, year round. Lenoir also has a dedicated butterfly garden, but that’s only really worth the visit in the summer months. As a park that has access to the Old Croton Aqueduct, it obviously also has fantastic views of the Hudson River and the Palisades across the way. 

BUT, it has none of the grandeur or maintained, manicured gardens of Untermyer. 

The sell for Lenoir Preserve, that I’ve been able to come up with is the following:

Untermyer draws a lot of tourists and a lot of people taking professional photos and a lot of people taking pictures for their Instagrams, and Lenoir is not like that and sometimes that is SO REFRESHING. 

Lenoir has really nice and well-maintained trails, that run the gamut of intensity from beginner to moderate

At least one bald eagle most definitely lives there, and I’m sorry, you don’t get how cool they are until you see them in person.

The bird feeders. We all know I’m a boring old person who loves me some birds but that’s a draw for me and if it’s not for you too, I don’t care. Let me love my birds, okay?

Lenoir Preserve is insanely steeped in history but really it’s the nature that makes this park so awesome. Every park is special because nature should be cherished and preserved every chance we can get. Lenoir wouldn’t be so spectacular if you weren’t able to “smresspass” onto the Alder Manor garden ruins, or if there weren’t freaking bald eagles and what feels like millions of woodpeckers, or it’s peacefulness compared to Untermyer, or its access to the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail, HOWEVER, Lenoir HAS all of those things, so it is 100000% as worth your time as its better known sibling down the road from it. 

HISTORY:

Lenoir, as a piece of land, has an interesting history dating back to before the colonization of North America. The land was most likely originally home to the Weckquaesgeek, who were a part of the larger Wappinger tribe who generally lived in the Yonkers area. The informational plaques at Lenoir Preserve indicate that the land was originally inhabited by the Lenni Lenape tribe (translates to “true people”) and they called the area “Keskeskick”, which isn’t necessarily wrong as the Lenni Lenape is a broad name for any native who lived between essentially the Hudson Valley down to the area around modern-day Philadelphia.

I don’t know the exact details, I’m sure they involved trickery, violence or misunderstandings, so I’ll put it in the nice way of saying, the Lenni Lenape were “pushed” out of the area in the 1600s and eventually a man named Frederick Philipse III, whose family had acquired the land two generations prior, then owned the property of what is now known as Lenoir Preserve. 

Frederick Philipse III was a loyalist and in 1776, he signed the “Declaration of Dependence”, pledging his loyalty to the King of England. And, I imagine if you have stumbled upon my blog and are from the New York area or even just have even a rudimentary knowledge of U.S. colonial history, you would understand that 1776 is when everyone was like, “fuck the King and fuck England.”….. 

So, I think you can probably guess how things went for Mr. Philipse III since we, inhabitants of the future, know who won the American Revolutionary War… 

As happened to many Loyalists in the Westchester area, Frederick Philipse III had his land and home stripped from him and it was sold off to two different families. In theory, according to the Lenoir historians, you can still see some of the ruins of the earliest stone homes built by the Philipse family and by the people who gained his property after him. I’ll admit though, I haven’t found those ruins yet as far as I’m aware.

Let me know if you do.

The mansion that sits on the property of Lenoir Preserve has been around since at least 1836, or at least that’s the first time it appears on any written record. It changed hands many times until Caleb C. Dula, a native of Lenoir, North Carolina, who amassed his wealth in the cigarette industry, bought the property in 1906. He named the mansion and property “Lenoir” after his hometown. 

In 1939, the Lenoir property was inherited by Mr. Dula’s niece, Mrs. Purl Wightman, who renamed the mansion after her husband’s surname but allowed the property as a whole to retain its Lenoir identity. As goes everything in New York, it seems, real estate developers caught wind of an eventually empty estate and attempted to demolish the history and create apartments or a country club.

Thankfully, the city of Yonkers and Westchester County decided to intervene and bought the property instead, allowing it to be turned into a nature refuge and museum. The interiors of the mansion have also since been used as the setting for TV shows like The Knick and The Following. 

TRAIL RECOMMENDATIONS:

My preferred trek (very beginner intensity): I advise parking in the lot located off Dudley Street. From there look for the trailhead sign for the Copper Beech Trail (0.2mi) straight from the parking lot (if you hit the Nature Center, you’ve missed the trailhead, turn around, it should be on your right if your back is facing the Nature Center). Take the Copper Beech Trail to the Meadow Loop paved path, which does in fact loop all the way back to the Dudley Street parking lot. 

IF you are feeling a little dangerous, perhaps you might partake in some light adventuring (AKA a word that rhymes with smresspassing… I deny EVERYTHING!) into/over/around/through the brick wall that denotes the property line between Lenoir Preserve and the old Alder Manor estate property. 

There ARE cameras so “smresspass” with caution… I feel like as long as you don’t vandalize anything, who cares if you take a little peek… right???? 

No? 

Okay, well anyway…. 

Don’t forget to keep your eyes to the skies throughout your stroll, as this preserve is very well known to be frequented by red-tailed hawks and AT LEAST one bald eagle, and also like a million woodpeckers.

An important stop for Rob and I, or really just me, before we head back to the car is the bird feeders outside of the Nature Center, which is where Rob and I first spotted the bald eagle actually. He wasn’t eating bird seed… but we were sitting there and he flew over, and Rob saw him first, which I think he would want me to mention. 

MEADOW LOOP TRAIL: The Meadow Loop Trail is easily accessible from both parking lots and is paved in its entirety making it beginner and ADA friendly. 

WOODLAND TRAIL (0.4 mi): it’s a quarter of a mile, Cat, how bad could it be? Like I’ve said before, Rob and I are what you’d call “lazy active” people and this trail is STEEP… like REALLY REALLY STEEP. I was huffing and puffing and my old lady knees were HURTING by the time we got back up to the top. HOWEVER, if you’d like to partake in some of the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail or even walk down to Untermyer, that can be achieved by taking the Woodland Trail and going south (left, if you’re looking at the Hudson). 

COPPER BEECH TRAIL (0.2mi): a wooded walk with very mediocre “elevation gain”. Also the place I suspect the eagle has his nest.