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Bellefield is an estate that was built in 1795 by a judge and then passed through many different hands. In the late 1800s, New York Senator Thomas Newbold bought the property and expanded the house and built a formal walled garden. Bellefield remained in the Newbold family until 1975 when the last heir donated it to the National Park Service.
The NPS incorporated Bellefield into the neighboring Home of FDR National Historic Site. The house is used for offices now, but the formal garden is open to the public. It sits behind the Wallace Visitor Center.
The garden was designed by Beatrix Farrand in 1911. Farrand was the only female founder of the American Society of Landscape Architects and was responsible for the landscaping of many college campuses including Princeton and Yale.
I walked over to the garden after finishing up my tours of Springwood and the FDR library. In early October, there were still some flowers blooming and there was no one else in the garden with me…a lovely, peaceful place.
Federal funds did not allow for proper maintenance of the garden so the Beatrix Farrand Garden Association partnered with the NPS in the 1990s to restore it. The arts and crafts style gates were restored by an Eagle Scout based on Farrand’s original plans.
Hyde Park posts:
- FDR Presidential Library
- Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site
- Gardens at Bellefield
- Home of FDR National Historic Site (Coming Soon)
- Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site (Coming Soon)
Location: 4079 Albany Post Rd, Hyde Park, NY 12538
Designation: National Historic Site
Date designated or established: Incorporated into FDR NHS in 1975
Date of my visit: 10/3/2018
Beautiful home! I posted on Theodore Roosevelt’s home which is also a National Park. Maybe you can visit here too. It’s quite extraordinary. https://newyorkfamilyadventures.com/2018/02/24/sagamore-hill/
You’re National Park posts are inspiring!
Thanks! I will visit your post. I have been to Sagamore Hill. Here is my post on that:
https://nationalparkswitht.com/2019/01/07/sagamore-hill-national-historic-site/
Terrific! I’m going to read your post too!
Can there be anything better than a peaceful, lush garden all to yourself?!
Indeed! This was the fall…it must be very beautiful now that the spring flowers are blooming
Reblogged this on ravenhawks' magazine.
Thanks for sharing!
Beautiful! We went during the winter so all was barren, now I know we need to go back!
Thanks! And this was October and there were still flowers. Now through the summer is probably a good time to visit
Do you have national park recommendations in New Jersey?
My blog is categorized by state. The categories are clickable, either on the sidebar (if you are using a PC) or down at the bottom of the page (if you are on a mobile device.) I have lots of NJ posts 🙂
https://nationalparkswitht.com/category/new-jersey/
Oh that’s awesome will check them out! Thanks!
Another on the list of relatively close NP to visit. Wonderful work, thanks.
Thanks!
So very beautiful and elegant.
Yes, it’s a lovely place
How beautiful – I bet it was so peaceful walking through there 🙂
Thanks! Yes, very peaceful
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