Tucked into the hills of the Hudson Valley, this 105-acre farmland helped pave the way for modern homeownership in America.
And starting this week, Listed on Coldwell Banker At $4.38 million, it means the new owners are in a position to purchase one of the greatest pieces of history.
Welcome to the expansive Willow Lake Farm in Fishkill, New York. In addition to the five-bedroom main house, the farm has three guesthouses for one family and his two.
According to property records, the land was acquired in a 1683 treaty by three business associates from the Wappingers, former New York City Mayor Francis Rombouts and Stefanus Van Cortlandt, and Rombouts’ fur-trading associate Goulian.・Verplanck.
In what was known as the Rombout Patent, the three business partners received permission from King James II to own the land. The Crown currently has 14 similar patents issued in an area that includes Putnam and Dutchess Counties, and this listing is located in the latter.
When Rombouts died in 1691, as he had no sons, he left 28,000 acres of land to his four-year-old daughter Catherine Rombouts (in Dutch tradition, the “s” in the surname refers to the son of the family). did).
Rombout married British naval officer Roger Brett at the age of 16 and became Madame Brett, known in the Hudson Valley today.
The two eventually flee New York City and end up living among Native Americans on the land she inherited. They had three sons until her husband died in a sea accident.
Madame Brett turned to real estate to survive. She stopped leasing the land and began selling portions of it for cash, including what would become Willow Lake Farm.
Arnold Restivo, a member of the Fishkill Historical Society, pointed out that the land used to be owned in large quantities by wealthy families.
By selling small 100-acre plots of land, Madame Brett made it possible for the middle class of Colonial New York to purchase real estate for the first time, making it possible for today’s print news reporters, teachers, and other middle-income earners to own homes. I paved the way for what I could do.
“The history of Willow Lake Farm reflects broader societal changes in property rights and ownership, particularly the move toward more inclusive ownership,” Restivo told the Post.
In the next chapter, the farm was developed in the late 1800s by Henry Dubois Van Wyk, a businessman who made his fortune in the western gold fields and later became Fishkill’s first mayor. He built Knickerbocker Lodge. According to advertisements from the time, the lodge was an elite sanctuary designed to “breathe new life into a tired city and fill the very souls of youth with freedom and boundless joy.”
Eventually, the lodge was destroyed by fire in the early 1920s.
Today, when you pass by the stone pillar at the entrance to this facility, you feel like you have traveled back in time. The homes and other structures were built primarily between his 1920s and his 1950s, and sit on a rolling hill fronting a five-acre lake filled with carp.
“When you come here, you leave everything behind,” said Sandra “Sandy” Park, a current representative at Coldwell Banker. “You’re in a bubble.”
It has been on and off the market several times in recent years, but former listing agents have been unable to place an accurate price, she said.
Still, Hollywood has taken notice of the farm’s beauty, recently using it as a filming location for the second season of Max’s “Pretty Little Liars” and the 2021 Shudder horror film “Slapface.”
At the top of the driveway stands a 4,560-square-foot stone house built in 1924 by the husband of Planned Parenthood founder and reproductive rights activist Margaret Sanger.
There are four fireplaces, one for the study in the large primary suite on the second floor. Although not for fans of open layouts, the interior is modeled after an English country house, with designated spaces for living, dining and cooking. In the basement, a mechanical room and laundry room are hidden behind a secret bookshelf door.
Celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, the home features many historic features, including moldings and railings made from endangered American chestnut wood, and well-maintained quarter-sawn oak floors. characteristics remain.
The original casement windows and doors are also still in use. The hand-blown leaded tiles contain red, green, and blue glass that refracts rainbow light on sunny days.
The outside of the home features a 100-year-old slate roof and wrought iron reclaimed from Knickerbocker Lodge. Overlooking the lake is a slate patio with a bar and waterfall built into the remains of the lodge.
A gravel road winds around the property, passing a two- and three-car garage and a guesthouse. The oldest of these is Gate His House.
The 2,322 sqft duplex was built in 1928 and has separate entrances and five bedrooms. There is a kitchen with a wood-burning fireplace and windows on either side.
Next is a 1952 lakeside cabin, a smaller duplex, and a 1982 cottage.
The latter has 1,280 square feet of two-bedroom, one-bathroom space with a wood-burning fireplace, electric heat and a separate screened porch.
Near the cottage is a gazebo shaped like a witch’s hat built over a huge 1800s well. Beyond the woods is a century-old fish hatchery and stone walls dating back to the Revolutionary War era.
There is also accommodation for animals and a stream with a stone bridge and ample footpaths.
But perhaps the most interesting feature of the property is Tree Tops, a writer and artist’s studio built on the edge of a hill. It creates the atmosphere of a huge tree house.
“Magic is real here,” Park said as he patiently drove his golf cart over the roots of a large tree. “You can feel it.”
She noted that while the current owners have made various updates over the past 20 years, parts of the main house and guesthouse clearly need work. However, what it lacks in new quality it makes up for in potential.
Located near the river towns of Beacon and Cold Spring, just an hour and a half from Manhattan, Park said it could become a family site, short-term rental site or wedding venue. .
“It ultimately comes down to how the buyer intends to use it,” she explained, but “everyone who has been here loves it.”
