National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

APPENDIX 9
CHARACTER-DEFINING FEATURES OF THE CULTURAL LANDSCAPE
INTRODUCTION
Many of the character-defining landscape features or characteristics of the Hyde Park estate were
fully appreciated by the Vanderbilts upon their arrival in 1895. Landscape characteristics such as
views of the Hudson from the existing mansion along with a "park" landscape well served by roads
and embowered with specimen trees may have influenced the couple's decision to situate themselves
on the banks of the Hudson. Site considerations appear to have been especially important given the
couple's spirited building program, which replaced almost every extant structure during the early
years of their tenancy. One may attempt a nuanced understanding of the Vanderbilt influence on the
pre-existing estate landscape by considering elements which they chose to keep largely as found;
those which they sought to transform into their own; and those aspects, such as new buildings which
most intensely reflect the personal preferences of the patron.
The landscape features of the Vanderbilt tenancy may be subdivided into two distinct sub-periods.
The first period 1895-1910 represents a lively fifteen-year program of building and rebuilding during
which most of the landscape changes were accomplished. The second period, 1911-1938, was a
slower-paced eighteen year interval when refinements and adjustment were made to the established
order. This division of the Vanderbilt tenancy may be justified through appreciation of the changes
that had taken place by this time. The majority of the building program was completed by 1903 with
the construction of the Italian Garden. The historic estate was reassembled and its view of the
Hudson restored when the Sexton Tract was reintegrated into the historic estate and the buildings
removed in 1905. A private underpass, the "subway" was constructed in 1906. By 1907, an ambitious
tree planting campaign had been completed. In 1909, the boundary wall along Albany Post Road was
reconstructed following the realignment of Albany Post Road.
With these projects complete, three others were undertaken in 1910 that recommend using this year
to serve as an important dividing point in understanding the Vanderbilt tenancy. These three changes
involve important modifications to the estate's gardens, its roads, and finally the buildings. Regarding
the roads, during 1910, a "Great Circle" was added to the pre-existing layout of drives attributed to
Parmentier. With the creation of the Great Circle, one can see the Neoclassical order of the
Vanderbilt Mansion extending east into the landscape. Regarding the gardens, in 1910 Thos. Meehan
and Sons was contracted to build the Rose Garden, an extension of Greenleaf's 1903 Italian Garden.
The Rose Garden, likely designed by Robert Cridland during his employment with Meehan,
completed the large-scale built elements of the formal gardens even though the plant palette and
minor elements would continue to evolve through 1938.
Yet perhaps the most significant and symbolic change to the property, the change that most strongly
suggests the selection of 1910 as a watershed year in the Vanderbilt ownership, is the conversion of the
Carriage Barn to automobile use. The significance of this modification to an existing building might
easily be overlooked, but the change is emblematic of systemic changes in popular culture made
manifest on this particular property. In the conversion, one can forecast diminution of the role of
draft animals in the park landscape. This change, which presupposes the use of fossil fuels rather than
399