National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

feed grown on the adjacent estate farm, also demonstrates how self-sufficiency was in reality not of
great concern to the Vanderbilts' management of the property.
Listing of Features
What follows is a listing and narrative description of character-defining landscape features, and a
chart intended to show the evolution of these features during the Vanderbilt tenure. Characterdefining
features have generally been regarded as features present during the historic period which
have survived to the present. In their survival on site, these features or characteristics have the ability
to "define the character" of a historic property. While the list and narrative description of features
that follows only deals with surviving landscape features, a chart is provided at the end of this section
intended to show more clearly the dynamic-changeable aspects of landscape features. This chart
includes both features which are missing from the property, such as the mansion's foundation
planting or the Bard Rock boathouse both removed by the NPS, and the ensemble of farm buildings
which were divested from the estate property in 1939 just prior to federal acquisition.
Land-Use/ Spatial Organization
The Park, 1764-present
Prior to Vanderbilt ownership, the land use of the Hyde Park estate was organized from east to west.
Between the eastern bank of the Hudson and the shoulder of Albany Post Road, the landscape was
developed into a pleasure ground, something the English referred to as a "park." West of Albany Post
Road, while aesthetic concerns were important, the primary focus was agriculture and production
intended to render the estate as "self-sufficient" as possible. Under Vanderbilt's stewardship, this
organization was retained if not strengthened. Drawing upon the historic name of the property,
Vanderbilt himself called the area between the river and the public highway the "park." Separate
accounts were kept for expenses relating to "Farm," "Park," and sometimes "Garden." The park
landscape may be described as a broad flat terrace dissected by Crum Elbow Creek and the Hudson
River. The character of the park landscape is defined by topography, vegetation and views. There is
great variety in landscape character, from the moist Hemlock woodland along the creek and
meandering carriage drives, to the flat terrace east of the mansion that is furnished with mature
specimen trees, to the precipitous drop off west of the dwelling, spilling down into meadow and
woodlot. This well-tended, genteel landscape, along with its mature plantings, captured the
imagination of President Franklin Roosevelt who saw the potential of the property for a national park.
Mansion Site, 1799-present
While the architecture itself has changed, the physical location of the principal dwelling on this
property has been consistent across the tenure of several owners, beginning with Bard's initial 1799
construction. The mansion site may be defined as a westward bowing prospect on the natural terrace
so fundamentally associated with the Hudson Valley. Remarkably, the design treatment of the
landscape immediately surrounding the building has been as consistent as the location. The dramatic
natural qualities of the site, which include topography and broad and atmospheric westward views,
have worked to discourage the accretion of landscape styles or design elements. As a result of such
little interference and the compatibility of the Vanderbilts' Beaux-Arts styled home with the
Neoclassical architecture of its predecessors, this site is potentially the best surviving example of what
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