Lecture at Hudson Chautauqua

The second lecture in the ongoing series at the Hudson Chautauqua takes place this Saturday, January 19, at 3 p.m. The lecture, entitled "Presently in the Past: The Lehmans of Tarrytown," will be presented by Paul M. Barrett, a recognized authority on the Gilded Age and Country Place era properties of Tarrytown. During his twenty-year association with Lyndhurst, the National Trust Historic Site located in Tarrytown, Barrett began researching the ruins of the estates that once surrounded Lyndhurst. His investigations have yielded a very detailed re-creation of these properties--an accumulation of visuals and information that creates a new form of "preservation" which is timeless and permanent.

Willow Pond

At the turn of the last century, Tarrytown was the most dense "Mansion District" in the Hudson Valley. In the century from 1850 to 1950, there were more than thirty country estates, getaways for the Titans of Industry of the time. The construction of the Tappan Zee Bridge, the post-World War II housing boom, and corporate expansion to the suburbs altered "America's Rhine" forever.

In 1915, Sigmund Lehman and his sons, members of the incredibly successful Lehman Brothers investment banking family, each created his own sanctuary in Tarrytown, on the banks of the Hudson River. The three estates--Millbrook, Elmbrook, and Willow Pond--were contiguous, and each was renowned for its individual merits. Barrett's lecture will provide a thorough look at these three properties, incorporating visuals, never seen before, discovered in private collections here in the United States and abroad. 

Admission is $5 at the door. The Hudson Chautauqua is located at 49A Eighth Street, between Columbia and Warren streets.