The majesty of the Hudson River has captivated both artists and visitors for generations, and the gardens along its banks have a special character. Those created for the Gilded Age estates are more formal; private gardens respond directly to the rolling landscape and mature forests. The area is a crucible for the development of American landscape design since the major figures-Alexander Jackson Downing, Frederick Law Olmsted, Beatrix Farrand, and Fletcher Steele-all worked in the Hudson Valley. Gardens of the Hudson Valleyfocuses on the historic landscape and how gardens have been integrated into it.Photographers Steve Gross and Susan Daly have selected twenty-five gardens between Yonkers and Hudson, including famous estate gardens like Kykuit, Boscobel, the Vanderbilt Mansion, and Olana (all open to the public) and private gardens that combine sweeping views and lush plantings. Garden writers Susan Lowry and Nancy Berner describe each of the gardens in detail, focusing on the history of the site and the strategies for design and plant materials.

Photographers Susan Daley and Steve Gross have collaborated on a number of books focusing on historic houses and landscapes including Creole Houses: Traditional Homes of Old Louisiana, Old Florida: Florida’s Magnificent Homes, Gardens, and Vintage Attractions, Catskill Country Style, and Time Wearing Out Memory: Schonarie County.
 
Susan Lowry and Nancy Berner are the authors of Garden Guide New York City.
 
Gregory Long, President of the New York Botanical Garden, is the author of Historic Houses of the Hudson Valley.

Foreword
Gregory Long

Introduction

Clermont
Germantown

Peter Bevacqua and Stephen King
Claverack

Hudson Bush Farm
Claverack

Gerald Moore and Joyce Nereaux
Hudson

Olana
Hudson

River School Farm
Livingston

Tailings
Germantown

Conrad Hanson
Germantown

Montgomery Place
Annandale-on-Hudson

Blithewood
Annandale-on-Hudson

Amy Goldman
Rhinebeck

Vanderbilt Mansion
Hyde Park

Hosack Farm
Hyde Park

Bellefield
Hyde Park

Locust Grove
Poughkeepsie

Duncan and Julia Brine
Pawling

StoneCrop Gardens
Cold Spring

Michael Schoeller
Kent Falls

Boscobel
Cold Spring

Lisburne Grange
Garrison

Manitoga
Cold Spring

Lyndhurst
Tarrytown

Untermyer Park
Yonkers

Alder Manor
Yonkers

Kykuit
Pocantico Hills

Gardens Open to the Public

Acknowledgments