Lyndhurst

 So on Sunday we went to Lyndhurst Mansion.

Lyndhurst is a beautiful Gothic mansion, built in the 1840’s. It is located in Tarrytown, New York, on the bank of the Hudson River.It was originally owned by NYC mayor William Paulding Jr., then by merchant George Merritt, and then by railroad tycoon Jay Gould. When Jay’s daughter Anna Gould died in 1961she donated the house to the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Lyndhurst is not far from Washington Irving’s Sunnyside. Irving, you will recall, was a noted author, most famous for Rip van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.  You can visit Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Tarrytown.

In other words, Lyndhurst is a site in a region rich with history. The kind of place that Drew and I love to visit.  

And because of its spooky history (you can truly imagine the Headless Horseman riding through Tarrytown) the region really enjoys its Halloween activities,  Even Lyndhurst has special Halloween decorations and events.

As I mentioned last week, Lyndhurst was also used as the set of two feature films, House of Dark Shadows and Night of Dark Shadows.  And periodically actress/author Kathryn Lee Scott, who was a star of both the tv show and one of the movies, hosts a Dark Shadows meet and greet as a fundraiser for the museum.

So when I found out she was hosting a meet and greet this past weekend, we had to go. This weekend featured another actress, Marie Wallace, who also appeared in the show.

The museum really gets into the holiday spirit.

  

It’s a beautiful mansion.

You may recognize the place, it’s been used for many TV and movie productions, most recently for The Gilded Age,

We started at the Welcome Center, which has a large event space.  The two actresses spoke about the show, signed autographs, sold merchandise, and posed for photos,

Also on display was a replica of one of the costumes Kathryn Lee Scott wore in the movie.

Gorgeous dress, isn’t it?

Also present at the meet and greet was author Christian Cooper.  He writes about birds,  you may know his name from an incident in Central Park a few years ago.

He’s a friend of Kathryn Lee Scott.  

After the meet and greet we took a tour of the mansion.  The house hasn’t changed since Anna Gould’s days.  Most of the furnishings date back to the 19th century,and many were designed specifically for the house.

There were Halloween decorations.

And because of the Dark Shadows event, there were photos and props from the movies on display.

We also walked around the grounds — the house has an incredible view of the river — and we saw a display called “The Wicked Walk”.

You can even get a glimpse of the Mario Cuomo Bridge, 

There’s a movement to rename the bridge, to call it  the Tappan Zee, which is the name of the previous bridge at this location.

Overall a full and enjoyable afternoon.