The Gatehouse

About this property

The day begins with a walk through the gate onto the Vanderbilt Estate grounds, the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains opening up beyond the lawns. Back at the house, a rocking chair on the covered porch is waiting.

Dating to 1876 and carefully restored, the home keeps its plaster walls, oak floors, high ceilings and a mahogany spiral staircase. The kitchen is its heart, with a pro-style gas range, a Sub-Zero refrigerator, Le Creuset pots and a deep farmhouse sink, and the big dining room carries a long dinner well into the evening. Three bedrooms with soft linens sleep six, there are two baths, and on cold nights the wood-burning fireplace warms the living room while the basement holds darts and a shelf of board games.

Out back, the fenced lawn has room for croquet and a swing set, and a sheltered barn sets the table for meals in the open air. After dark the fire pit glows, s'mores in hand. Bikes wait in the shed for a ride across the estate.

The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum is about five minutes away, and the Culinary Institute of America runs five restaurants right in Hyde Park. Rhinebeck is a seven-minute drive north for antique shops and dinner. Come home in time to wander the estate's Italian Gardens at dusk.