Oak Terrace, the Childhood Summer Home of Eleanor Roosevelt, Can Be Yours for $5.25 Million

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    When she arrived for a picnic on the grounds of her childhood home in 1949, Eleanor Roosevelt found the Second Empire manse “practically falling down.” While some restoration efforts have stabilized Oak Terrace, it’s back on the market and in need of a buyer to finish the effort.

    Located on Woods Road, a meandering Columbia County roadway along the Hudson River that was once lined with sprawling estates, the house, and the almost 25 acres surrounding, isn’t given an address in the listing. That’s likely to keep it distinct from the former gatehouse for the property at 794 Woods Road that went up for sale earlier this year and is now off the market.

    eleanor roosevelt at oak terrace

    A young Eleanor Roosevelt on the grounds of Oak Terrace in 1894. Photo via the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

    oak terrace 1978

    The house in 1978. Photo from the Clermont Estates National Register Historic District survey forms via National Archives

    Both houses were once part of the estate of Valentine G. Hall, Jr. and Mary Livingston Ludlow Hall, maternal grandparents of Eleanor Roosevelt. The couple married in 1861 and in 1872 built a country home on land given to the couple by Mary’s parents. In “Roosevelt Homes of the Hudson Valley: Hyde Park and Beyond,” historian Shannon Butler identifies Carl Pfeiffer as the architect behind the design.

    German architect Pfeiffer arrived in the U.S. in 1863 and established a practice in Manhattan. By the time he would have been hired by the Hall family he had already designed civic structures, like the Germania Fire Insurance Company Bowery Building, as well as the Hamilton Park housing development in Staten Island.

    germantown

    The estate of V. G. Hall in 1873. Base map ny D.G. Beers & Co. via New York Public Library

    The house, which was known as Oak Terrace at Tivoli at least as early as 1900, became the summer home for the couple, with winters spent at their Manhattan townhouse. An 1875 New York census recorded the couple in their summer home along with five children and seven servants. Their oldest child, Anna, would become the mother of Eleanor Roosevelt.

    Eleanor joined the Hall household, both in the city and country, after the death of both of her parents by the time she was nine. What we know of the interior of the house comes from Eleanor herself, who shared her memories of the house in her autobiography. “The house at Tivoli was big, with high ceilings and a good many rooms, most of them large,” she wrote. “On the second and third floors there were nine master bedrooms and four double servants’ rooms and one single one.” In her youth, the house had no gas or electricity and there were only two bathrooms, with basins and pitchers for washing up in the bedrooms.

    She also shared some memories in her “My Day” column, including those stirred up from that 1949 picnic on the grounds near the crumbling manse with a group of her Hyde Park neighbors and her grandchildren. The property was already out of the family’s hands by then — it had been sold in the 1930s.

    oak terrace woods road germantown eleanor roosevelt

    oak terrace woods road germantown eleanor roosevelt

    After several changes in ownership, with little work apparently done to maintain the house, it was found to be neglected but in sound condition when it was surveyed for inclusion in the Clermont Estates National Register Historic District.

    Brownstoner featured the house back in 2012 when it was on the market as a fixer-upper for $3 million. It was purchased the next year by Van Lamprou, who told the New York Times in 2017 that he planned to restore the mansion for use as a place for civic engagement in the spirit of Eleanor Roosevelt. The ambitious goal was to have the work completed in two years.

    As the photos show, the interior finish work remains, but according to the listing the plumbing, electrical and roof work has all been completed. The house has zoned heat and air conditioning in every room and all eight fireplaces have been brought back into working order.

    oak terrace interior eleanor roosevelt summer home

    oak terrace woods road germantown eleanor roosevelt

    While the plaster is gone from most of the walls and ceilings of the main level, there’s still wood moldings around the doors and windows and at least two sets of pocket doors along with an elaborate newel post at the foot of the original staircase. Upstairs a photo shows a glimpse of an intact coved, paneled ceiling with a skylight.

    There are 10,000 square feet of the interior to fit out, currently divided into 18 rooms. Outside there’s even more room to spread out with porches from which to enjoy the Hudson River view and acres of land.

    This bit of history is listed with Paul Hallenbeck Real Estate at $5.25 million.

    oak terrace woods road germantown eleanor roosevelt

    oak terrace woods road germantown eleanor roosevelt

    oak terrace woods road germantown eleanor roosevelt

    oak terrace woods road germantown eleanor roosevelt

    oak terrace woods road germantown eleanor roosevelt

    oak terrace woods road germantown eleanor roosevelt

    oak terrace woods road germantown eleanor roosevelt

    oak terrace woods road germantown eleanor roosevelt

    oak terrace woods road germantown eleanor roosevelt

    oak terrace woods road germantown eleanor roosevelt

    oak terrace woods road germantown eleanor roosevelt

    oak terrace woods road germantown eleanor roosevelt

    oak terrace eleanor roosevelt

    oak terrace eleanor roosevelt

    oak terrace eleanor roosevelt

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