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Philipse Manor Hall | |
 The Manor house | |
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 Interactive map showing Phillipse Manor Hall’s location | |
| Location | Yonkers, New York |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40°56′08″N73°53′59″W / 40.93556°N 73.89972°W /40.93556; -73.89972 |
| Built | c.1682 |
| Architect | Frederick Philipse |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000585 |
| NYSRHP No. | 11940.000618 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966[2] |
| Designated NHL | November 5, 1961[1] |
| Designated NYSRHP | June 23, 1980 |
Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site is ahistoric house museum located in theGetty Square neighborhood ofYonkers,New York. Originally the family seat ofPhilipse Manor, and later Yonkers city hall, it isWestchester County's second oldest standing building after theTimothy Knapp House. Located near theHudson River at Warburton Avenue and Dock Street, it is owned and operated by theNew York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.[citation needed]
The southwest corner, the oldest part of the structure, was built around 1682 byDutch-born merchant and traderFrederick Philipse, the first Lord ofPhilipsburg Manor, and his wifeMargaret Hardenbroeck.[citation needed] Philipse, who by his second marriage became a son-in-law ofStephanus Van Cortlandt, had amassed by the time of his death a 52,000-acre (21,000 ha) estate along theHudson River that encompassed the entire modern city ofYonkers and much of western and lowerWestchester County.
During Philipse's life, the building was used primarily as a stopover point on the long journey up and down the river between his home inNew Amsterdam and the northern parts of his estate. His grandson,Frederick Philipse II, the second Lord, and his great-grandson,Frederick Philipse III the last, successively enlarged and enhanced the building, making it the primary family residence.
On November 28, 1776, nearly five months after the signing of theDeclaration of Independence and the start of theAmerican Revolution, Frederick Philipse III and over 200 of his contemporaries signed a document declaring their allegiance to theBritish Crown and their unwillingness to support the Revolutionary cause. Because of hisLoyalism, Philipse was branded a traitor and placed under arrest on orders signed by GeneralGeorge Washington. He was held inConnecticut for a time, but was given special permission to travel back to Yonkers to settle his affairs on the condition he was not to aid the British cause. In violation of his parole, he and his family fled to British-occupiedNew York City and later toGreat Britain, leaving their estate and Philipse Manor Hall behind to beattainted in 1779.[citation needed]
Philipse family holdings, which included thePhilipse Patent, a 250 square mile tract that became today'sPutnam and part ofDutchess counties, were sold at public auction by New York's Commissioners of Forfeitures during the Revolution. Philipse Manor Hall was occupied by various families throughout the 19th century. In 1868, the building became Yonkers' municipal center (asVillage Hall, and later, asCity Hall) and remained such until 1908. During this period, an elaborate monument to those Yonkers natives who had died during theAmerican Civil War was installed on the east lawn (1891).[citation needed]
By 1908, the growing complexity of city government had made the building nearly obsolete as a government center. Public meetings were held, and options such as adding wings onto the building and tearing it down outright were discussed. The question became moot when Eva Smith Cochran, matriarch of a wealthy local carpet milling family, stepped in and donated $50,000 to the city as a nominal reimbursement for their care of the building during the previous 40 years. This allowed the city to turn ownership of the building over to the State of New York. Between that time and the 1960s, the building was owned by the state but cared for by theAmerican Scenic and Historic Preservation Society. Since the dissolution of the Society, the building is owned, maintained and curated by theNew York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.[citation needed]
From 1911 to 1912, the most intense restoration project in the building's history brought the house back to a semblance of its colonial appearance. The building has been open as amuseum ofhistory,art andarchitecture since 1912.
The building was declared aNational Historic Landmark in 1961.[1]
The house is home to a ca. 1750papier-mâché and plasterRococo ceiling, one of two in-situ ceilings of its type in theUnited States. The elaborate ceiling is covered in designs and motifs relevant to Frederick Philipse III's lifestyle. For example, his love of music is represented by lute players, bagpipers and singers; his enthusiasm for hunting is represented by hunting dogs and game birds; and his education in the arts and sciences is represented by busts ofAlexander Pope and SirIsaac Newton.[citation needed]
Also of architectural significance is the 1868 City Council Chamber, designed byJohn Davis Hatch. The Chamber's high, vaulted ceiling and woodwork are intentionally reminiscent of a typical English manor house's great hall.
Throughout the house are paintings from the Cochran Collection of American Portraiture. This collection was put together by agents of Alexander Smith Cochran (son of Eva Smith Cochran and owner of the family's carpet mills) and features works byCharles Willson Peale andJohn Trumbull. Represented among the 60 paintings are nearly all of thepresidents of the United States from Washington toCalvin Coolidge, as well as war heroes, historical figures, and members of the Philipse family.[citation needed]
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