The Iconic Landscape

Gardens and Grounds

Overlooking Constitution Marsh toward the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Boscobel’s landscape showcases dramatic views of the Hudson River.

The Frances Stevens Reese Woodland Trail of Discovery offers hikers a tranquil mile through the forest. The Apple Orchard, Formal Garden, and Herb Garden feature fruit trees, flowers, and plants prized by New Yorkers then and now. The Hudson River School Artists Garden, with sculptures by Greg Wyatt, honors 19th-century painters who celebrated this landscape.

Boscobel embodies, preserves, and shares the beauty of the Hudson River Valley.

Open PDF of Property Map

Please see below for details on Boscobel’s extraordinary gardens featuring plants that were popular in the 19th century.

Open PDF of Herb Garden Plant List

Open PDF of Formal Garden Plant List

Highlights of the gardens and grounds:

Panoramic views

Boscobel overlooks Constitution Marsh, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and the Hudson Highlands from the Bear Mountain Bridge to Newburgh Bay.

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Hudson River School Artists Garden

Portrait busts by acclaimed local sculptor Greg Wyatt of ten major artists of the Hudson River School. The garden was generously funded by the Newington-Cropsey Foundation.

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The Formal Garden

Bordered by English yews, The Formal Garden is laid out an in an English wheel pattern according to the sensibility of our founding patron Lila Acheson Wallace. It is planted with pollinator-friendly, native species that were popular in early American gardens.

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Maple Lane

The extraordinary effort it took c. 1960 to move fully mature trees to line the drive leading up to the rear façade of the Historic House Museum was de rigueur Boscobel’s for landscape designers, Innocenti & Webel.

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The Apple Orchard

States Dyckman, for whom Boscobel was first designed, came from a Manhattan family that relied on apple trees for their sustenance and livelihood. When planning for his dream house on the Hudson, Dyckman purchased more than 225 fruit trees.

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Herb Garden and Orangery

Lovingly tended by Philipstown Garden Club volunteers, Boscobel’s Herb Garden features plants valued in the 19th-century. The Orangery is modeled after Southern garden buildings designed to harbor plants through cold weather.

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Pleasure Grounds, 1959

To design a site for a mansion restored beyond its original elegance, Boscobel turned to landscape firm Innocenti & Webel. They made some reference to Boscobel’s original working farm, but primarily reflected 20th-century ideals of a country estate.

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Landscape and Landmarks Tours and Audio Guide

Boscobel now offers two ways for visitors to tour the Grounds, via self-guided Audio Guide or new, expert-guided Landscape and Landmarks Tours. Both tours engage visitors with stories about Boscobel’s extraordinary history.

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Frances Stevens Reese Woodland Trail

Named for the tireless Hudson River Valley conservationist Frances Reese (1917-2003), the 1.25-mile Woodland Trail winds through 29 acres with a waterfall, scenic vistas, and rustic structures for a shady respite.

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West Meadow

The West Meadow is a bucolic setting for passive enjoyment, private events, or participatory community programs such as Boscobel’s annual Military Reenactment Day.

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