The Layers of Lyndhurst

Just 25 miles north of New York City stands Lyndhurst, an elaborate mansion overlooking the Hudson River. Its landscape, now in the midst of restoration, is a remarkable example of American garden styles from the pre-Civil War era to the 1940s.

Held by the National Trust for Historic Preservation since the 1960s, the 67-acre parcel saw its plants and garden elements slowly decline from lack of maintenance. (The mansion and its contents were well looked after, however.) Happily, detailed maps as well as photographs survived to prove the significance of the landscape and facilitate its comeback.

BEGINNINGS

Lyndhurst occupies what was once farmland worked by the Dutch settlers of the Hudson River Valley. By the 1830s, the property belonged to William Paulding,