Formal Gardens at the Vanderbilt Estate in Hyde Park, Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site

I’ve been to dozens of gardens at historic sites in the National Park system, and most haven’t been any more impressive than the landscaping at my townhome complex. The Formal Gardens at Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, on the other hand, are fabulous. This is as close to a major city’s botanical garden as you will find in a National Park. Visiting the gardens is included in the park entrance fee, so I highly suggest making the .1-mile walk south from the Vanderbilt Mansion to the gardens. Level walking paths connect the gardens to the mansion and Pavilion Visitor Center.

Level walking path between the Vanderbilt Mansion and the Formal Gardens, Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site

The gardens on the Vanderbilt Estate were already established by the previous property owner, Walter Langdon Jr., starting in 1874, though by the time Frederick and Louise Vanderbilt purchased the property in 1895, they were in somewhat of a dilapidated condition. It wasn’t until 1901, a year after the mansion was completed, that the Vanderbilts hired professional landscape architects to overhaul the gardens.

Boy and Dolphin Fountain in the Formal Gardens of the Vanderbilt Estate at Hyde Park, Vanderbilt National Historic Site

There were numerous buildings in the gardens when the Vanderbilts arrived, but most have since been torn down. The only pre-Vanderbilt structures surviving today are the Gardener’s Cottage, the Tool House, and the Potting Shed, all of which were built by the Langdons in 1875. The Tool House is now the office of the Frederick W. Vanderbilt Garden Association. The Gardener’s Cottage is used as housing for park Rangers. The Potting Shed serves as the storage shed for gardening and lawn maintenance equipment used by the National Park Service and the volunteers who maintain the gardens. All other structures now standing were built by the Vanderbilts between 1902 and 1916.

Tool House in the Formal Gardens of the Vanderbilt Estate in Hyde Park, Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site

Gardener’s Cottage at the Formal Gardens of the Vanderbilt Estate in Hyde Park, Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site

Potting shed built in 1875 in the Formal Gardens of the Vanderbilt Estate in Hyde Park, Vanderbilt National Historic Site

The Formal Gardens at Vanderbilt National Historic Site consist of seven terraces. The upper terrace on the west side of the garden near the entrance and the terrace to the right of it are actually themselves made of an upper and lower terrace. The third terrace to the east is one level, though many of its elements are sunken. The southeastern extension, which protrudes from the third terrace to form an L shape, is also made of an upper and lower terrace.

View of the terraces that make up the Formal Gardens of the Vanderbilt Estate in Hyde Park, Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site

In 1901, the Vanderbilts hired Charles A. Platt to design a new garden. Platt was a noted landscape architect who had written a book on Italian gardens, and his designs were inspired by such gardens. However, the Vanderbilts did not care for his ideas, so they fired him within the year and hired James L. Greenleaf, another proponent of Italian gardens. Greenleaf worked for the Vanderbilts from 1902 to 1904.

Architectural additions during Greenleaf’s tenure include the Italian-style reflecting pool and pool house with an attached pergola at the southern end of the gardens, and a pergola next to the Gardener’s Cottage at the northern end. A walkway flanked by flower beds connects the two structures.

Reflecting pool and pool house at the Formal Gardens of the Vanderbilt Estate in Hyde Park, Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site

Northern pergola in the Formal Gardens of the Vanderbilt Estate in Hyde Park, Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site

Walkway between the northern pergola and the pool house in the Formal Gardens of the Vanderbilt Estate at Hyde Park, Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site

In 1905, the greenhouses built by Langdon on the upper terrace (in front of the Tool House) were torn down and replaced by two glass Palm Houses used for growing tropical plants and palmetto trees. In 1907, a Langdon greenhouse located between the Tool House and Gardener’s Cottage was replaced by a new greenhouse for growing carnations (the Carnation House). The last Langdon-era greenhouse was replaced in 1908 by a greenhouse for roses (the Rose House) that was attached to the existing Potting Shed. None of these exist today. The Rose House was sold in 1947. In 1950, one of the Palm Houses was destroyed, and the glass from the second building was removed. The Carnation House and the remaining Palm House were torn down in 1954. Today the spaces are covered with grass because there was never any garden plots at these locations during the Vanderbilt era.

1938 layout of the Formal Gardens of the Vanderbilt Estate in Hyde Park

Modern layout of the Formal Gardens of the Vanderbilt Estate in Hyde Park

Upper terrace near the Tool House where the Palm Houses once stood in the Formal Gardens of the Vanderbilt Estate in Hyde Park, Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site

In 1910, the Vanderbilts hired Thomas Meehan and Sons, a local nursery that also did landscape design work, to expand the gardens. Meehan and Sons attached a two-terrace rose garden to the southeastern end of the Formal Gardens next to the reflecting pool. A circular fountain known as the Frog Fountain was installed at the far end. The fountain was made in France around 1890 and brought over to America by the Vanderbilts. It featured a marble fountainhead in the shape of a frog. However, this fountain was replaced 1924 with one featuring a statue of Orpheus with a dolphin. The statue and the pedestal it stood on were removed in 2005 due to deterioration. The Italianate-style loggia now standing was built in 1916.

1916 Italianate-style loggia in the Rose Garden of the Vanderbilt Estate in Hyde Park, Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site

Prior to the Rose Garden addition, the eastern side of the Formal Gardens ended at a red brick wall with columns spaced evenly along its entire north-to-south length. To access the Rose Garden, Meehan and Sons created two openings in the wall and built two staircases down to the upper terrace. A single set of stairs at the east-center of the upper terrace leads down to the lower terrace where the fountain is located. Though called a rose garden, a large variety of flowers were grown—and are still grown. When originally built, the lower terrace was planted with 160 assorted roses of various colors.

Eastern boundary wall of the Formal Gardens prior to the 1910 expansion, Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site

Stairs down to the southeastern Rose Garden in the Formal Gardens of the Vanderbilt Estate at Hyde Park, Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site

From 1913 until 1934, the Vanderbilts hired landscape architect Robert Cridland to oversee the design of the Formal Gardens, which mainly centered around seasonal planting schemes, not the creation of new gardens and structures. He was, however, the man behind the installation of the Rose Garden loggia in 1916.

Following Frederick Vanderbilt’s death in 1938 (Louise had died in 1926), the Vanderbilt Estate became part of the National Park system (1940). Because of a lack of funds during World War II, nothing was done to renovate the gardens, and by 1943 they were in such terrible condition that they were closed to the public. In the 1960s, the entire area was dug up and planted with grass. It wasn’t until 1984 that volunteers approached the National Park Service about restoring the gardens. It was agreed, but they could only plant what was historically in the gardens and where it was planted when the Vanderbilts lived there. Furthermore, the government would not provide any funding. This prompted the volunteers to form the nonprofit organization Frederick W. Vanderbilt Garden Association to raise money for the project.

To determine what to plant and where to plant it, historical photographs were referenced. Another source was the 1967 sketches of the gardens done by Alex Knauss, who worked for the Vanderbilts as a gardener from 1924 to 1938. He also had an extensive collection of garden photos. The entire Formal Gardens today, which is restored to its 1938 appearance, is the result of the work by the F. W. Vanderbilt Garden Association. The National Park Service only pays to maintain the buildings.

Formal Gardens of the Vanderbilt Estate in Hyde Park, Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site

Plan to spend about a half hour at the Formal Gardens to see the entire grounds. If the volunteers are on duty, you may spend more time if you have an interest in gardening and strike up a conversation.

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