Montgomery Place is located in Annandale-on-Hudson, overlooking the scenic Hudson River. The first owner of the home was Janet Livingston Montgomery, the widow of General Richard Montgomery, a Revolutionary War hero killed in the 1775 attack on Quebec. 

Montgomery Place was also owned by the 46th mayor of New York City, Edward Livingston. It remained in the Livingston family from 1805 to 1986, and was then sold to the nonprofit Historic Hudson Valley. In 2016, Bard College—also in Annandale-on-Hudson—purchased the mansion. 

The site boasts the oldest untouched old-growth oak forest in the Hudson Valley. It forms the 70 acre South Woods, also known as The Wilderness. According to the Old Growth Forest Network, the oldest oak in South Woods is from 1735. Many other trees, including ancient hemlocks, also call South Woods home.

Many noted individuals visited Montgomery Place. The elaborate gardens there were in part designed by noted landscape architect Andrew Jackson Downing. The mansion was designed by another well-known architect, A. J. Davis. Other well-known individuals also visited the property. According to the National Gallery of Art, Washington Irving visited the home twice in 1832. Irving was interested in horticulture.  

Montgomery Place has a long and storied past. Though it has changed hands many times, it remains an important part of local history, ranging from its preserved forestry to its now collegiate roots.

—AJ Schenkman

Photo from Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)