While Samuel Untermyer (1858–1940) amassed a fortune as a corporate attorney, he also cultivated a wealth of knowledge about horticulture and created a nationally recognized garden at his 150-acre Greystone estate in Yonkers, New York. Today, the stewards of the grounds seek assistance.
I recently visited the estate now known as Untermyer Park and Gardens, a public park that relies in part on donations. I learned about the park through a friend and when I did research for my blog Three Dancing Maidens, a sculpture in Central Park that once graced Greystone. I walked through two sections of the extensive grounds, the Walled Garden, the park’s centerpiece, and the overlook on the Hudson River.
Architect William Welles Bosworth designed the Walled Garden, drawing on concepts from various cultures. Two standouts are the Grecian temple with a mosaic walkway and two Persian sphinxes perched atop tall marble columns in the amphitheater. The garden leads to a lower terrace. There, a doorway opens onto an expansive vista with a long staircase to the overlook with Roman columns.
As I developed this blog I learned that the privately-run Untermyer Conservancy is to raise the funds necessary to fully restore the park to its former glory. Maybe this blog can serve to help promote that project.
