Staatsburgh State Historic Site(The Mills Mansion)

75 Mills Mansion Drive

Staatsburgh, NY  12580

http://www.facebook.com/staatsburghSHS

Open: Thursday-Sunday: 11:00am-5:00pm

TripAdvisor Review:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g48676-d107418-Reviews-Staatsburgh_State_Historic_Site_Mills_Mansion-Staatsburg_New_York.html?m=19905

Hours: Open Thursday-Sunday: 11:00am-5:00pm (the last tour is at 4:00pm)/Open Monday Holidays from April 19th to October 28th. The mansion then closes to prepare for the holiday season. Closed on Thanksgiving and Easter. There are special programs from January to April so please see the website.

Admission: $8.00 for adults/$6.00 for groups and Seniors/Children under 12 are free. Special events have separate fees and can run from $8.00 to $10.00 and above.

I have been a Friend of the Mills Mansion for about five years and have attended many special events at the mansion including their Afternoon Tea & Lectures, the Annual Meeting and Talk, The Holiday Party and the Isadora Duncan Dance and Reception. Their events are a lot of fun and are very engaging. It also includes a tour of the mansion which is very interesting. Try to get on one of their theme tours.

The Friends of Mills Mansion Meeting on April 2019

Their Special Events:

I recently attended their Summer fundraiser “Sunset on the Terrace”, an evening of cocktails, appetizers and music. On a beautiful sunny evening, there is nothing like it. We were entertained by the Perry Beekman Trio with an assortment of jazz music while passed hot and cold appetizers were passed around the room. It is a relaxing night of light food and cocktails and wine while chatting with members as the sun sets on the mansion’s terrace. Now I know why the Mills loved this house so much.

Another event I have attended over the past few years has been their “Christmas Cocktail Party” that is held in the formal dining room which is decorated for a Victorian Christmas.

Mill’s Mansion at the holidays is spectacular

What is nice is that everyone is dressed in suits or tuxes for the evening and like its Summer counterpart, it is a evening of light appetizers both passed and on the tables, light desserts and an assortment of wines from a local vineyard.

The Mills Mansion Holiday Party in 2018

The “Winter Lectures & Teas” have gotten more interesting over the years. The tables are laden with tea sandwiches, scones and small cakes and the Staatsburg blend of tea. They are always refilling everything for you and I have seen some big eaters at the table. The lectures this year were on various subjects taking place during the Victorian era that included “Bicycling and the Women’s Movement”, “Masquerade Balls during the Season” and “Etiquette & Calling Cards during a Social Visit” by visiting lecturers from colleges or local historians.

Afternoon tea here is wonderful

I recently went to the Victorian Halloween Lecture which was very interesting. These are a nice afternoon of good food and interesting discussion.

Mill’s Mansion Halloween Tea

The last lecture I went to before things shut down in February 2020 was on “Masquerade Balls of the Gilded Age” which was very interesting. The enormous amount of money that was spent on a one night affair is almost mind boggling. The Vanderbilt Ball alone cost almost three million dollars in today’s money.

These were not just social occasions but a change to show off your wealth and creativity. It was what money could buy back then before the coming of personal and income tax and the Great Depression. The speaker discussed the food and the music and the fact the home was filled with flowers out of season.

The Famous Vanderbilt Ball

She discussed how the balls were created during Roman times in Venice for the start of Carnival (Mardi Gras was the next week) and how they developed during the Renaissance. She then discussed how they played a role in High Society during the Gilded Age and they were considered a little risque at the time. It was a very interesting discussion. As usual, the tea and cakes were delicious and they did a nice job decorating the room.

Hostess Alva Vanderbilt at her famous Ball

The Masked Cocktail Party for Christmas 2022 fundraiser:

The mansion ready for a Christmas party

The Mills Mansion, Staatsburgh, was decked out for the holidays on the night of December 9th, 2022 for a private fundraiser to raise money to replace the curtains in the library on top of other repairs at the mansion. This sold out event was packed the whole evening and was attending by over a 100 people who spilled over into the library and foyer.

Entering the party through the decorated foyer lead to the festivities as it would have during the Gilded Age

The Christmas Tree in the foyer was amazing

There was an open bar with wines and spirits plus water and non-alcoholic choices, passed appetizers with items like gourmet cheese spreads, chicken on a skewer and Christmas cookies. The band was wonderful and played all sorts of contemporary hits as well as Christmas music.

Everyone dressed for the Mills Mansion Ball-The Masquerade Cocktail Party Fundraiser December 9th, 2022

The three main rooms on the top floor were decorated to the hilt for the party

The main dining room was decorated with the theme of masks

People were in a festive mood

The Dining Room table was the focal point of the room

People gathered all over the Dining Room for the event

There was an air of mystery in the Dining Room with everyone wearing masks

The lead singer of the band had the most beautiful 1920’s star outfit

People enjoying themselves in the Dining Room

The Dining Room was packed at the height of the evening

The Band was excellent

The mask decorations were amazing

The party continued in the Library which was also decorated for the holidays

The Library Christmas tree was ablaze the evening of the party

I was only at the party for about an hour but I had a really nice time and I needed it. I had to get my mind off school and with the few drinks and lively conversation mixed with wonderful food, it was an enchanting evening. It was so nice to see people all dressed up again and very age appropriate to the time period. I felt like I had been carried back to the mid-1920’s.

I was also nice to tour the mansion in such a lively time of the day. People were having such a good time.

Visiting the Mansion at the Christmas Holidays:

Don’t miss visiting the Mills Mansion during the Christmas holidays. The house is decked out for a Victorian Christmas even though the Mills did not spend much time at the mansion during the holiday season preferring to live in their New York mansion during the holiday social season.

The holidays are a sumptuous display of the beauty of the Christmas season and a way of showcasing all the nooks and crannies of the house. It showed how Victorians may have enjoyed the holiday season.

The Mills Mansion foyer Christmas tree in December 2022

The foyer was adorned with flowers and garland as you entered the home

The Mills daughter and grandson

The family portrait gallery

The Reception Room between the Foyer and the Dining Room

The Dining Room:

Masks were the theme in December 2022

Masks adorned the Dining Room for Christmas

Still the house is decked out every year with different decorations and the formal dining room has just had the ceiling repaired and new velvet curtains put on the windows. The foyer steps of the older part of the mansion have been repaired with new curtains and rugs as well. Don’t miss seeing the tree in the foyer.

The volunteers are all on staff to answer any questions so feel free to ask about how the Mills entertained and lived in this era. The mansion is so beautifully decorated for the holidays.

The Mills Mansion dining room at Christmas in December 2022

The Dining Room was designed for a Masquerade Ball theme in December 2022

The Butler’s Pantry off the Dining Room for the holidays in December 2022

Still the house is decked out every year with different decorations and the formal dining room has just had the ceiling repaired and new velvet curtains put on the windows. The foyer steps of the older part of the mansion have been repaired with new curtains and rugs as well.

The Library:

The Mills Mansion Library at Christmas in December 2022

The Christmas tree in the library is very elegant

Family portraits in the Library

Down the hall from the Dining Room and the Library are the bedrooms of the hosts of the house, Ruth and Ogden Mills. These elegant bedrooms shared a modern day bathroom.

Ruth’s Private Office:

Ruth conducted her business from her private office. Her portrait sits proudly in the room.

The Bedrooms and Personal Family Space:

Ogden Mills bedroom on the first floor

The modern bathroom at the Mills Mansion

Ruth Mills grand bedroom

The staircase was fully decorated for the holidays as well with garlands and trees

The landing of the staircase to the first floor

The decorated staircase

The mansion’s beautiful gift shop is located at the bottom of the stairs.

In 2020 and 2021: (During COVID)

Recently with the COVID-19 pandemic and outbreak affecting cultural sites all over the United States, New York State has enacted Phase 4 of reopening with the exception of opening museums, restaurants and bars for business so they all have to take it “outside”. That Staatsburg site is no different as the inside of the mansion has remained closed.

That leads to new creativity and ideas of how to show off the mansion and it’s grounds true beauty. The State Park site has now created two different programs for the Summer months, the ‘Landscape Tour’ of the mansion’s former ice house, greenhouse, boat house and walking paths and the ‘Programs on the Portico’, lectures of the mansion’s past starting with a lecture of “Staatsburgh’s Servants”.

The Landscape tour of the property was very interesting as our group strolled through the grounds first to the site of the old ‘icehouse’ by the river, where ice was cut in the wintertime and used for the ‘ice boxes’ in the home which was those days ‘modern refrigeration’.  We also visited the site of the ‘boat house’ where water sports by the river started the day and the yachts that used to flow up and down the Hudson River.

Our next stop on the tour were the sites of the old greenhouses that used to supply flowers for the mansion and fruits and vegetables for the kitchen. They disappeared over fifty years ago. The site of the stables is now an overgrown woods but once lead to bridle paths around the estate. The tour is about 90 minutes.

The ‘Programs on the Portico’ lectures started with the theme “Staatsburg’s Servants” later in the afternoon. These 3:00pm lectures on the ‘front porch’ of the mansion are socially distanced and under cool  shade.

The lecture was on items that the servants would use when the family was ‘in residence’ in the warmer months and how they would be used day to day. Items like a hand-cranked ice cream maker and a scoop for desserts, a bottle closer for beverages, a rug cleaner and a meat press for meals were just some of the items displayed and discussed. It was explained how the house would go through a deep cleaning when the family was away and when they were ‘at home’ how the house would be cleaned around them.

On a recent “Lecture on the Portico”, the topic of the “Titanic” was discussed. It seems that Mr. And Mrs. Mills had tickets on the return voyage to Europe from New York. They lost many friends and family members like J.J. Astor on the sinking of the ship. Our lecturer talked about what you would wear, you would eat and how you would dine on the ship and all the protocols of behavior. Between the sinking of the ship and WWI this ended the “Gilded Age” and ushered in the “Jazz Age” after the war was over. All of the these lectures and tours are free.

Another tour I was on recently was the “Exploring the Village of Staatsburgh” tour where a small group of us toured the Village of Staatsburgh where the mansion was located and learn about the history of the town. It was taken from the perspective of how the mansion was dependent on it and the town benefited from the Mills family and the people that worked there.

We met at the Staatsburgh Library which was a old church at one time.

The beautiful neighborhood gardens by the library.

Home

We visit the homes of the people who lived there like the Head Housekeeper, the Estate Manager and Butler and the footman. It was interesting to see how these people lived when they were not working.

The homes in Staatsburgh were beautifully decorated for the holidays

We learned how the town was created, how the businesses like the railroad and the ice manufacturing businesses were developed and how they grew. We learned a how the town was much more developed before WWII and the effects of the development of Route 9 bypassing the town changed it.

St. Margaret’s Church was where we started the tour which is an amazing church. The stained-glass windows are beautiful.

https://www.stmargaretsepiscopalchurch.org/

The Stained-glass windows at St. Margaret’s Church were dedicated to members of the Livingston family.

St, Margaret’s at Christmas time in 2022

When we were on the tour, we saw how the town progressed from being dependent on the mansions and estates to how businesses like ice harvesting became prominent in the area up until the 1950’s. Our last stop was the old Hughes Department store in the old downtown area which is now a sail store for boating.

The former Hughes Department Store which is at the end of the tour.

The old Hughes Family home right down the road from their store.

As a member, we also had a recent concert on the portico to hear the duo “Acute Inflections” perform on the lawn. We all stayed socially distanced on the lawn but still the concert was nice, and this is what being a member of the Friends group is all about. These small events make a big difference.

The duo “Acute Reflections” performed that day

“Acute Reflections” performing

Another recent tour I took at the Mills Mansion was the “Estates of Staatsburgh” tour where we visited the abandoned estates of the Lee and the Hoyt families. The Hoyt’s were distant relatives of Ruth Livingston, and their mansion still stands up on a buff in the woods overlooking the Hudson River. The family lived there until the 1960’s when the land and home were sold to the State of New York to create the park.

The abandoned Hoyt Estate will soon be a Visitors Center for the Park

http://www.hudsonvalleyruins.org/rinaldi/PAGES/thepoint.htm

The Hoyt Estate buildings

The Lee Mansion burned down in the late 1950’s and all that is left of their estate if the old icehouse, which is the size of a regular home. Most of these old estates we came to find out were self-sufficient with agriculture and light manufacturing.

The Hoyt Mansion in its heyday

We got to see all the back trails to these old estates and the old driveways that once led to them. They have been abandoned since the 1960’s and have almost a spooky appearance of being lost in time. With the foliage in the background, it gave them a Halloween appearance. The tour was very interesting how the Gilded Age didn’t last too long when modern times came into play with income tax.

The filled in decorative pond is one of the things left of the Lee Estate.

The old Horse trough near St. Margaret’s Church

To ring in 2021, the park had their “First Day Hike tour, ‘Staatsburgh in Winter”. There were two walking tours around the estate. One entitled “Staatsburgh in Winter” which discussed the wintertime fun at the turn of the century and the activities the Mills family enjoyed when they were at the estate in winter months. It seems that Ruth Mills was quite an accomplished figure skater. The family also owned an ice yacht, “The Beatrice” that they rode on the frozen river.

The Mills Mansion New Year’s Day Walking Tours-Me with the dark jacket and white mask

The second tour we took later that afternoon was “When Ice came from the river: Ice Harvesting in the Gilded Age”. We toured the river and the cove areas of the estate and discussed the ice block harvesting business that Mr. Mill’s had on the river. The family ice house could hold 500 tons of ice that was sold down in New York City. It was interesting to see how the process of clearing the snow and cutting the ice into blocks served as refrigeration for thousands of residents before refrigerators came into use.

Both tours our groups walked the back of the estate and the river front along the Hudson River. The tour guide had a long conversation on how the river was used during the Winter and that life continued in a productive way even after the holidays were over. It was a great way to spend the first day of the New Year.

The park continues to amaze me in their adaption on running events during the COVID era.

In 2021, the mansion had been opened for the Christmas tours, but I was not able to attend. There was not that much time to run back and forth to the Hudson River Valley but in February 2022 the mansion finally resumed inside tours of the first floor of the mansion to the public.

The mansion looked like it had gone through a deep cleaning as everything looked shiny and new. It would have made Mrs. Mills proud. I was lucky to come up to Staatsburgh during the ‘Spring Thaw’ and it was 56 degrees out so I could enjoy the grounds as well. I learned some new things about how the Butler’s Pantry worked, and we were able to see the ice chests and china and silver that the family used for service. I swear I learn new things on each tour I take here.

Our Annual Friends April Meeting in 2023 was a nice time. The Executive Board held the meeting in the Mills Dining Room with all the gilded fixtures as a backdrop. Our President of the Friends, Diane Tompkins gave the report of the successful year we had last year with record breaking attendance. I guess the the show “The Gilded Age” has been helping a lot. A lot of these Upstate mansions are getting a lot of attention now.

Friends President Diane Tompkins giving the report of the organization

It seems that the gift shop is really doing well and is also exceeding its numbers so things have been going well in post-COVID. Both the site director and the Friends Treasurer said we are exceeding our numbers on both attendance, membership and profits in the gift shop will be helping fund restoration projects in the mansion.

After the meeting, we had a light reception both in the Dining Room and on the terrace right off the main Dining Room. What a night! Sunny, warm and clear. It was such a beautiful evening with views of the Hudson River in the background and Spring buds popping all over the estate.

The reception on the terrace of the Mills Mansion

The grounds of the Mills Estate from the terrace

The Hudson River from the terrace

The sun setting over the Hudson River as the reception drew to a close

It was a really nice meeting and reception for the members. I can see that everyone was glad that after COVID that we were able to bounce back and start to exceed after such a rough time.

In 2023, the mansion was decorated to the hilt for the Christmas holiday season. Even though in real life, the family would have been in New York City for the Christmas and Winter season, the house was decorated with each room having its own decorations and trees.

According some of the grandchildren, the mansion was open for the Christmas holiday season and the family celebrated the holidays. I visited the mansion during the “Evening Hours” event where the mansion was open for a self-guided tour of the house and you could see the decorations at your own pace. There was music performed by the Hyde Park String Quartet in the formal Dining Room.

Staatsburgh (The Mills Mansion) when I arrived for the tour in 2023.

I toured the house with a group of visitors who had never seen the mansion before so there was a lot of interest in the history of the home and the people that lived there. Ever since the “Gilded Age” came out, the interest in these homes has increased and this evening event was sold out. Since I am a member, I was able to sneak into the first self-guided tour at 6:00pm.

The stairs to the second floor of the Mills Mansion.

The first stop was in the Library where it was reported that the family did have a Christmas tree for a Christmas celebration in the house.

The Christmas tree in the Library.

The Library

The painting of General Montgomery in the Library.

I moved onto the main Hallway and entrance to the mansion which was the original part of the house. This was until Ruth Livingston Mills expanded the house in the late 1800’s to its present size.

The main Foyer of the mansion in the front of the house with the Christmas tree.

The Christmas tree in the Main entrance of the mansion.

The fireplace in the foyer/hallway with a picture of Ruth Mill’s mother.

Ogden Mill’s portrait in the foyer.

Another display in the foyer leading to the Dining Room.

The front and back parlor of the old part of the mansion was used as a Living Room for Ladies to relax while their husbands stayed in the Dining Room to talk and smoke.

The Holding Room decorated for the holidays. This is where guests would wait to come in for dinner.

The Hyde Park Quartet was playing the night of the “Evening Hours” at the Mills Mansion.

The Dining Room table set for a feast.

The Tapestry on display on the wall.

The other angle of the Dining Room table.

The fireplace in the Dining Room.

The Dining Room could not work without the Kitchen and the Butler Pantry to supply the Dining Room with the things that it needs.

The Butler’s Pantry with all the holiday dishes prepared for the Dining Room.

The Dumbwaiter from the lower level kitchen.

The China and Silver for the Dining Room along with the desserts that would be served at the end of the holiday feast.

Once I left the Dining Room, we toured the back of the first floor where Ruth Mills had her office and both her and Ogden’s bedrooms.

Ruth’s office where she would run the estate. The dollhouse displayed in the office was very detailed. After that, I visited Ruth’s bedroom which was fit for a Queen. Ogden’s was right next door as was Victorian tradition that the couple had separate rooms. They had three children so there was no problem in that department.

Ruth’s bedroom

Ruth’s Bedroom

Once I visited the upstairs bedrooms, I visited the gift shop on my way out. The whole tour took about an hour to see all the decorations. The volunteers had done a wonderful job with the decorations of the house and it was nice to see them especially the Dining Room.

When I left in the evening, the house was ablaze with light and looked festive from the outside.

All of these can be seen on the organization’s website.

It was another great tour in 2023.

History:

In 1792, Morgan Lewis, the third Governor of New York, purchased an estate covering of about 334 acres and commissioned the construction of a colonial-style house on the site of the present mansion. In 1832, the first house was destroyed by fire, said to be the act of arson committed by disgruntled tenant farmers.

The current home, originally built in 1832 and greatly expanded in the 1890’s, the Mills Mansion (also known as Staatsburgh) is emblematic of the great country estates built in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to house America’s wealthiest families.

The Mill’s Mansion in the Summer months

https://parks.ny.gov/historic-sites/staatsburgh/details.aspx

Staatsburgh is a New York State Historic Site located within the boutonnieres of Mills-Norrie State Park. It is an elegant example of the great estates built by America’s financial and industrial leaders during the Gilded Age.

A 25 room Greek Revival structure was built on the site in 1832 by Morgan Lewis and his wife, Gertrude Livingston, replacing an earlier house that had burned down. This second house was inherited by Ruth Livingston Mills, wife of noted financier and philanthropist Ogden Mills.

Ruth Livingston Mills

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18151451/ruth-mills

In 1895, Mr. and Mrs. Mills commissioned the prestigious New York City architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White to remodel and enlarge their Staatsburgh home. After the completion in 1896, the house was transformed into a Beaux-Arts mansion of 65 rooms and 14 bathrooms. Its exterior was embellished with balustrades, pilasters, floral swags and a massive portico. The rooms were furnished with elaborately carved and gilded furniture, fine oriental rugs, silk fabrics and a collection of art objects from Europe, ancient Greece and the Far East.

Ogden Mills

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogden_Mills_(financier)

In 1938, the house and 192 acres were given to the State of New York by Gladys Mills Phipps, the daughter of Ruth and Ogden Mills. The estate is now operated by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. In 1988, the Friends of Mills Mansion were organized to support the preservation and educational work at the site.

(Friends of the Mills Mansion Website)

Design:

The outside of the mansion features a massive portico, balustrades, pilasters and floral festoons. The central part of the mansion is layered into a basement, three floors and an attic. In the north and south wings, there is a sub basement, a basement and two floors. Ceilings in the older part of the building dating prior to the enlargement (the first floor of the central part) are about 14 feet high, whereas the ceilings of the later construction (first floor of the north and south wings) can be about 18 feet high. The interior of the building is decorated in French styles of the 17th and 18th century. However, some architectural elements of the previous home have been preserved in the process.

Preservation:

The Mills Mansion poses several challenges to preservation: On the outside, a gray sprayed concrete finish which was added later as a preservation measure need to be removed and replaced with a more suitable surface treatment. At the same time, the decorative cornice and many decorative elements need to be either restored or replaced. On the inside of the building, wall paint and furnishings fabrics are in need of replacement, marble and wooden surfaces need to be cleaned and the objects of the mansion’s collection need to be conserved.

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