What to See in Red Hook - Top Sights and Attractions

Historical place museum in Dutchess County, New York. Montgomery Place, now Bard College: The Montgomery Place Campus, near Barrytown, New York, United States, is an early 19th-century estate that has been designated a National Historic Landmark. It is also a contributing property to the Hudson River Historic District, itself a National Historic Landmark. It is a Federal-style house, with expansion designed by architect Alexander Jackson Davis. It reflects the tastes of a younger, post-Revolutionary generation of wealthy landowners in the Livingston family who were beginning to be influenced by French trends in home design, moving beyond the strictly English models exemplified by Clermont Manor a short distance up the Hudson River. It is the only Hudson Valley estate house from this era that survives intact, and Davis's only surviving neoclassical country house.

Andrew Jackson Downing praised the landscapes of the estate, work he had informally consulted on that was not completed in its final form until almost the mid-20th century. The southern 70 acres (28 ha) of the estate, which he called the Wilderness and is today known as the South Woods, is the oldest oak forest in the Hudson Valley. It has grown to 380 acres (150 ha), and includes many outbuildings. A network of trails and paths connects them and offers both quiet wooded tracts and views of the river and Catskill Mountains.

The estate was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. Ten years later, the Livingston descendants sold it to Historic Hudson Valley, a regional historic preservation group. The district was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1990, and Montgomery Place received that designation itself in 1992. In January 2016, Bard College purchased the estate from Historic Hudson Valley. Montgomery Place is located on Annandale Road near Barrytown, just off NY 9G. Montgomery Place grounds are open from dawn to dusk year-round. Mansion tours are available seasonally.^[2]

Church in Red Hook, New York. St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church is the official name of what is usually referred to as St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Red Hook, New York, United States. Its six buildings and cemetery are on a 15-acre lot on South Broadway just south of the village center. The current church is the third building on a spot that has been home to what was originally a Reformed congregation since 1796.

It is one of several Lutheran churches in the area that trace their roots to Palatine German emigrants in the early 18th century. Its late 19th-century brick building is a sophisticated application of the Romanesque Revival architectural style by a New York City architect. In 1998 the entire complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Recently, it has considered selling and demolishing some of the buildings due to financial difficulties.^[3]

Building. Maizefield, often locally called Maizeland, is a historic house on West Market Street in the village of Red Hook, New York, United States. It is a large plain brick building, in the Federal style, with clear English Georgian influences, built around the end of the 18th century. In 1973 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The house was occupied by General David Van Ness, a Continental Army officer during the Revolutionary War and later Brigardier General of the Dutchess County Militia, state assemblyman and senator who was the first supervisor of the Town of Red Hook. It is not known if house was built prior to his ownership; he sold the property shortly before his death in the 1810s. Aaron Burr hid there for a while shortly after killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel.

The house has been altered several times since then, including the addition of large wing on the south side. In the middle of the century, a timber-frame Victorian cottage was built on the southwest corner of the property. Later research found that it was designed by Alexander Jackson Davis. A number of prominent local families have lived in both houses since, and they remain private residences.^[5]

Building in Red Hook, New York. The Elmendorph Inn, is the oldest building in the village of Red Hook, New York, United States. It is located at the north corner of North Broadway and Cherry Street, a block north of the junction of Route 9 and NY 199.

It was built in the mid-18th century as an inn to serve long-distance travelers on the Albany Post Road. In the 1810s, it became the meeting place of the Red Hook Town Board for the next several decades. It has had a number of owners; the Elmendorphs are the earliest known ones. In the 1830s, it was expanded and renovated, eventually becoming just a residence. After a recent restoration it has become a community center. In 1978 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^[7]

Building. The Hendrick Martin House is located on Willowbrook Lane in the town of Red Hook, New York, United States, just north of the eponymous village. It is a stone house built in two phases in the mid- and late 18th century. In 2007 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

It has been claimed by its present owners to be the oldest house in the town. Martin, who may not have been the original owner, was a second-generation Palatine German who chose to settle down in the area. The older sections of the house reflect German building traditions, not as common in the Hudson Valley's stone houses as Dutch ones. Later sections incorporating designs from other cultures present in the area by that period. In the 19th century it passed from the Martins' ownership into others; the most recent owners have undertaken renovations that have both modernized it and brought it back to its original appearance.^[8]