The Beautiful Untermyer Park,- A Place to See in Westchester

7/27/2022 (Permalink)

Untermyer Park and Gardens is a historic 43-acre city public park, located in Yonkers, New York in Westchester County, just north of New York City. The park is a remnant of Samuel Untermyer's 150-acre estate "Greystone". Situated on the steep land arising from the eastern bank of the Hudson River to the bluff on top of it, the park features a Walled Garden inspired by ancient Indo-Persian gardens, a small Grecian-style open-air amphitheater with two facing sphynxes supported by tall Ionic columns, a classical pavilion, stoa and loggias, a rock-and-water feature called "The Temple of Love", as well as a long staircase from the Walled Garden to an Overlook with views of the river and the Palisades. Untermyer Park and Gardens  was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. 

The gardens were developed beginning in 1916 by Untermyer, a prominent lawyer and civic leader, and were designed by architect and landscape designer William W. Bosworth, with fountains by Charles Wellford Leavitt, and sculptures by Paul Manship and other artists. The gardens were regularly opened to the public, hosted performances of noted dancers, actors and musicians, and were considered to be among the finest gardens in the United States. 

When Untermyer died in 1940, he had hoped to donate the whole estate to the United States, or the State of New York, or at least to the City of Yonkers. Eventually Yonkers agreed to accept part of the estate. The parcel, which was the core of the gardens, and which has been added to since that time, was renamed Untermyer Park and Gardens in his honor. Untermyer Gardens have recently undergone a significant campaign of restorations, which is continuing the North Canal of the Walled Garden with the sphynxes in the background (c.1900) 

Untermyer had a passion for horticulture, which he said he inherited from his mother, and was an expert in the subject. According to his family, if he could have lived his life over again, he would have wanted to be the New York City Parks Commissioner. Untermyer wanted his estate to have formal gardens, and his competitive nature wanted them to be better than John D. Rockefeller's, whose estate Kykuit was not too far away, so in 1916, after buying additional property to the north and east of the original estate to expand it to 150 acres   Untermyer hired the École des Beaux Arts trained architect and landscape designer William Welles Bosworth – who had contributed to the architecture of Kykuit on and off for 20 years– to build "the finest garden in the world." 

The Walled Garden also featured the Temple of the Sky, an open-air circular 30-foot) colonnade of 14 Corinthian columns topped by an entablature, overlooking a swimming pool. The floor of the colonnade was a circular pink, grey and pale green mosaic, with the head of Medusa at the center. 

The result was, for a time, one of the most celebrated gardens in the United States. Untermyer opened the grounds weekly to the public in the 1920s and '30s and for special events, such as displays of his noted chrysanthemums and tulips. On a single day in 1939, 30,000 people visited the gardens. 

The gardens today are beautiful and Untermyer park offers tours, music in the park and movies in the park. If you are looking for something relaxing to do , this is a fantastic place Enjoy!