Boscobel House and Gardens

Boscobel’s Revolutionary War story begins with its builder, States Dyckman, a Loyalist who served in the British Quartermaster’s Department during the war, while other members of the prominent Dyckman family supported the American cause. He used the "payoff" from these officials to build the grandest Neoclassical country home in New York of the period. The family’s divided loyalties reflected the turmoil of the region, then a “no man’s land” between British and American forces. Boscobel’s location along the Hudson, directly opposite West Point and Constitution Island, placed it within a strategically vital landscape during the Revolution. Today, a section of the Great Chain is preserved on Boscobel’s Great Lawn, overlooking the river where the chain once helped block British ships.

Boscobel is one of New York’s most significant examples of Neoclassical design, offering a rare window into the formative decades following the American Revolution, when the young nation was defining its own identity and cultural character. The house also stewards one of the finest collections of furniture by master cabinetmaker Duncan Phyfe accessible to the public. Set across 68 acres, Boscobel’s gardens and grounds encompass a historic herb garden, English wheel garden, native meadow, and woodland trail. The trail provides one of the few public access points to Constitution Marsh Audubon Center and Sanctuary, one of New York State’s most important bird sanctuaries, connecting Boscobel’s cultural heritage with the extraordinary natural landscape of the Hudson Valley.