Sunday Morning Walk Home from The Patio – Walter Law’s Mansion

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Walter W. Law had begun acquiring property in Briarcliff Manor even before he left W.J. Sloane. In 1891 he purchased this house from the Wolsey family and relocated to Briarcliff Manor where he could be closer to his farming (and other) businesses. Over the years the house went through several incarnations and renovations. The most recent owners: The Begoni Family recently sold the house. Last week we were invited by the person managing the sale to look around and even to take anything from what remained (it all had to be thrown out by the end of the day). Above: Entrance to the Mansion on Scarborough Road.

I took some pictures, but it was all rather sad: the empty rooms, piles of “stuff” on the patio between the house and the fountain – all waiting to be tossed into the garbage skip. Instead of showing those more recent pictures I’m showing these taken back in July 2021.

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Taken with a Sony RX100 III

Sunday Morning Walk Home from The Patio – Entrance to what was once the Briarcliff Lodge

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Now the entrance to The Club, a senior living community this was once the entrance to The Briarcliff Lodge, a 300+ room luxury resort hotel. It was a notable example of Tudor Revival architecture, and at the time was one of the largest wooden structures in the United States. It was built by Walter W. Law in 1902 and the Law family owned it until 1937. When the lodge opened it was one of the largest resort hotels in the world.

In 1933, the lodge ended year-round service and housed a “health-diet sanitarium” until the Edgewood Park School for Girls began operation there from 1937 to 1954. From 1936 to 1939, the lodge was run again as a hotel in the summer months while the school was closed. From 1955 to 1994, The King’s College used the lodge building and built dormitories and academic buildings. Abandoned and unmaintained after 1994, the Briarcliff Lodge was destroyed between 2003 and 2004.

Although the Lodge is long gone the gates seen in the picture are original and were found some years ago in storage at the Briarcliff Manor Department of Public Works.

Taken with a Sony RX100 III

Sunday Morning Walk Home from The Patio – Trump National Golf Club

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The club had its origins around 1895, with Briarcliff founder Walter W. Law‘s private nine-hole course on his estate, which became available to Briarcliff Lodge guests, and was then known as the Briarcliff Golf Club. In 1922, Devereux Emmet designed a course across the street with eighteen holes, and thus Briarcliff Country Club was founded that year. The name was changed in 1927 to avoid confusion, to Briar Hills Country Club. Briar Hills opened in May 1929 with a new clubhouse; construction began in May 1928 and utilized local stones for the building’s exterior. The interior was noted for its design and spaciousness. In 1936, A. W. Tillinghast redesigned the course. In 1948, Henry Law’s son Theodore sold the club to local businessmen who renamed it Briar Hall Golf and Country Club. In 1980, ownership of the club changed hands again.

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Briar Hall had been taken over by the Marine Midland Bank, which then sold the property to Donald Trump. Trump bought Briar Hall Country Club for $7.5 million in the foreclosure in December 1996 and ran the club until 1999, until he closed the property to begin its redevelopment.

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The Trump National Golf Club’s first nine holes opened on April 15, 2002, followed by the next nine on June 29, 2002.

Taken with a Sony RX100 III

Sunday Morning Walk Home from The Patio – An Old House

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The “Elms” estate was constructed around 1810 by Thomas Bailey of Ossining. It was at one time called the “Ancients” house because alumnae of Mrs. Dow’s School stayed there. It was purchased soon after 1810 by Mr. Jesse Bishop. Some of the Bishop family lived there until it was sold to Mr. Walter W. Law for a sale price of $25,000.00 including the adjoining 159 acres, part of which is the Briarcliff Junior College land (as of ca. 1952) in the 1890s, who gave the estate its name of “The Elms.”

As of 1902, “The Elms” was the oldest house standing in Village of Briarcliff Manor, but only because of a technicality. The other very old houses: “The Century Homestead” and the Joseph Washburn house, were not within the official limits of what became the Village of Briarcliff Manor. They are in the Town of Mt. Pleasant.

Taken with a Sony RX100 III