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

Sunday Morning Walk Home from The Patio – The Briarcliff Manor Congregational Church

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The Briarcliff Manor Congregational Church was an outgrowth of a Sunday School that was held at the early White School. George A. Todd, Jr. was the schoolteacher, and later superintendent from about 1867 to 1906! Todd, sensing that locals needed a more permanent place to gather and worship than the small one-room schoolhouse, approached Walter W. Law with the idea for a brand-new church. Law, perhaps eager to bolster his real estate empire, jumped at the chance to help. Law gave the land and Todd donated the stones to build it. Others contributed lumber and labor to the project. The church was officially dedicated and incorporated in 1897 and “opened” as a Congregational Church. It’s the fourth oldest church in Briarcliff Manor (the other three: St. Mary’s Episcopal; All Saints Episcopal; and Scarborough Presbyterian) are all on the other side of the village near the Hudson River.

In 1898 Law gave the first Tiffany stained-glass window. There are 17 stained glass windows in all, representing several well-known studios and decorative arts companies: J&R Lamb, NY; William C. Willett, Philadelphia; John Hardman Studios, Birmingham and London; Woodhaven Studios, Bermuda. Perhaps the most well-known among these is Tiffany Studios. BCC has 7 magnificent Tiffany windows, installed between 1898 and 1906.

For more information on the church see: Mr. Law, We need a church.

Taken with a Sony RX100 III