Paulding named his house "Knoll", although critics quickly dubbed it "Paulding's Folly" because of its unusual design that includes fanciful turrets and asymmetrical outline. Its
limestone exterior was quarried at
Sing Sing in present-day
Ossining, New York.
Merritt, the house's second owner, engaged Davis as his architect, and in 1864–1865 doubled the size of the house, renaming it "Lyndenhurst" after the estate's linden trees. Davis' new north wing included an imposing four-story tower, a new
porte-cochere (the old one was reworked as a glass-walled vestibule), a new dining room, two bedrooms and servants' quarters.
Gould purchased the property in 1880 to use as a country house, shortened its name to "Lyndhurst" and sometimes spelled it "Lindhurst;[5] he occupied it until his death in 1892. In 1961, Gould's daughter
Anna Gould donated it to the
National Trust for Historic Preservation. The house is now open to the public.
Architecture
Lyndhurst's rooms are strongly
Gothic in character. Hallways are narrow, windows small and sharply arched, and ceilings are fantastically peaked, vaulted, and ornamented. The effect is at once gloomy, somber, and highly romantic; the large, double-height art gallery provides a contrast of light and space.
The house sits within a
landscape park, designed in the English naturalistic style by Ferdinand Mangold, whom Merritt hired. Mangold drained the surrounding swamps, created lawns, planted specimen trees, and built a
conservatory. The park is an outstanding example of 19th-century landscape design with a curving entrance drive that reveals "surprise" views of rolling lawns accented with shrubs and specimen trees. The 390-foot-long (120 m) onion-domed, iron-framed, glass conservatory was one of the largest privately owned greenhouses in the United States when constructed.[6]
In popular culture
ABC's holiday television film The Halloween That Almost Wasn't (1979), a.k.a. The Night Dracula Saved the World, was shot here. The scenes were used as the backdrop for both
Count Dracula and the Witch's castle. It later aired on the
Disney Channel during its Halloween season, until the late 1990s.
From 1992 until the program changed filming locations from New York to Los Angeles in 2009, Lyndhurst served as the exterior of “Wildwind,” the home of
Dimitri Marick, in establishing shots on the ABC daytime drama
All My Children. Elements of Lyndhurst's interior architecture influenced the design of the Wildwind sets.
Lyndhurst was also used as a filming location for ABC's Forever in 2014, using the cottage on the property for exterior shots.
Lyndhurst's landscape, bowling alley, and mansion interior were used as a filming location for NBC's
The Blacklist, starring
James Spader.
In 2017, the
Lifetime series
Project Runway filmed an episode at Lyndhurst, challenging the designers to draw inspiration from the exteriors and gardens.
The 2021 and 2022
Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show was held outdoors at Lyndhurst on account of concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City.
Lyndhurst serves as a filming location for
The Gilded Age (TV series). The mansion interior serves as the home of the character Aurora Fane and her husband and the Lyndhurst Carriage House is the location of the New York Globe Offices. Season 1 also featured the Lyndhurst grounds and greenhouse. The ferry terminal in the series' premiere episode was modeled after the Lyndhurst Bowling Alley.
Arcadia, the debut album by the american singer-songwriter and producer
Caroline Polachek under the name
Ramona Lisa, has the mansion on the album cover.
Gallery
Gould's office
The north library
A dining room fireplace
A view from the front park
The estate in bloom
View of dining room to north, Lyndhurst, Main House
^"Lyndhurst". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from
the original on March 22, 2009. Retrieved September 15, 2007.
^"Jay Gould Estate (Lyndhurst)". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from
the original on March 22, 2009. Retrieved September 15, 2007.