""There was, on the Hudson, a way of life such as this, and there was a house not unlike Dragonwyck." In the spring of 1844 the Wells family receives a letter from a distant relative, the wealthy landowner Nicholas Van Ryn. He invites one of their daughters for an extended visit to his Hudson Valley estate, Dragonwyck. Eighteen-year-old Miranda, bored with the local suitors and her commonplace life on the farm, leaps at the chance for escape. She...

"New York's Historic Restaurants, Inns & Taverns explores the history of over forty institutions throughout New York City and the Hudson Valley that are still in existence today. Travel to the tavern where George Washington hosted a farewell dinner for his officers at the close of the American Revolution. Eat steak at one of the city's oldest steakhouses. Rest your head in one of the original houses built by Dutch colonists in the Hudson Valley. Part...

PALACES, CHATEAUX, COUNTRY HOUSES. Overlooking the majestic Hudson River, the Hudson Valley has long been a favoured place to live. From the homes of the early settlers of the seventeenth century to the estates of the landed gentry of the eighteenth century and the baronial mansions of the captains of industry of the nineteenth century, the valley boasts some of the finest houses in America. Historic Houses of the Hudson River Valley is a sumptuous...

"The tranquil environment of New York’s Hudson Valley is the site of both peaceful rural communities and single-family housing developments. Tourists visit the area’s historic Gilded Age mansions, elaborate gardens, Revolutionary War battlefields, and many other points of interest. Yet some of the Hudson Valley’s heritage includes more harrowing tales. From the late nineteenth century through 1950, one otherwise industrious city earned the distinction...