It’s hard to describe the thrill of finding the Garden of Eden right smack in the middle of Yonkers. You just have to trust me and go find it yourself. The man-made miracle of Samuel Untermyer awaits you, a classic Indo-Persian garden as soothing as a balm in Gilead. I corralled a group of ladies on a dreary morning recently, pulling them away from Pilates and pickups to drag them to sights unseen. I worried they’d not be as enamored as I, but watching their faces light up as the fog burned away to reveal the mystery was as much fun as my seeing it for the first time. It’s a true time warp: one minute you’re on Broadway, the next in Eden. It’s the darndest thing I’ve ever seen.
Untermyer’s Walled Garden is very likely the greatest Persian garden in the Western Hemisphere, hiding in plain sight. You may never make it to the Taj Mahal or the Alhambra, but shame on you if you can’t make it to Yonkers. Samuel Untermyer, New York’s first “super lawyer,” began his homestead’s private gardens in 1916, managed by a staff of 60 gardeners and supplied by 60 greenhouses. He opened the gardens to the public from 1917-1940. Thirty thousand people visited “America’s Most Spectacular Garden” during a single day in 1939. His death in 1940 ushered in a slow dance of decline as neither NYC or Westchester county were interested in (or could afford) the upkeep. The property became a Yonkers municipal park, the mansion was torn down soon after WWII, and the earth began its reclamation.
In 2010, the Untermyer Gardens Conservancy began the Herculean effort to dig out and restore the site to its former glory. An earlier attempt in the 1970s had failed, but is credited with preventing a teardown of the entire property. The gardens re-opened in the spring of 2016 and are yours for exploring. Maps are available onsite. Be certain to see the entire area, rather than just the Walled Garden. There are 43 acres on which to hunt for “treasures”, with features in various forms of decay and repair strewn all over. Find the 2,000 year-old Roman marble columns on the Vista Overlook. Explore the remains of the Color Gardens, now flanked by a hospital parking lot. Stroll down the hillside trails to the Temple of Love where Isadora Duncan performed. Continue downhill to the crumbling Gate House guarded by its lion and unicorn sculptures and out on the Old Croton Aqueduct trail.
The Aqueduct is yet another marvel of antiquity, linking Hudson River villages for more than 150 years by bringing much needed water from the Croton Reservoir to NYC. The old masonry tunnel lies just beneath the surface, and the 26-mile trail winds through Westchester County, all but forgotten.
Head north on the trail for a half-mile stroll, crossing Odell Avenue (with pedestrian crosswalk) until you come to a set of concrete steps on your right. This is the back entrance to Lenoir Preserve, a 40-acre nature preserve, formerly the home of two Hudson River estates: the Lenoir and Alder mansions. The trail is a bit steep, but is a series of switchbacks. There are markers for two separate paths, both leading up to the preserve. You can’t get lost. There is a seasonal butterfly garden and a nature center up top, but the piece de resistance is Alder Manor which remains intact. It is closed to the public, but I was lucky enough to happen upon a film shoot in progress and walked in as if I were just another production assistant. I wandered the empty rooms, some of which have gorgeous draperies still hanging and decaying in place.
This wee adventure is a true testimony to outfoxing the ravages of Time. It’s classic Man versus Nature. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
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