States Dyckman returned to America in late 1803. He was ill from persistent attacks of gout and the lingering effects of a leg injury he sustained in a carriage accident. Nevertheless, he was determined to build his dream mansion overlooking the Hudson on the 250-acre farm he owned in Montrose, New York. The house would serve as a tangible symbol of his prosperity and social status and as an expression of his refined taste. He also wanted it to become a permanent country seat that would be inherited by his surviving son and remain with future generations of the Dyckman family. Construction began in the summer of 1804. Sadly, his chronic illness caught up with him, and he died two years later in August 1806 at the age of fifty-one. Only the foundation for his new house was completed. His widow Elizabeth finished the project and moved into the residence in 1808 with their only surviving child, Peter Corne Dyckman (1797-1824).

Although no architect has been identified for the building, it has long been considered to be an outstanding example of Federal domestic architecture in America. One can assume that States was influenced by what he had seen in England, particularly the designs of Robert Adam (1728-1792) and his contemporaries. It is possible that he had the architectural plans for his new house drawn in England since construction was started within six months of his return to the Hudson Valley in the summer of 1804.

Boscobel is distinguished by its delicate neoclassical detailing on the exterior, as well as for a unique architectural feature on the front facade--the carved wooden swags of drapery with bowknots and tassels installed between the columns supporting the pediment above the second floor balcony. Several other architectural refinements are used to help convey a feeling of lightness and airiness that make the house seem more elegant and graceful than many of its contemporaries. About one-third of the front facade is glass. The three part windows used on the first and second stories are slightly recessed to accent the central pavilion. Recent technological advances in the manufacture of stronger crown glass enabled the builders to use larger panes of glass and much thinner glazing bars. Another architectural feature worth noting is the closely fitted matched boards on the front facade, in contrast to the overlapping clapboards used on the side and rear elevations. This provided for a smoother surface probably meant to simulate masonry rather than wood on the dress front of the house.

The house was almost lost in the 1950s when it was declared "excess" by the federal government and sold at auction to a demolition contractor for the sum of $35. The government had recently completed the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Veterans Administration Hospital on the original site in Montrose, New York, and could not find a suitable use for the building. Before an organization could be formed to purchase Boscobel from the contractor, the

Loading Boscobel's woodwork on a flatbed truck on Long Island.

celebrated front facade and many other exterior and interior architectural details were sold and removed to be used in a new house being built on Long Island. In a dramatic, last-ditch effort led by Benjamin West Frazier, funds were raised to acquire the remaining portions of the structure, dismantle it, and move it piece-by-piece to its new home in Garrison, New York. It was stored in barns and other vacant buildings until a twenty-six acre tract of land with sweeping views of the Hudson River, West Point and Constitution Island came on the market in Garrison in 1956. An anonymous donation of $50,000 received in June 1956 allowed the newly incorporated Boscobel Restoration, Inc. to acquire the property and begin the restoration.

For the project to succeed, it was essential that the original decorative woodwork removed to Long Island be reclaimed. It proved difficult to raise funds for the restoration of the house when the original architectural elements, including the unique swags from the front facade, were missing and had to be reproduced. It turned out that the owner of the original elements on Long Island was willing to cooperate. She agreed to return them, retaining only the items already installed in her new house, on the condition that copies were made in exchange.

Lila Acheson Wallace.

The original anonymous donation of $50,000 received in 1956 for the purchase of the land came from Lila Acheson Wallace, who, with her husband DeWitt Wallace, had co-founded The Reader's Digest. The Wallaces became Boscobel's most prominent and generous patrons. But in addition to her financial backing, Mrs. Wallace served on the board of directors and took a strong personal interest in the restoration. She was particularly influential in the landscaping of the grounds and the furnishing and decorating of the interiors. In 1959, she brought in the Roslyn, Long Island, landscape architectural firm of Innocenti and Webel to provide an appropriate historic setting for the restored house. She also brought in William Kennedy and Benjamin Garber, the interior designers who decorated the offices for The Reader's Digest, to furnish the house. Since both concerns worked for The Reader's Digest Corporation and for Mrs. Wallace personally, they reported to her and her advisors as they proceeded with their plans.




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