Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park
Encyclopedia
Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park is located in the hamlet of Great River
, Suffolk County, New York
, USA
. The extensively landscaped garden is in the nature of an estate arboretum
, laid out, starting in 1887, for William Bayard Cutting
(1850 - 1912) by Frederick Law Olmsted
, the designer of Central Park
. The house, "Westbrook" and its landscaped park, were given to the people of Long Island by Bayard Cutting's widow and daughter "to provide an oasis of beauty and quiet for the pleasure, rest, and refreshment of those who delight in outdoor beauty; and to bring about a greater appreciation and understanding of the value and importance of informal planting." Charles Sprague Sargent
, director of the Arnold Arboretum advised in developing the extensive conifer collection north of the carriage house. Some of the most mature planting was badly damaged in Hurricane Gloria
in 1985.
(1886), is also open to the public. Westbrook is one of the last remaining estates on the South Shore of Long Island and. as most that remain in existence, it is neither family owned or occupied. Scottish heather was shipped to provide thatch for the gate house, which remains at the corner of Montauk Highway and Great River Road— a practice that was interrupted by World War I
. In 1895 Mr. Cutting and his brother laid out a golf course
at Westbrook, known to be the first private golf course in the United States.
When a fire in 1895 burned down many of the farm buildings, Stanford White
was commissioned to draw the plans for a modern dairy, known as Westbrook Farms, with many innovative features.
The estate has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places
since 1973 as a national historic district
.
William Bayard Cutting's grandfather, Robert Cutting, had been Robert Fulton
's partner in the ferry from Brooklyn to New York; they married sisters who were daughters of Walter Livingston
. Cutting was a West India merchant who developed railroad interests; his son was a pioneer in refining sugar from sugar beet
s.
Great River, New York
Great River is a hamlet and census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The name derives from "Connetquot", an Algonquian word for "great river". It was formerly known as Youngsport and was once home to many aristocratic families...
, Suffolk County, New York
Suffolk County, New York
Suffolk County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York on the eastern portion of Long Island. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,493,350. It was named for the county of Suffolk in England, from which its earliest settlers came...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The extensively landscaped garden is in the nature of an estate arboretum
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
, laid out, starting in 1887, for William Bayard Cutting
William Bayard Cutting
William Bayard Cutting, Esq. , a member of New York's merchant aristocracy, was an attorney, financier, real estate developer, sugar beet refiner and philanthropist. He was born to Fulton Cutting and Elise Justine Bayard...
(1850 - 1912) by Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, social critic, public administrator, and landscape designer. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, although many scholars have bestowed that title upon Andrew Jackson Downing...
, the designer of Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
. The house, "Westbrook" and its landscaped park, were given to the people of Long Island by Bayard Cutting's widow and daughter "to provide an oasis of beauty and quiet for the pleasure, rest, and refreshment of those who delight in outdoor beauty; and to bring about a greater appreciation and understanding of the value and importance of informal planting." Charles Sprague Sargent
Charles Sprague Sargent
Charles Sprague Sargent was an American botanist. He was the first director of the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts and the standard botanical author abbreviation Sarg. is applied to plants he described.-Biography:Sargent was the second son of Henrietta and...
, director of the Arnold Arboretum advised in developing the extensive conifer collection north of the carriage house. Some of the most mature planting was badly damaged in Hurricane Gloria
Hurricane Gloria
Hurricane Gloria was a powerful Cape Verde-type hurricane that formed during the 1985 Atlantic hurricane season and prowled the Atlantic Ocean from September 16 to September 28. Gloria reached Category 4 status on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale near the Bahamas, but weakened significantly...
in 1985.
Westbrook
Westbrook, the large rambling house of many gables and tall chimneys, in the Tudor style designed by architect Charles C. HaightCharles C. Haight
Charles Coolidge Haight was an American architect who practiced in New York City. A number of his buildings survive including at Yale University and Trinity College . He also designed most of the campus of the Episcopal General Theological Seminary in Chelsea Square, New York...
(1886), is also open to the public. Westbrook is one of the last remaining estates on the South Shore of Long Island and. as most that remain in existence, it is neither family owned or occupied. Scottish heather was shipped to provide thatch for the gate house, which remains at the corner of Montauk Highway and Great River Road— a practice that was interrupted by World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. In 1895 Mr. Cutting and his brother laid out a golf course
Golf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...
at Westbrook, known to be the first private golf course in the United States.
When a fire in 1895 burned down many of the farm buildings, Stanford White
Stanford White
Stanford White was an American architect and partner in the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, the frontrunner among Beaux-Arts firms. He designed a long series of houses for the rich and the very rich, and various public, institutional, and religious buildings, some of which can be found...
was commissioned to draw the plans for a modern dairy, known as Westbrook Farms, with many innovative features.
The estate has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
since 1973 as a national historic district
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
.
William Bayard Cutting's grandfather, Robert Cutting, had been Robert Fulton
Robert Fulton
Robert Fulton was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the first commercially successful steamboat...
's partner in the ferry from Brooklyn to New York; they married sisters who were daughters of Walter Livingston
Walter Livingston
Walter Livingston was an American merchant, lawyer and politician.-Family:...
. Cutting was a West India merchant who developed railroad interests; his son was a pioneer in refining sugar from sugar beet
Sugar beet
Sugar beet, a cultivated plant of Beta vulgaris, is a plant whose tuber contains a high concentration of sucrose. It is grown commercially for sugar production. Sugar beets and other B...
s.
Films with scenes shot at Westbrook
- 1993: The Age of InnocenceThe Age of Innocence (film)The Age of Innocence is a 1993 American film adaptation of Edith Wharton's 1920 novel of the same name. The film was released by Columbia Pictures, directed by Martin Scorsese, and stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Winona Ryder....
, directed by Martin ScorseseMartin ScorseseMartin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
and starring Daniel Day-LewisDaniel Day-LewisDaniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis is an English actor with both British and Irish citizenship. His portrayals of Christy Brown in My Left Foot and Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood won Academy and BAFTA Awards for Best Actor, and Screen Actors Guild as well as Golden Globe Awards for the latter...
, Winona RyderWinona RyderWinona Ryder is an American actress. She made her film debut in the 1986 film Lucas. Ryder's first significant role came in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice as a goth teenager, which won her critical and commercial recognition...
, Michelle PfeifferMichelle PfeifferMichelle Marie Pfeiffer is an American actress. She made her film debut in 1980 in The Hollywood Knights, but first garnered mainstream attention with her performance in Brian De Palma's Scarface . Pfeiffer has won numerous awards for her work...
and Joanne WoodwardJoanne WoodwardJoanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward is an American actress, television and theatrical producer, and widow of Paul Newman...
. Based on the 1920 novelThe Age of InnocenceThe Age of Innocence is a novel by Edith Wharton published in 1920, which won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize. The story is set in upper-class New York City in the 1870s. In 1920, The Age of Innocence was serialized in four parts in the Pictorial Review magazine, and later released by D...
by Edith WhartonEdith WhartonEdith Wharton , was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer.- Early life and marriage:...
. (Archery/Lawn Party scene.)