Monuments: Van Cortlandt Manor

In 1638, the Dutch soldier Oloff Van Cortlandt stepped ashore in Nieuw Amsterdam. He did not remain a soldier for long, Oloff founded a powerful dynasty of landowners who established Van Cortlandt Manor, a unique American residence in that it remained in the same family for close to 250 years.

The manor house and its adjoining buildings have been restored to their appearance of the late eighteenth century, Although Van Cortlandt Manor does not reflect the splendour of great estates like Robert E. Lee's birthplace at Stratford in Virginia, it is an outstanding survivor of the long and rich history of New York's beautiful Hudson River region and the Van Cortfandts who shaped so much of that history.