Glenmere Mansion prepares for a new debut
For more than two decades, Chester’s Glenmere Mansion, with breathtaking views of the mountains and Glenmere Lake, was a local curiosity. What exactly was up at the top of that long overgrown driveway that remained gated and rusting?
Partners Alan Stenberg, Dr. Daniel De Simone, along with German-based partners Alison and Peter Klein, were determined to find out.
They discovered a gem beneath the overgrowth and couldn’t pass it by. Now, they are bringing it into the 21st century with a coming luxury retreat and spa.
“It was a piece of history. You don’t just walk away from that and say, ‘Who cares?’” said Stenberg.
Glenmere, a 30,000-square-foot Tuscany-style mansion built by architects Carrerre & Hastings in 1911, once boasted fabulous gardens designed by Beatrix Farrand, the first woman landscape architect in the U.S. Murals graced the walls that complemented its 35 bedrooms, 25 fireplaces and 25 bathrooms overlooking Glenmere Lake. “Don’t forget the 20,000 headaches that came along with the renovation,” laughed Stenberg looking over his shoulder at the work in progress.
Back in the 1970s, the county bought the 1,300-acre property and forgave the more than $1 million in back taxes owed on it, according the retired Parks and Recreation Commissioner Graham Skea. Eventually, said Skea, 1,200 acres were preserved as open space including Glenmere Lake, which serves as a source of drinking water for the towns and villages surrounding it. The decaying Glenmere Mansion was culled out of the property, along with its 100 acres of woodlands, then closed and forgotten behind its massive iron gates.
Four years ago, Tuxedo Park residents Stenberg and De Simone, looking for the perfect place to create a luxurious inn within acceptable traveling distance from New York City, discovered Glenmere. However, the price had risen considerably since it had first switched hands in the county 30 years earlier. Stenberg admits to an $8.5 million purchase price for the property, bought four years ago at the top of the market; still, he doesn’t feel like he’s gotten the short end of the stick now that the market has soured. “This is, by far, the most beautiful piece of property imaginable,” said Stenberg. “Look at that mansion, the views, and the history. You can’t put a price on it. We weren’t thinking price. We were thinking history.”
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mary makes this comment
Monday, 06 July 2009
Joanne B Stefanacci makes this comment
Tuesday, 24 August 2010