THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK 



and he made of it a summer home. The estate in all comprised 

 about 300 acres, and was laid out like an English Park on a "scale 

 of considerable magnificence," the house standing in a grove of 

 magnificent Locust-trees. Immediately about the house was a 

 hedge which grew to large proportions, and a double row of old 

 Sycamores formed an avenue all the way down the slope to the 

 river. In 1819, the homestead, included within the square bounded 

 by Bleecker, Fourth, Perry and Charles Streets, was acquired by 

 Abraham Van Nest, whose family occupied it until 1850. It was 

 two miles beyond the city limits. Oliver Delancey, whose estate 

 adjoined Warren's, was a brother-in-law to the latter. His estate 

 was a fine one, but was confiscated after the Revolution and par- 

 titioned, Delancey having been a loyalist and a Brigadier General 

 in the British Army. 



The next estate of importance further north, of which traces 

 were left to a fairly late day, was that of Chelsea, acquired about 

 1750 by Capt. Thomas Clarke, a veteran officer in the provincial 

 service. He built a house, which was burned shortly before his 

 death, near the banks of the East River and 9th Avenue and 23rd 

 Street. His widow rebuilt the mansion and at her death in 1802, 

 it, with a portion of the original property, passed to Bishop Moore, 

 and in 1813 to his son, Clement C. Moore (author of "The Night 

 Before Christmas"). The grounds of this mansion were said to 

 have been "terraced and beautiful" and for many years and as late 

 as 1825, it stood there the only house in the vicinity. In 1853 ^^ 

 was demolished. 



In 1759, Hon. John C. Vandenheuvel, a Dutch Governor of 

 Demeeara, who came to New York to escape the fever, purchased 

 400 acres along the Hudson in upper Manhattan and established 

 a country seat. His dwelling was located at 79th Street between 

 Broadway and West End Avenue. It was vacated during the 

 Revolution and later passed through many hands, eventually com- 

 ing into the possession of a Mr. Burnham, who used it as a road- 

 house, and as which it was well known and popular. It was torn 

 down in 1905. 



The country seat of Charles Ward Apthorp was purchased by 

 him about 1764, when the mansion was built and named "Elm- 

 wood." It was sold in 1799 and in 1828 became the property of 



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