HISTORICAL NOTICES. 
35 
manner as to heighten the charms of nature. Large and 
costly hot-houses were erected by Dr. Hosack, with also 
entrance lodges at two points on the estate, a fine bridge over 
the stream, and numerous pavilions and seats commanding 
extensive prospects ; in short, nothing was spared to render 
this a complete residence. The park, which at one time 
contained some fine deer, afforded a delightful drive within 
itself, as the whole estate numbered about seven hundred 
acres. The plans for laying out the grounds were fur- 
nished by Parmentier, and architects from New- York were 
employed in designing and erecting the buildings. For a 
long time, this was the finest seat in America, but there are 
now many rivals to this claim. 
The Manor of Livingston , the seat of Mrs. Mary Liv- 
ingston, is seven miles east of the city of Hudson. The 
mansion stands in the midst of a fine park, rising gradually 
from the level of a rich inland country, and commanding 
prospects for sixty miles around. This park is, perhaps, 
the most remarkable in America, for the noble simplicity of 
its character, and the perfect order in which it is kept. 
The turf is, every-where, short and velvet-like, the gravel- 
roads scrupulously firm and smooth, and near the house 
are the largest and most superb evergreens. The mansion 
is one of the chastest specimens of the Grecian style, and 
there is an air of great dignity and grace about the whole 
demesne. (Fig. 2.) 
Blithewood , the seat of R. Donaldson, Esq,, near Barry- 
town on the Hudson, is one of the most charming villa resi- 
dences in the Union. The natural scenery here, is nowhere 
surpassed in its enchanting union of softness and dignity — * 
the river being four miles wide, its placid bosom broken only 
by islands and gleaming sails, and the horizon grandly 
closing in with the tall blue summits of the distant Kaats- 
