Beechwood (Vanderlip mansion)

Beechwood
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
West elevation
Location	1–3 Beechwood Way, Scarborough, New York 10510
Area	33.3 acres (13.5 ha)
Built	1780
Part of	Scarborough Historic District (#84003433)
Added to NRHP	September 7, 1984
Beechwood Location of Beechwood Show map of Briarcliff Manor Beechwood Location of Beechwood Show map of New York Beechwood Location of Beechwood Show map of the US
Coordinates	41°08′04″N 73°51′44″W / 41.134361°N 73.862139°W / 41.134361; -73.862139Coordinates: 41°08′04″N 73°51′44″W / 41.134361°N 73.862139°W / 41.134361; -73.862139

September 7, 1984

Beechwood is a Hudson River estate in Scarborough-on-Hudson, in Briarcliff Manor, New York. The estate was most notably the home of Frank A. Vanderlip and his family, and is a contributing property to the Scarborough Historic District. The house and property were owned by the Vanderlip family from 1906 to 1979. The property is now a 37-condominium complex as the result of a development project that began in the 1980s.

Contemporarily, Beechwood is known for being a filming location of the 1970 film House of Dark Shadows, and a filming location and the primary setting of Savages, a 1972 Merchant Ivory film. In June 2016, Money Man: Frank Vanderlip and the Birth of the Federal Reserve premiered there. The film documents Vanderlip's life and was filmed at Beechwood.

The first portion of the main residence dates to 1780, and includes the original kitchen's fireplace. Benjamin and Ann Folger were among the earliest residents, and named their residence "Heartt Place". In the 1830s, Folger deeded the estate to a self-proclaimed prophet, Robert Matthews, who believed himself to be the resurrected Matthias of the New Testament. Matthews convinced his followers to fund an expansion to the house, which he had named "Zion Hill". During this time, Isabella Baumfree (Sojourner Truth) was a housekeeper to him. After he spent the money his followers and Folger had given him, Matthews became violent. Further on, he was tried for murder, and acquitted for lack of evidence. Matthews was later found guilty of assaulting his grown daughter, and he served a short jail term.

The property containing the mansion had been in the Remsen family for decades. Anna Remsen Webb was one of the inheritors of the estate. In the 1890s, her husband's half-brother Henry Walter Webb substantially added to the estate from numerous properties, including the Remsen estate and William Creighton's estate (Creighton had named his house "Beechwood" after he purchased it in 1836). Henry Webb attached the name Beechwood to the entire estate and house. He renovated and expanded the mansion, hiring R. H. Robertson to double the size of the house. Robertson designed the expansion in the Colonial Revival style, to be compatible with the neoclassical Federal style of the original but more ornate.