Historic Hudson Valley

Historic Hudson Valley is a not-for-profit educational and historic preservation organization headquartered in Tarrytown, New York, in Westchester County. Its mission is "to celebrate the region’s history, architecture, landscape, and material culture, advancing its importance and thereby assuring its preservation."

Historic Hudson Valley is Westchester County’s largest cultural and arts organization measured by size of audience, number of employees, operating budget, and endowment.

The organization owns or is connected to six historic sites open to the public, five of which are located in Westchester County and one in Dutchess County:

Historic Hudson Valley was formally founded in 1951 as Sleepy Hollow Restorations by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. That year, the state of New York chartered SHR as a non-profit educational institution; HHV continues to operate under this same charter.

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. was deeply interested in preserving places of historic importance and provided the funding for the establishment of Colonial Williamsburg, among other projects. Close to his Hudson Valley country house were Sunnyside, the home of the celebrated writer Washington Irving, Philipsburg Manor, and Van Cortlandt Manor. He saw in all three the potential to educate the public about the history and culture of the Hudson River Valley and wished to assure their preservation and public access.

Rockefeller purchased Sunnyside in 1945 from the collateral descendants of Washington Irving and underwrote its restoration. In 1950, Rockefeller arranged for the transfer of title to Philipsburg Manor, which had been operated by the Historic Society of the Tarrytowns, to SHR, and in 1953, he acquired Van Cortlandt Manor and brought a team of historians and architects from Williamsburg to restore and refurnish it.

In 1984 the Rockefeller family arranged for Sleepy Hollow Restorations to acquire title to the Union Church of Pocantico Hills. (The church contains stained glass windows by Henri Matisse and Marc Chagall, given to it by members of the Rockefeller family.) In 1986, SHR acquired Montgomery Place in Dutchess County.

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