Lorenzo Mansion. Cazenovia, New York

-

 

Lorenzo Mansion from the formal garden

Central New York has many historic homes and estates. One that is sometimes overlooked, but is historically important, is the Lorenzo State Historic Site, in the town of Cazenovia.


John Lincklaen by Charles B. J. Févret de Saint-Mémin, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons


The home was built in 1807 by John Lincklaen (1768-1822), the founder of the town of Cazenovia. Lincklaen was an agent for the Holland Land Company, a syndicate of Dutch investors based in Philadelphia. In the early 1800’s foreigners were not allowed to own land in New York State, so the investors hired Americans to purchase and develop tracts of land in the central and western parts of New York and Pennsylvania. Lincklaen brought a large swath of land along the what became Lake Cazenovia, developed the land, and began selling lots to settlers moving in to the area.


Lornzo Mansion by rossograph via wikicommons media


John Lincklaen married Helen Ledyard (1777-1847). They built a mansion on 84 acres overlooking Cazenovia Lake. They named the mansion Lorenzo. While they had no biological offspring, the couple adopted 3 children, and the estate remained in the family’s ownership until 1968, when it was given to New York State. As a result, it is one of the few historic homes that still contains the furniture and decorations of its original inhabitants.







John Lincklaen

Helen Ledyard Lincklaen


A tour of the Lorenzo takes you through the family’s history. You get to visit bedrooms and sitting rooms that decorated as they have been for 150 years. You will also see how the kitchen was “modernized” in the 1950’s.












In addition to the house you can visit the carriage house, which contains a family history and a collection of historic horse drawn buggies and sleighs. After that take a stroll through the formal gardens behind the Lorenzo, or hike one of its several trails.


Carriage House

Lincklaen Family tree





The town of Cazenovia is 30 miles southeast of Syracuse and about 30 miles east of the Finger Lakes region. If you come to visit I highly recommend the Lincklaen House for a meal, or to stay. It is a classic hotel that dates back to 1835. Be warned, there is no elevator in the hotel if you decide to stay over.

Nuts and Bolts


  • Lorenzo SHS grounds are open daily from dawn to dusk for free. The mansion is open for tours from May through Oct. Tours are given from 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM Wed-Sun. Admission for a tour is Adults $5/ Seniors and Students $4.
Location: 17 Rippleton Rd, Cazenovia, NY 13035, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Locks of the Erie Canal

-
Image
There is something about setting a series of tasks for yourself, especially if there is a time limit to complete them. It sets in your mind. After an initial burst of energy it becomes zen, a focus that blocks out other things. In this case I gave myself 33 tasks and 72 hours. Some were longer than others. Some were more interesting. I set out to photographs every lock on the Erie Canal. This year is the bicentennial of the beginning of construction on the original Erie Canal. Finished in 1825, the Erie Canal opened the west to the direct transport of goods. Prior to that everything had to be taken by cart over land. The canal spurred the settlement of western New York and Pennsylvania by taking a trip of up to 45 days and shortening it to about 9. It provided a faster and cheaper way for farmers to send grain to the cities along the coast and for industries in those cities to send manufactured goods to new settlers. It also allowed industry to develop along the rivers ...
Read more

Callicoon NY is a beautiful place to visit

-
Image
Delaware River near Narrowsburg NY   When I take a road trip, I love to travel on small roads, avoiding the major highways. It helps that I am retired, and rarely on a tight schedule. One of the things I look forward to is discovering the small towns that the interstate passes by. I am often surprised by what I find. A recent trip through the Catskill Mountains of New York brought me just such a find.  In the northwest corner of Sullivan county, where the Delaware river serves as the border between New York and Pennsylvania, is the town of Callicoon . The town sits in a valley along the river. It was founded in 1842, when the Erie Railroad came through this part of the state. This part of the Catskills was already a center of the timber industry. In 1849 a tannery was built, taking advantage of the local hemlock trees, whose bark played a key role in preparing leather for boots and industrial belts. The railroad allowed for an influx of farmers, offering them a reliable way to...
Read more

The Real NYC #28 - City College of New York

-
Image
 As I wrote in my last post, I am a graduate of the City College of New York. And despite wondering what I missed by not going away to a large university, CCNY will always feel like home. I grew up in New York and have lived here my whole life, and City College really represents the New York I love. It is truly a cross section of the city. I started college in 1979 at The Cooper Union, a small, elite engineering/art/architecture college in Greenwich Village but I never really felt comfortable there. I quickly learned that while I loved studying chemistry, I really hated engineering courses. I also really didn’t fit in. The students were almost all white, suburban kids who viewed their studies as a fast path to a big paycheck. Even worse, Cooper Union is the first place that I had to deal with the casual racism that exists. . I grew up in the very integrated Upper West Side of Manhattan and in a family that celebrated diversity and actively fought against racism. I rem...
Read more