Wyndcliffe Mansion

11/21/2019

The Wyndcliffe Mansion was built in 1853 by as a summer house for Elizabeth Schermerhorn Jones a New York socialite. The estate was very lavish, with beautiful brickwork, 80 acres,24 rooms, and steeple tower. Her beautiful mansion inspired other wealthy people to build their own mansions on the Hudson valley, as well as inspiring the phrase “keeping up with the joneses”.Edith Wharton, Jones niece, used the estate as an inspiration for her book titled “Hudson River Bracket”. In the book she recalls being terrified of the mansion. Wyndcliffe was purchased in 1866 by Andrew Finck and stayed in the family for generations, sometimes being sold from one family member to the other for a dollar. In 1934 the family was forced to sell the property to Anna Rice, and then sold again a few other times, and then was left abandoned. The mansion has now collapsed after being abandoned for 70 years.