Lyndhurst is just one of those places that are immensely impressive. From the moment you drive up to the great gates you know you are entering a place that's going to dazzle you. You are being let in behind one of those walls that line the road hiding something that will astonish mere mortals.

Designed through two primary phases of construction and two different families by Andrew Jackson Davis, one of America's first architects and a proponent of the Romantic Style, Lyndhurst is just about the most spectacular example of Romantic Gothic Revival domestic architecture ever created. Situated atop a knoll overlooking the Hudson River at the Tappan Zee and set in a sweeping park, Lyndhurst is a massive rambling asymmetrical concoction of carved stone turrets, spires and windows.

The interior spaces of Lyndhurst were created on a scale meant to impress and awe, they are huge, grand and elaborate. The furnishings are rich in color and texture and the accessories sparkle and glitter. As you approach Lyndhurst up the drive you sit back and stare, as you walk the hallways and view the rooms you stand in amazement. Lyndhurst is a complete package, an entity created by the enormous wealth of the early Gilded Age, a time in our history when people with money spent it lavishly.

The history of Lyndhurst starts in 1838 when Davis created the first structure in the Gothic Revival Style. In 1864 Lyndhurst, (then named Lyndenhurst), was purchased by George Merrit, holder of a railroad car spring patent. He brought Davis back and more than doubled the size of Lyndhurst by adding the North Wing and transformed the home into a grand country residence. Lyndhurst was a creation of the Romantic Movement, established and epitomized in the Hudson Valley. Lyndhurst, because of its proximity to New York City and the prominence of its owners, became a primary example of the Romantic Ideal.

Then came Jay Gould, one of the most infamous of the robber barons of the early 19th century. Gould was a railroad magnate, Wall Street tycoon and notorious inside trader making his fortune manipulating stocks. By the time of Gould's purchase of Lyndhurst in 1880, the Hudson Valley was falling from prominence to places like Newport, a perfect situation for Gould owing from his great social unpopularity stemming from his financial dealings. The Gould's influence on Lyndhurst is to be found in the interiors, a complete redecoration of the Parlor, replacing the simple wood floors with parquet and the decoration of bedrooms and private spaces. The Gould's brought to Lyndhurst the financial power to bring the impressiveness of the interiors of Lyndhurst to match, and possibly overwhelm, the impressiveness of the exteriors of Lyndhurst.

Lyndhurst is an experience to be savored just because of its overwhelming scale and extraordinary interiors. Except for the most jaded amongst us, Lyndhurst will "wow" you and bring a touch of the reality of the difference between the enormously rich of the 19th century and us. We aren't the same, the times were completely different and our sense of correctness and ostentation have evolved. But it was a time and a place of rare exuberance and complete abandonment to wealth. Lyndhurst lets you into that world.