Locust Grove Estate

05/17/2021

We are really excited to be sharing divisions of our dahlia tubers in the visitors' center gift shop for the first time!

While dahlias must be grown as an annual plant in the Northeast, all varieties increase their underground storage roots each year and, much like a potato, these hefty roots can then be lifted, stored over the winter in a cool, dry place and then re-planted the following spring.

Many of the varieties we grow are pre-1965 heirlooms, and some are now quite hard to find. We've saved the biggest and bloom-iest of these tubers for division so that you can appreciate dahlias not only in our flower gardens, but also at home or in a community garden plot.

More information on care and feeding is available via a fact sheet in the visitors' center, but please feel free to drop questions in the comments below, too. Happy planting!

We are really excited to be sharing divisions of our dahlia tubers in the visitors' center gift shop for the first time!

While dahlias must be grown as an annual plant in the Northeast, all varieties increase their underground storage roots each year and, much like a potato, these hefty roots can then be lifted, stored over the winter in a cool, dry place and then re-planted the following spring.

Many of the varieties we grow are pre-1965 heirlooms, and some are now quite hard to find. We've saved the biggest and bloom-iest of these tubers for division so that you can appreciate dahlias not only in our flower gardens, but also at home or in a community garden plot.

More information on care and feeding is available via a fact sheet in the visitors' center, but please feel free to drop questions in the comments below, too. Happy planting!

05/01/2021

The Fairy House Hunt is on! From Friday thru Monday in May and June, visit Locust Grove to hunt for 22 Fairy Houses, hidden in the estate gardens. Tickets are $10/person, kids under 4 are free. Purchase tickets in advance through Facebook, or on our website, www.lgny.org. 10:30am - 3:30pm. We have fairy wings to purchase in the museum shop, or bring your own! All proceeds help maintain the Locust grove gardens.

The Fairy House Hunt is on! From Friday thru Monday in May and June, visit Locust Grove to hunt for 22 Fairy Houses, hidden in the estate gardens. Tickets are $10/person, kids under 4 are free. Purchase tickets in advance through Facebook, or on our website, www.lgny.org. 10:30am - 3:30pm. We have fairy wings to purchase in the museum shop, or bring your own! All proceeds help maintain the Locust grove gardens.

04/07/2021

April is membership month at Locust Grove!

While access to the grounds and trails will always be free for visitors, members receive perks like discounted tickets to events and 10% off all items in the gift shop--and many gift shop goodies are made right here in the Hudson Valley!

Memberships are especially crucial for us this year: we receive no funding from the local, state, or Federal governments, so it is your support that has kept us afloat through the financial impact of the pandemic!

As always, 100% of your membership dollars will go towards maintaining the gardens, trails, and buildings that we love and that make Locust Grove an amazing resource for the Hudson Valley. Tap link below for more details on membership options, and please drop any questions in the comments below!

https://www.lgny.org/membership

April is membership month at Locust Grove!

While access to the grounds and trails will always be free for visitors, members receive perks like discounted tickets to events and 10% off all items in the gift shop--and many gift shop goodies are made right here in the Hudson Valley!

Memberships are especially crucial for us this year: we receive no funding from the local, state, or Federal governments, so it is your support that has kept us afloat through the financial impact of the pandemic!

As always, 100% of your membership dollars will go towards maintaining the gardens, trails, and buildings that we love and that make Locust Grove an amazing resource for the Hudson Valley. Tap link below for more details on membership options, and please drop any questions in the comments below!

https://www.lgny.org/membership

03/31/2021

Miss Thompson not only had the most stylish biking outfits at Locust Grove, she also worked as a tutor~
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. Like many young women of her generation, Annette Young didn't attend formal school or college. She was tutored at home by a number of different educators. Instructors came daily or weekly to Locust Grove to teach subjects like History, Geography, Latin, Drawing, Math, and Music. Numerous entries in Annette's diary note lessons, exams, and prizes awarded by Miss Thompson during the decade she worked for the Youngs. Annette often received works of art as prizes, and carefully noted on the back why they were won.

Miss Thompson not only had the most stylish biking outfits at Locust Grove, she also worked as a tutor~
.
.
.
. Like many young women of her generation, Annette Young didn't attend formal school or college. She was tutored at home by a number of different educators. Instructors came daily or weekly to Locust Grove to teach subjects like History, Geography, Latin, Drawing, Math, and Music. Numerous entries in Annette's diary note lessons, exams, and prizes awarded by Miss Thompson during the decade she worked for the Youngs. Annette often received works of art as prizes, and carefully noted on the back why they were won.

03/24/2021

Thank you Annette for founding Locust Grove!

Although Martha Young (Annette's mother)--was the collector in the family, it was Annette who carefully documented the history of so many pieces in Locust Grove's collection and eventually transformed her home into a museum. Her handwritten notes are tucked into vases, glued to the back of furniture, and hidden behind paintings all over the house! ✉️

Annette also donated many items from her family's collection to other museums, including the Yale University Art Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Albany Institute of History and Art. The many documents that Annette saved, which include everything from correspondence, to bills, to ephemera--such as greeting cards, seed catalogues, and garden society bulletins-- provide unusual insight into the life of a family that shaped the Hudson Valley for generations.

📷 Annette is pictured here in a photograph taken in 1903, along with her notes on a painting by artist Sandford Gifford, acquired by her grandfather and now in the collection at Locust Grove.

Thank you Annette for founding Locust Grove!

Although Martha Young (Annette's mother)--was the collector in the family, it was Annette who carefully documented the history of so many pieces in Locust Grove's collection and eventually transformed her home into a museum. Her handwritten notes are tucked into vases, glued to the back of furniture, and hidden behind paintings all over the house! ✉️

Annette also donated many items from her family's collection to other museums, including the Yale University Art Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Albany Institute of History and Art. The many documents that Annette saved, which include everything from correspondence, to bills, to ephemera--such as greeting cards, seed catalogues, and garden society bulletins-- provide unusual insight into the life of a family that shaped the Hudson Valley for generations.

📷 Annette is pictured here in a photograph taken in 1903, along with her notes on a painting by artist Sandford Gifford, acquired by her grandfather and now in the collection at Locust Grove.

03/16/2021

As a desirable wedding destination, we are excited to welcome couples to say their "I Do's" in Dutchess! After an unprecedented year, and with some new state guidelines in place, we look forward to a memorable 2021 wedding season! Start planning your Hudson Valley wedding by browsing our top venues! Read more:
https://dutchesstourism.com/spotlights/wedding-venues-in-dutchess-county

03/15/2021

Martha Young ("Dolly" to her husband and "Mama" to her children) was an irrepressible collector: we have Martha to thank for the eclectic decorating schemes at Locust Grove! Though family heirlooms form the core of the collection, for decades Martha Young also haunted local estate sales and auctions. Rather than reproducing a particular time period or style, Martha was drawn to a wide array of paintings, antiques, and decorative objects, and the rooms at Locust Grove reflect her wide-ranging taste.

Martha Young ("Dolly" to her husband and "Mama" to her children) was an irrepressible collector: we have Martha to thank for the eclectic decorating schemes at Locust Grove! Though family heirlooms form the core of the collection, for decades Martha Young also haunted local estate sales and auctions. Rather than reproducing a particular time period or style, Martha was drawn to a wide array of paintings, antiques, and decorative objects, and the rooms at Locust Grove reflect her wide-ranging taste.

03/10/2021

Photos from Dutchess County Parks's post

03/08/2021

Volunteer to Spot the Spotted Lanternfly

Along with many other nature preserves in New York, we're on the lookout for Spotted Lanternfly this year--an introduced species that can have a impact on the health of many local forest and orchard trees. We'll be joining this online workshop in order to learn how to identify eggs that overwinter on the bark of trees, and you can, too! Check out the link below for more details on these free workshops

Has all this snow and indoor time left you feeling a little buggy? Well, it's time to put that "bugginess" to good use, get outdoors, and join our all-new Invasives Strike Force Survey volunteer program: Spot the Spotted Lanternfly. The spotted lanternfly (SLF) is an invasive planthopper insect that...

03/08/2021

Tea time was a mainstay tradition for leisure-class families in the Victorian period. While it was sometimes a small-scale affair, it also afforded Martha and Annette Young the opportunity to host local fundraisers, socialize with friends, dress to impress, and indulge their soft spot for collecting beautiful teapots!

While we don't have as much information about Annette later in life--we are still working on transcribing many hand-written diaries!--quite a few women of her class and generation continued to host teas throughout their life, and we suspect Annette may have done the same. (This would partly explain the ninety teapots at Locust Grove--a shocking number, even for a family that regularly held larger parties!)

We're excited to share that we've partnered with our friends at Wilderstein in Rhinebeck to present a joint online exhibition of teapots! Tap the link below to explore and learn more about the types of teapots collected by both the Young and the Suckley families

https://www.lgny.org/virtual-exhibits

Tea time was a mainstay tradition for leisure-class families in the Victorian period. While it was sometimes a small-scale affair, it also afforded Martha and Annette Young the opportunity to host local fundraisers, socialize with friends, dress to impress, and indulge their soft spot for collecting beautiful teapots!

While we don't have as much information about Annette later in life--we are still working on transcribing many hand-written diaries!--quite a few women of her class and generation continued to host teas throughout their life, and we suspect Annette may have done the same. (This would partly explain the ninety teapots at Locust Grove--a shocking number, even for a family that regularly held larger parties!)

We're excited to share that we've partnered with our friends at Wilderstein in Rhinebeck to present a joint online exhibition of teapots! Tap the link below to explore and learn more about the types of teapots collected by both the Young and the Suckley families

https://www.lgny.org/virtual-exhibits

03/05/2021

We’re looking forward to re-opening in just one short month—spring is right around the corner!

We’re looking forward to re-opening in just one short month—spring is right around the corner!

02/27/2021

Anyone else feel like fall was years ago? There’s been so much snow I haven’t even stepped outside in days...not that I need to but still lol who else is feeling cooped up? Bring on more snow I guess 😬🤪

#fall #fallwedding #upstateny #upstatenewyork #upstate #upstatenyphotographer #bride #bridetobe #bridetobe2021 #bridetobe2022 #groomtobe #groomtobe2021 #groomtobe2022 #locustgrove #poughkeepsie #poughkeepsieny #elopement #loveisnotcancelled

@lambs_hill @madison_james @locustgroveestate @emaher817

02/11/2021

Winter Crow Roost: Poughkeepsie, NY

Winter Crow Roost: Poughkeepsie, NY

This video was captured during a recent road trip to visit winter crow roosts in upstate NY. The staging activities and roost location were between South Ham...

02/08/2021

He *could* have just brought a mini-fridge, but instead, Innis Young chose to drag an entire antique Chippendale desk with him when he first moved into a dormitory at Harvard in 1910. The desk in question--currently wedged into the back corner of Innis's childhood bedroom--was made in New York around 1750 and is an especially hefty example of a secretary desk.

He *could* have just brought a mini-fridge, but instead, Innis Young chose to drag an entire antique Chippendale desk with him when he first moved into a dormitory at Harvard in 1910. The desk in question--currently wedged into the back corner of Innis's childhood bedroom--was made in New York around 1750 and is an especially hefty example of a secretary desk.

12/14/2020

#MondayMemories Can you tell us where this photo was taken at Locust Grove? What looks familiar to you and what has changed? Drop guesses and questions in the comments below!

12/09/2020

The house at Locust Grove holds the collection of the Young Family, who lived here from the 1890's until Annette Young's death in 1975. The residents of this house saw changes both large and small, local and national during their lifetime.

Each year, we welcome over 5,000 students to the house to share these stories. Your donations are especially critical this year, as we have lost the majority of our income. We hope you'll keep us in your giving plans this season; each dollar will help preserve not only Locust Grove's collections but the stories they tell for years to come!

https://www.lgny.org/donate

12/07/2020

Happy Monday from the mansion--hope you're finding your own sunny corner today!

12/04/2020

Happy Flower Friday from the greenhouse!

Siberian primroses were first planted at Locust Grove in the late 1800's, but haven't been seen on the grounds in many years. Today the plants we started from seed in March are headed out to the garden!

Did you know the roots of many perennial plants will continue to grow until the ground freezes solid--usually sometime in January?? True to its common name, this primrose is especially hardy and doesn't mind a December planting date at all.

Keep an eye out next spring for these small but mighty blooms!

12/02/2020

🌿 Today kicks off our winter fundraising drive!

With the generous help of so many of you, we've been able to stay open most of this year and safely welcome visitors, micro weddings, scavenger hunts, volunteers, and more. Thousands of you visited the grounds this summer, and we know how important peaceful green places of respite are, especially this year. We are happy to be a place where locals and visitors to the Hudson Valley alike can stroll through gardens, snap photos with friends and loved ones, and take pups for walks!

We have lost the bulk of our income as a result of pandemic-related closures and so we are asking for your help in getting us through the winter. Admission to the grounds and trails is always free, and your donations will help us open as early as possible in the spring. Every dollar we receive will directly support our operations!

Many heartfelt thanks for all of you who've supported Locust Grove this year--we're looking forward you to seeing you in the spring!

11/25/2020

To keep our staff and visitors safe, Locust Grove's buildings and grounds will be closed this year from November 30th through April 1st. We had a record number of visitors this season--twice the usual number!--and we will miss seeing you over the winter. We're already looking forward to spring, when we can welcome you back with daffodils, flowering dogwoods, and these beautiful swamp violets, spotted along the trails earlier this year!

We're incredibly grateful for all the donors, volunteers, and visitors who helped keep our doors open free of charge this summer. We lost over 80% of our income as a result of the pandemic and could not have done it without your support. Your dollars, volunteers hours, encouraging messages, tool donations, and more kept us going!

Memberships and donations of any size are especially helpful this year--they will help us plan for the season ahead and stay open as often as we can. Head to our website for more info, or drop any questions in the comments below. Sending you all best wishes for a safe and cozy holiday season 🌿