Locust Grove

The property includes a home designed by architect Alexander Jackson Davis for Samuel F. B. Morse, the inventor of the telegraph. An Italianate style mansion, it was completed in 1851.The estate is open to the public, tours are offered, and the site is used for weddings and parties. It includes a museum, nature preserve, antique exhibits, and a gallery showing artworks.HistoryHenry Livingston Jr. was Locust Grove's first resident owner and named the estate after the black locust trees growing on the property in 1771 when he purchased the property from his own father. After his death his heirs sold the property to a wealthy New York City couple, John and Isabella Montgomery. They moved farming operations to the lower-lying lands closer to the river and built a cottage.Morse bought the land from them in 1847, three years after his breakthrough with the telegraph. He hired Davis in 1851 and began working with him to remodel and expand the cottage into an Italianate villa. He continued to improve the landscape around the house, which became his summer home, for the rest of his life.

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