The Bech Property
In the mid-1800s Edward
Bech, a Danish immigrant, purchased 65 acres of land along the Hudson
River which he named the Rosenlund Estate. The grounds were developed
circa 1865, during a period when major tracts of Hudson River land
were being purchased by wealthy businessmen for country estates.
Bech was a partner in the Poughkeepsie Iron Works Company, a thriving
riverfront industry that prospered with the advent of the Delaware
and Hudson Canal and Railroad. He was also a partner in the Cunard
Steamship Company and from 1842 to 1858 was the first Danish Consul
in New York.
A
friend and fellow countryman of Bech's, Detlef Lienau, was a prominent
architect. Bech commissioned Lienau to design a main house of stone
as well as several out buildings for his estate. The European-educated
Lienau had come to New York in 1848 and established himself as one
of America's leading architects. His design of the first example
of the French Second Empire style in New York and the introduction
to America of the mansard roof typified by the French chateau were
among his many achievements. He also was a co-founder of the American
Institute of Architects and actively participated in its formative
years.
Due to Bech's death
in 1873, Lienau's design for the main house was never executed;
however, Greystone, St. Peter's, and the Gate House survive as the
few remaining examples of Gothic Revival Estate architecture along
the Hudson River. All three buildings have been listed on the National
Historic Register.
In 1905 the Marist
Brothers purchased the McPherson Estate just north of the Bech property
and established St. Ann's Hermitage. In 1908 the Marist Brothers
acquired the Rosenlund Estate, joining the two properties to form
the core of the present Marist College campus.
|