Jay Estate Garden Tours

Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. • Thursdays, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. except holidays. Closed in inclement weather. Gardens are ADA accessible.

No reservations necessary.

Named one of New York Cottages and Gardens magazine’s “Home-Grown Beauties,” the Jay Estate Gardens are a must for landscape lovers. Stop by this Sunday between 10am and 5pm for FREE docent-led tours or a stroll through on your own. Donations and volunteers welcome!

Overlooking Long Island Sound, the 23-acre Jay Estate was once the land of the Wecquaesgeek before it became the family seat of nation-maker John Jay, who helped abolish slavery in New York State. Today the Jay Estate is a home for ideas, civil dialogue, and action about social and environmental justice and much more. Operated by the nonprofit Jay Heritage Center (JHC) for the benefit of the public, the land—particularly its stunning, uninterrupted viewshed—gives context to the stories of its diverse inhabitants and stewards going back thousands of years.

During the past decade, the Center has focused not only on its buildings but also on the surrounding grounds that had suffered from neglect and intrusions. A key element in this program has been the restoration and reimagining of the gardens, which occupy more than two acres. A $500,000 grant from the New York State Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) was matched with more than $1,000,000 by JHC in private and foundation monies. The multi-year planning process involved a successful collaboration and underscores the benefits of advocacy and dynamic public-private partnerships. In 2013, JHC was awarded stewardship of the property, which is owned jointly by JHC, New York State Parks, and Westchester County Parks. JHC has been making enormous strides in revitalizing the site ever since.

Nelson Byrd Woltz (NBW) designed the garden project. Their ecologically sustainable projects have been varied and include restoring the viewshed of Olana, home of the renowned nineteenth-century painter Frederic Edwin Church near Hudson, New York. 

For the Jay Estate, Thomas Woltz and his team, including Mark Strieter and Charlotte Barrows, created a dynamic plan. Preservation of critical built heritage features illuminate the daily lives of the varied inhabitants, including the Valentine Family – enslaved and freed women and men of African descent known to have lived, worked, and been buried at the Jay property. Protecting the site’s natural heritage is of paramount importance, too. The gardens increase biodiversity by replacing invasive species like mugwort, Japanese knotweed and porcelain berry with beneficial native shrubs and plants like red twig dogwood, arrowwood viburnum and American pillar rose to name just a few.

While the gardens date back to the 1700s and earlier, the revitalized space is not a “period” recreation but rather a richly interpreted rehabilitation. Three existing stone-walled rooms contain largely native and drought-resistant species in response to climate change. The innovative schematics include a picturesque parterre; an outdoor classroom and hands-on planting area with 16 rotating vegetable beds; a reflecting pool and sensory garden; and a 100-foot-long rose arbor and pollinator pathway. 

“The refreshed gardens provide much-needed outdoor classrooms to expand our collaborative efforts with area partners while they will also enhance our existing history and conservation curriculum,” said Suzanne Clary, president of the Board of Trustees of JHC.

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About The Jay Heritage Center

The nonprofit Jay Heritage Center (JHC) is dedicated to preserving, protecting, and revitalizing a place that has meaning for all Americans: The Jay Estate. The property is the centerpiece of the Boston Post Road Historic District, Westchester County's only National Historic Landmark District, an irreplaceable cultural and natural resource. 

Through lectures, workshops, volunteer opportunities, school programs, and concerts, JHC offers timely lessons in history, environmental conservation, architecture, and social justice, while tracing the evolution of democracy in the United States. It hopes to inspire the future historians, civic advocates, and stewards of our fragile cultural and natural resources. 

Just as the architects of our nation’s government pursued self-improvement through dialogue about our nation’s most relevant topics, JHC promotes learning through programs led by prominent experts, Pulitzer Prize-winning authors, and academics in a variety of disciplines from sustainability to legal history.

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