Sixteen Mile District

Along the eastern shore of the Hudson River, midway between New York and Albany, about thirty contiguous estates form a district stretching through the towns of Clermont, Red Hook, Rhinebeck and Hyde Park. The district also takes in the riverfront parts of the landings at Rhinecliff, Barrytown and Tivoli. Roughly three hundred buildings and sites lie within it, including main houses, gatehouses, barns, carriage houses and tenant houses. Most estates trace to the Livingston family and its descendants, among them Clermont, The Pynes, Callendar House, Teviot and the Mills Mansion. Ownership today includes private families, the State of New York, Bard College and religious institutions. The area is also tied to transportation history: Robert Fulton's steamship Clermont made its maiden voyage in 1807, and the Hudson River Railroad opened in 1851. Smaller eighteenth-century Palatine houses and documented Woodland period archeological sites add further layers. Some losses have occurred, including two houses in 1977.