Van Buren, Martin, National Historic Site (Boundary Increase)

Martin Van Buren National Historic Site occupies 176.95 acres at 1013 Old Post Road in Kinderhook, New York. Its centerpiece is Lindenwald, a brick mansion built in 1797 for Judge Peter Van Ness in the Federal style. Martin Van Buren, the eighth president, bought the property in 1839 and lived there until his death in 1862. In 1849-1850 architect Richard Upjohn remodeled and enlarged the house in the Italian Villa style, adding a five-story belvedere tower. The district includes the South Gatehouse, Farm Cottage, Upper Pond, agricultural fields and several archaeological sites, including Native American and historic-period locations. Fourteen resources contribute to its character, while thirteen later buildings and features, many from a mid-twentieth century farm complex and National Park Service facilities, do not. The boundary was expanded to match the area set by Congress, adding Van Buren's farmland, which shows how he shaped the estate to reflect his wealth and Jeffersonian agrarian ideals. The National Park Service restored the house in the early 1980s.