Boston Post Road Historic District
The pin is the National Park Service's center point for the property.
Why it's listed
Along the Boston Post Road in Rye, this 300-acre district between the road and Long Island Sound preserves a large stretch of open land in a densely built corridor. It contains three major estate houses, twenty-two other buildings, the Rye City Golf Club, the Jay family cemetery and the Marshlands Conservancy. Two of the mansions, Alansten (1838) and Lounsberry (also 1838, with later additions), are Greek Revival residences with porticos, fine interior detailing and surrounding outbuildings such as carriage houses, cottages, a tennis house and a greenhouse. Whitby, completed in 1854 to designs by Alexander Jackson Davis, is a Gothic Revival stone building with towers and now serves as the golf club clubhouse. The district is valued for showing the nineteenth-century development of lower Westchester County and for retaining much of its original character. Shell middens and artifacts also show that Native peoples used the shoreline for thousands of years.
Significance in brief: The nomination presents the district as illustrating the nineteenth-century growth of Rye, with buildings of architectural and cultural importance, including two Greek Revival estates and an Alexander Jackson Davis Gothic Revival house. It is also one of the few remaining undeveloped stretches along the Boston Post Road. Its shell middens and artifacts are cited as evidence of long prehistoric occupation and cultural change.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 82001275, listed October 29, 1982. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly bounded by Boston Post Rd. and Milton Harbor, Rye |
|---|---|
| County | Westchester County |
| Listed | October 29, 1982 |
| Reference number | 82001275 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architect / builder | Alexander Jackson Davis (Whitby); Chester A. Patterson (Estate Cottage B); Lord and Burnham (greenhouse) |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Classical Revival |
| Areas of significance | Prehistoric, Architecture, Conservation |
| Level of significance | National, Local |
| National Historic Landmark | Yes, designated August 30, 1993 |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Most land remains open and the major building exteriors are largely unaltered. Some outbuildings, such as the bowling alley and poultry house, are unused and deteriorated. |
| Acreage | 300 |
| Coordinates | 40.95731, -73.70608 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 82001275.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4948031
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.