Untermyer Park and Gardens

Photographs from general to construction detail

Untermyer Park and Gardens is a 17-hectare historic public city park located in Yonkers, New York, in Westchester County, just north of New York City. The park is a remnant of Samuel J. Untermyer's "Greystone" estate. Situated on the steep terrain that rises from the east bank of the Hudson River to the bluff above it, the park features a walled garden inspired by ancient Indo-Persian gardens, a small Greek-style outdoor amphitheater with two facing sphinxes supported by tall Ionic columns, a classical pavilion, stoa and loggias, a rock and water feature called “The Temple of Love,” as well as a long staircase from the walled garden to a vantage point overlooking the river and palisades.

The "walled garden" owes its inspiration to the great Indo-Persian gardens of antiquity. Like ancient gardens, the Walled Garden is divided into quadrants by waterways and bordered by crenelated walls anchored by octagonal towers.
The Indo-Persian walled garden was intended to imitate a paradise on earth and therefore had features inspired by religious descriptions of paradise. Biblical descriptions of Eden include four rivers (Pison, Gihon, Tigris, and the Euphrates) and two great trees (the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil). Islam describes paradise, or Jannah, and includes similar elements: four rivers of life (water, milk, honey and wine) and the Tree of Life. The word "Paradise" itself comes from the Persian words "Pairi" and "Diz" meaning "Around" and "Create (a wall)" respectively. (Source: Untermyer Gardens Conservancy)

The gardens were developed starting in 1916 by Untermyer, a prominent lawyer and civic leader, and were designed by landscape architect William W. Bosworth, with fountains by Charles Wellford Leavitt and sculptures by Paul Manship and other artists. The gardens were regularly opened to the public, hosted various types of entertainment, and were considered among the most beautiful gardens in the United States.
Owned by the city of Yonkers since 1946, the park has seen a notable transformation since 2011 by the Untermyer Gardens Conservancy and since that time, it has been renamed Untermyer Park and Gardens in honor of its founder.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. (Source: Wikipedia)