Landscape Gardens on the Hudson, a History: The Romantic Age, the Great Estates, and the Birth of American Landscape Architecture: Hyde Park, Sunnysid

The Hudson Valley's role in the mid-1800s as the birthplace of American landscape architecture is explored through the romantically designed grounds of the valley's historic estates and the works of "the father of American landscape design," Hudson Valley native Andrew Jackson Downing.

The book offers a new look at the golden age of grand designs and great estates by examining the designed historic landscapes of the Hudson River Valley at such sites as

Hyde Park (Vanderbilt Mansion NHS), Sunnyside, Olana, Clermont, Lyndhurst, Montgomery Place, Locust Grove, Wilderstein, Springside, Idlewild, Blithewood, Millbrook, Kenwood, The Point, Philipse Manor, Van Cortlandt Manor, The Pastures (Schuyler Mansion), & Others.

The text is illustrated with over 140 period and contemporary images, including plans, photographs, bird's-eye views, paintings and engravings, many in color.