Miramont Court aka Brandywine

Isaac Newton Spiegelberg was born in 1859. His family were wholesale clothing merchants who had done well during the Civil War. Although born in the USA he was educated in Germany. Trained as an engineer, he worked for a while on Switzerland’s St. Gotthard Railway. He eventually returned to the US, where he worked on the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad, mostly in Oklahoma. In 1884 he moved away from engineering and took up brokerage with the firm of J & W Seligman. .

In 1909, he built a large (forty-nine room) mansion in the then popular Tudor Revival style on around twenty acres off Sleepy Hollow Road in Briarcliff Manor. He named it “Miramont Court” (Spiegel-mirror, Berg-Mountain). A later owner renamed it “Brandywine”

For the full story see a piece I just prepared for the Briarcliff Manor-Scarborough Historical Society: Miramont Court/Brandywine, the Estate of Isaac Newton Spiegelberg. Notebook 2025-3

I live about three miles from Miramont Court/Brandywine. On occasion I’ve walked there. It takes about an hour.







Taken with a Sony RX100 VII.

Tappan Zee Bridge

Tappan Zee Bridge as seen from near Sing Sing Prison.

According to Wikipedia (which has considerably more information):

The Tappan Zee Bridge, officially named the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge after the former New York governor, is a twin cable-stayed bridge spanning the Tappan Zee section of the Hudson River between Tarrytown and Nyack in the U.S. state of New York. It was built to replace the original Tappan Zee Bridge, which opened in 1955 and was located just to the south. The bridge’s north span carries the northbound and westbound automobile traffic of the New York State Thruway, Interstate 87 (I-87) and I-287; it also carries a shared use path for bicycles and pedestrians. The south span carries southbound and eastbound automobile traffic.

Although not as old as other bridges such as the George Washington, the original Tappan Zee was built in the midst of a material shortage during the Korean War and was thus only designed to last for approximately fifty years. The process to replace the bridge kicked off in 2012, with construction on the new spans beginning by contractor Tappan Zee Constructors in 2013. The Left Coast Lifter (one of the world’s biggest cranes) was instrumental in the construction of the bridge. The north span officially opened to westbound traffic on August 26, 2017, and eastbound traffic temporarily began using the north span on October 6, 2017. Contractors then began demolishing the old bridge. An opening ceremony for the south span was held on September 7, 2018, and traffic started using the new span three days later.

The bridge’s official name, which does not include the words “Tappan Zee” like its predecessor, has been controversial since its announcement. A petition and several legislative bills have sought to officially rename the bridge to the Tappan Zee Bridge or similar names. I will call it the Tappan Zee bridge, and I don’t know anyone who calls it the “Mario Cuomo” bridge.

The Tappan Zee river crossing was named by 17th century Dutch settlers. The Tappan Zee Bridge is the only crossing of the Hudson between Westchester and Rockland counties. The original Tappan Zee Bridge was a cantilever bridge built from 1952 to 1955. The bridge was 3 miles (4.8 km) long and spanned the Hudson at its second-widest point. It was the longest bridge in New York State, at a length of 16,013 feet (4,881 m) including approaches. Built immediately after the Korean War, the bridge had a low construction budget of only $81 million and a designed life-span of only 50 years. During its first decade, the bridge carried fewer than 40,000 vehicles per day.

Taken with a Sony RX100 VII.

Westerley Marina

Westerley Marina Inc. is in Ossining, NY not far from “The Boathouse” restaurant that has featured in a number of my posts.

Originally this was a factory where Tobin crafts (24′ sea skiffs) were produced. It’s been in operation since 1959. In 1963 Tobin Craft won the Long Island marathon race.

The Marina offers the following services.

  • Outboard repairs Merc and Force
  • Inboard repairs gas and diesel
  • I/O repairs Merc, Volvo, and OMC
  • Electrical repairs A/C and D/C
  • Fiberglass repairs
  • Bottom painting and hull painting
  • Wash and wax
  • Repowers gas and diesel
  • Mast stepping
  • Repair parts: toilet repair kits, – impellers, propellers, belts, hoses etc.
  • trailer repair

They do extensive fiberglass repairs as well as painting.

  • Mercury Marine
  • Volvo Penta
  • Venture Trailers

They are also a Certified Sealand Repair Center!




Taken with a Sony RX100 VII.

To Halsey Pond Park and Back – Tunnel on Station Road.

According to the New York Post:

In the chilling trailers for the film, you can’t miss this eerie tunnel where Emily Blunt’s drunken character, Rachel, gets entangled in some kind of crime. (No spoilers in this article!) The granite Station Road tunnel in the Spiro Park neighborhood of Irvington serves as an underpass along the Old Croton Aqueduct pathway.

Now a popular running, bicycling and walking trail, the path covers 26.2 miles of the original 19th-century aqueduct. The leafy, linear OCA Park runs from Van Cortlandt Park in The Bronx to the Croton Dam in Cortlandt.

Meanwhile, the film’s deputy location manager, Mara Alcaly, reveals that the atmospheric haze that contributes to the creepiness of the scenes was created by a mist made from glycerin and water. “I spent many an evening waiting for dusk on Station Road,” adds Alcaly, “sitting there with our mist machine.”

Taken with a Sony RX10 IV