This was once a two-story Judges’ Stand. From their high position I imagine the judges would have had a good view of the horses racing, exercising etc.

Scenes from the Trail has a couple of interesting old pictures showing how the judges stand used to look. Well worth a look.

Pictures taken with a Sony A6000. I’m not sure which lens was used.

Following the trail from the former entrance you come across these ruins. They are what remains of a former Chicken Coop.

Pictures taken with a Sony A6000 and 7artisans 60mm F2.8 Macro Lens

This is not the first time that I’ve been to the McAndrews Estate. In fact it’s been something of a bogey for me. The first time I took two cameras: one digital and one film. I went early in the morning on a very bright, sunny day. Neither of the cameras I took did well with the very contrasty light. To see some of the appalling results (from the film camera) see: Minolta Maxxum 5 – Results. For this second attempt the light was much less contrasty, but unfortunately I had the wrong lens with me, a 7artisans 60mm F2.8 Macro Lens, which was much too long for the pictures I wanted to take. I ended up taking an number of the wider shots using my iPhone. I also went rather late in the day and, as it was getting dark, I was afraid that I would be walking around in the dark. So I gave up without seeing the entire estate. I decided to go back the next day with a more appropriate lens (a 7artisans 25mm F1.8). Even then I didn’t see everything so I guess I’ll have to return yet again.

According to Wikipedia:

Reusens Farm era

The land was originally owned by Nicholas Cruger, and later by a group of individuals including R.A. Wilkinson, Catherine and Gilbert R. Fox, Henry DeGraaf, Warren Leslie, and several others. By the 1880s it had been acquired piece by piece by Guillaume A. Reusens, a businessman of Belgian ancestry who bred racehorses.

According to a 1912 testimony in Westchester County Supreme Court in the case of N.Y Central & Hudson River Railroad vs. Guillaume A. Reusens (and others), Reusens and his surveyor detailed a sizable number of structures on the property including:

A large uninhabited old colonial house
A two-story and attic frame “Fox House”
A two-story and attic frame “Powers House” north of Hillside Avenue
A one-story and attic stable with coachman’s house attached
A one-story frame building behind the cow stable
A racetrack with judge’s stand
A brick reservoir north of the track
A stable north of Hillside Avenue
An ice house
Small sundry buildings

Long View era

Following the death of Guillaume Reusens on January 5, 1915, the property was inherited by his nephews, brothers Stanislaus P.M. C. and Eugene DeRidder. Starting in 1902, Stansilaus was the Belgian consul and resided in Louisville, Kentucky. Eugene died shortly thereafter in 1916. His death resulted in a dispute in which his common-law wife, a Mrs. Eloise Walter of The Hague, claimed to have a will giving her three-fourths of the estate. Eventually Stansilaus secured sole ownership of the property, which by that time was known as Long View.

After the death of Stanislaus DeRidder on March 7, 1934, his widow Anne married Martin McAndrews. The couple maintained the property as a working farm.Anne McAndrews died on September 20, 1948. Martin McAndrews moved away sometime thereafter, and the property fell into serious disrepair. Actually the property was vandalized and burned. Martin was in Vietnam. There is no hiking allowed. Addendum from P McAndrew Heir.

By 1965 Westchester County moved to condemn the property, which it did four years later in 1969. Not long after, under the County’s Orders, the deteriorating structures on the property were demolished. The property and many of the buildings on it were filmed shortly before and after the demolition by local resident Frederic Cole. The footage was compiled into a short film called “The End of Long View”.

The pictures in this post show the former main entrance to the estate. After going between the stone pillars. You go up a couple of fairly steep sets of steps, which connect with one of the trails.

I’d also like to recommend the Scenes from the Trail Site, which has given me much inspiration. The section on the McAndrews Estate – Oscawana County Park provides detailed information on the various trails, as well as providing numerous photographs including some fascinating photographs showing how the estate looked in its heyday. The entire site is a goldmine of information on hikes in the Hudson Valley and other areas in the vicinity. Each section is well researched and the descriptions of the hikes always include detailed instructions illustrated with photographs.

Pictures taken with a Sony A6000 (with a variety of lenses) and an iPhone SE II.

Breakneck Brook flows through the remains of an old concrete dam with another old outbuilding in the background.

Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3.