Help Calvert Vaux Preservation Alliance save the historic country estate designed by Calvert Vaux in 1855 for Lydig and Geraldine Livingston Hoyt. There’s no better place to understand and enjoy the work of the architect and landscape designer pivotal to the evolution of American Picturesque design. Undertaken just two years before the Vaux and Olmsted Greensward Plan for Central Park, The Point included picturesque elements later developed for that New York City site. Join CVPA as we restore and redeploy the Hoyt family’s historic country seat, outbuildings, carriageway, bridge, farmlands, gardens and river views for new 21st century uses.
Welcome to The Point!
What’s The Point?
Calvert Vaux created Lydig and Geraldine Livingston Hoyt's house and landscape in 1855. It is located on a promontory with a view of the Hudson River. Inspired by the location, Vaux created distinct, picturesque, and romantic views across the property towards the river and Catskill Mountains beyond.
Watch a 2021 presentation to the Rhinebeck Historical Society on The Point, with many historic images.
The Hoyt Carriageway Bridge
In 2022 Calvert Vaux Preservation Alliance completed a NYS Greenway-funded engineering study on the repairs needed to reopen the Hoyt Carriageway Bridge, the historic main entrance to The Point. We have recently been awarded a Parks and Trails NY grant to partially fund the repair work. In December 2023 we completed Phase 1 of the project, the concrete repair to the east abutment.
Wood decking and side fencing replacement will commence in the Spring of 2024.
Here is a link to the 2022 Historic Structure Report by Peter Melewski LLC
The Hoyt Carriageway Bridge repair project is supported with funding from the New York State Park and Trail Partnership Grants and New York’s Environmental Protection Fund. The Park and Trail Partnership Grants are administered by Parks & Trails New York, in partnership with the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
Gentleman’s Farm
Adjacent to Staatsburgh House (today's Staatsburgh State Historic Site), and linked to it by carriage drives and family trails, The Point was among nearly three score of Livingston estates built along the Hudson River from New Hamburg to Greenport between 1698 (the now lost Kip-Beekman Livingston House) to 1946 (The Astor Tea House).