Westchester County”™s effort to preserve the 28-room Merestead Mansion on 130 acres of land in Mount Kisco and Bedford is approximately 75% complete, the county”™s Deputy Parks Commissioner Peter Tartaglia told the Business Journal.
Tartaglia and other county officials had visited the site on July 26 along with County Executive George Latimer.
Tartaglia said that the cost of the capital project would be $3.75 million. The mansion and land had been deeded to the county by the Patterson family in 1982 and became the property of the county in 2000 with the passing of Mrs. Margaret Sloane Patterson. She was the wife of orthopedic surgeon Robert Patterson and daughter of William Sloane.
Sloane had been president and founder of W. & J. Sloane, a noted New York City furniture and rug store that served many of the area”™s most prominent families and also at one time helped furnish the White House.
The Merestead Mansion dates from 1906 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Properties.
Work on restoring the building began Jan. 6, 2020, and resumed after having been shut down due to Covid. Much of the exterior work has now been completed by the county’s Parks Department and the Department of Public Works.
County Parks Commissioner Kathy O”™Connor said, “Merestead is one of our most historic properties and I”™m thrilled to finally see the restoration come to life as its beauty and history is such an important principal for Westchester County.”
County Executive George Latimer said, “Preserving the Merestead main dwelling is imperative in maintaining the county”™s rich history. Making these improvements to the exterior are just the first steps to making sure the property remains a staple in our parks system for future generations to enjoy.”
Latimer said that what the county is doing to preserve and restore as necessary its assets such as Playland, the Tarrytown Lighthouse, the Wightman Mansion in Yonkers and Merestead shows that “we will not let assets atrophy. We will not let them collapse. Here today at Merestead we have one more example of the practical implication of that philosophy.”
Latimer mentioned that in the past there had been events including chamber music concerts held at Merestead. He said that the Parks Department would be seeking public input regarding future uses for the mansion and the surrounding open space.
Latimer said the county wants to put the restored mansion to a productive public use. He said that was the intent of Mrs. Patterson when she bequeathed the property to the county.
“We understand the cost of things, but we also understand the value of things,” Latimer said. “We are going to protect the assets of Westchester and we are going to do it in an open, straight-forward fashion.”
