The address is 28 Bear Mountain Bridge Road. In 1763, Pierre Van Cortlandt built his manor house on the spot. In 1777 the Continental Army requisitioned the wine cellar for an ammo dump. The Greek Revival movement that swept America in the early 19th century is represented by white pilasters and a decorative crown molding that obscure half the Dutch core.
It was later a hotel ”“ the date is unclear, though several door numbers remain in place ”“ and finally Monteverde, a well-known inn, spa and restaurant that fell into bankruptcy in 2008. The Perrotts bought it in December at tax auction and completed the paperwork of ownership Feb. 15.
Ten-thousand hammer strikes later, the first toasts have resounded at their destination facility, an event for 250 that, when word got out regarding the venue, attracted 300.
“Oldstone,” as the original house is known, is on 27 acres of Hudson River frontage in Cortlandt Manor, below Bear Mountain Bridge, surrounded by the U.S. Army”™s Camp Smith.
After two years in bankruptcy during which the elements nibbled at the building”™s soffits, Scarsdale residents Arlene and Brent Perrott (pronounced Per-oh) bought the site ”“ the now 7,100-square-foot manor house and its additions, plus separate guest quarters, the separate wine cellar/ammunition repository, even a manicured Colonial road that at one time led to Pierre Van Cortlandt”™s front door ”“ for $2.3 million.
Arlene Perrott, who toured the site on a recent sun-splashed day, said the couple is pumping an additional $500,000 into renovations this year. White Plains-based FV General Contracting is doing the work under the guidance of principal Fernando Velasquez, whom Arlene called “a magician” and whose historic craftsmanship is on display in the hand-carved (working) fireplace in the house”™s master bedroom.
“We were originally interested in buying a small office building,” Perrott said of their original 2010 search for an investment property. They would rent some of the building and her husband could use the remainder for his business, Scarsdale-based Hunter Communications Inc., buyers, sellers and negotiators for satellite space. One building in Tuckahoe looked promising, but then their real estate broker, Anthony Toscano with Joseph Anthony Real Estate in Eastchester, asked them if they might consider an old, historic inn.
As fate played out, Perrott knew Monteverde from her youth and last Nov. 10 she and her husband took a drive up and: “We fell in love. It was cold and snowy and still we were sold.”
Yet, from the outset, “We knew we were not restaurateurs, so we did not want to open a restaurant,” she said. “We wanted to open a destination. In a couple of years, after we get the buildings completely fixed and we”™re established, maybe we”™ll look to lease it as a restaurant. We are not restaurateurs and it is not our goal ”“ at least not for the foreseeable future ”“ to run a restaurant.”
Monteverde at Oldstone is the inn”™s new name. (Pierre Van Cortlandt named his manor Oldstone.) The Perrott business plan will see it serve as a destination for corporate outings, weddings, retreats family reunions and the like. Six finished guest rooms will lend a bed-and-breakfast element or serve as day-rooms for wedding parties; one historic room has been set aside for small gatherings, like an intimate toast, and the oversize bathrooms are the stuff of a bride-in-gown”™s every need. Several guest rooms are in a separate cottage.
The first successful event was notched June 30 when 300 attendees gathered to honor donors to the Hudson Valley Hospital Center. A staff of five men (including four conscripted by Velasquez”™s construction crew and Velasquez himself) and two women were sufficient for staffing. “We were really, really excited,” Arlene said of opening night. “We were expecting 170 to 190 cars and we got 300. There were a few glitches, but we pulled it off and we”™ve heard wonderful things about it.” Other events are already inked in, including an August wedding and the town of Cortlandt Manor”™s 9/11 Memorial gathering Sept. 18.
The Pavilion, a tent that can comfortably accommodate 350 people is 100 feet from the house and comes with its own flagstone-ringed pond.
The grounds are maintained by Cortlandt Manor-based Colonial Landscaping. Arlene said “buying local” has guided all their renovations. Their partnering caterers, so far, are Tastefully Yours in Briarcliff and The Mansion at Colonial Terrace in Cortlandt Manor. (She is a Mahopac native and graduate of Berkeley Business College in White Plains; he is a Canadian who also studied business.)
The Perrotts have a young daughter and Perrott before long is flashing a couple of pictures. Informally, they hosted her 4th birthday party on site. “And this is our baby, too,” she said of Monteverde at Oldstone, waxing historical from basement to attic. “We fell in love with it.”
