About Alder Manor
The Alder Manor was built in 1912 for millionaire William Boyce Thompson, a copper magnate from Alder Gulch, Montana who made a fortune in mining and in Wall Street. Architects for this classically inspired Renaissance Revival mansion were Carrere and Hastings, who designed The Frick Collection and The New York Public Library, both on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The Thompson and the Frick mansions have similar architectural components and are outstanding examples of Carrere and Hastings' creative adaptation of Renaissance Revival design. Thompson died in 1930 after years of political and philanthropic service to his country. His widow sold the property in 1950 to the Archdiocese of New York, which offered the property to the Sisters of Charity as a high school and then as Elizabeth Seton College. Now it is the headquarters of The Tara Circle, Inc., an Irish cultural organization.
Carrere and Hastings also built several Florida mansions, as Henry Flagler the railroad magnate, was one of their early clients. The two and a half story building on North Broadway in Yonkers (Rt. 9) overlooks the Hudson River. Limestone is the building material of this slate roofed building with a seven bay (window) façade flanked by a two bay wing on the south and a service wing on the north. The two bays form an entry courtyard with an entrance gate with a fountain in the center. The front entry doors are glass and wrought iron. The building is on the National, State and Local Registers of Historic Places.
The drawing room is paneled in walnut; around the fireplace is a carved molding of birds, flowers and leafy swags. The ceiling is a rare Italian-style trompe-l'oeil. The dining room and the library have oak paneling. Both rooms have classically inspired, carved white marble fireplaces. The ceiling of the dining room is coffered in the French style. The music room has an imported fifteenth century Italian stone fireplace.
Alder's grand stair hall is three stories high and has a beautifully carved wood and wrought iron stair rail. The stair hall walls are elaborately detailed with pilasters, entablatures, and railings at each floor forming low colonnades at each level. Organ pipes are arranged at the top of the stairwell in a window-like frame. The second floor hall holds the still-working pipe organ and several closets full of player-piano music rolls for the organ. A tiled indoor swimming pool is at the northern end of the second floor hall.
The floors in the mansion are wood parquet with the exception of the marble floors in the vestibule and hall and the tile floors in the kitchen and in the swimming pool room. The interior wood doors complement the design theme of each room. Originally the doorknobs were Gorham sterling silver, but these were auctioned off, together with the first floor furnishing (dating back to the Thompson's ownership era) by Iona College, one of the prior owners before the City of Yonkers took over the property. The proceeds from that auction at Christie's were said to be three million dollars.
Now the property is owned by The Tara Circle, Inc. (www.taracircle.org) an Irish cultural organization, which uses the mansion for classes in the Irish language Gaelic, Irish history, music (both instrumental and vocal), song, dance, crafts such as quilt making and painting. Recent major motion pictures shot at Alder Manor include "Mona Lisa Smile" with Julia Roberts, "The Royal Tennenbaums" with a multi-star cast, and "A Beautiful Mind" with Russell Crowe. Many fashion shoots have been made at Alder Manor including Ralph Lauren (recall the Irish wolfhounds on the marble staircase).
To see photos of Alder Manor visit www.aldermanor.com
