Peter J. Marcucci

Special Contributor

Photos by Peter J. Marcucci

Edward Harriman’s estate plan was so large that he was not allowed to build inside the Tuxedo Club. Instead, he built his mansion just north and outside of the club on a 40,000 acre tract. It was known as the Arden Estate.On Route 17 towards the Catskill Mountain region of upstate New York, there’s a magnificent cluster of buildings and walls in Tuxedo, New York. I later learned this was called the Tuxedo Park Club. 

This structure was the first mansion built on the Tuxedo Park property, and became the headquarters for all subsequent construction within the park.Months later, while seeking information on these stone masonry buildings, I was fortunate to cross paths with Michael Jamieson, Owner of Jamieson Stoneworks, LLC in Sloatsburg, NY.

Michael, a local stone carver, fabricator and mason since the mid 1980s, has lived in this area his entire life and resides almost a stone’s throw from these structures. So my first question to Michael was: Is that stone building really a Police Station?

Close-up of the north wall shows the intricacy and attention to detail that the 1,800 to 3,000 eastern European craftsmen took during the park’s fourteen year construction. “There is a famous story, but I don’t know how true it is,” explained Michael Jamieson, Owner of Jamieson Stoneworks LLC. “The workers were getting paid by the day to do stone work, and one of the wealthy blue-bloods residents got bit by a rattlesnake. So they offered the masons that were doing the stone work a dollar a head to catch the snakes without killing them.”“Yes, and I call it the gatehouse. I think it was the first structure they built, and it’s one of the best examples of rustic-style natural stone construction I’ve ever seen. It’s gorgeous. They took the gnarly first pick of stone, dragged it out of the woods, and made it look nice. 

“Technically it is gneiss, and it was surface stone from when the glaciers passed through this area, and was handpicked within a mile radius of Tuxedo.

The gate house; the first structure of the Tuxedo Park Club in Tuxedo, NY. “I think the Tuxedo Park Club was the very first gated community in the U.S.,” explained Michael. “The stone fence extends only to the close left and close right of the gate and not around the whole park. To the right, the fence ends and the mountain makes its own natural boundary.”Those stones have a lot of iron coming out of them, and many are misshaped and craggy. Some even look like rhinoceros horns. The top stones of the walls were placed for intimidation and as a deterrent to keep people and animals out.”  

According to Michael, the Tuxedo Park Club project was started in 1886 by Pierre Laurelard and his architect Bruce Price.

Originally built to be a private club for the rich and famous of New York City, the founders broke ground by constructing bridges, excavating drainage and digging three lakes as well as roads throughout the entire park.

A group of rental cottages including a clubhouse, were then built “Adirondack style” using local stone and wood and “Whatever came out of the woods,” said Michael.

By the early 1900s, visitors could check in, bask in the sunshine, play tennis, or just relax and socialize with the upscale patrons. 

But that original concept changed early on with the area’s rich and powerful wanting to do more than just live in cottages and play tennis.

Heavyweight industrialists, such as Pierre Laurelard of American Tobacco fame and railroad tycoon Edward Harriman were eager to build mansions on the prime Ramapo Mountain property.

Things then changed quickly, according to Michael. “Around the turn of the (20th)  century and well into the next few decades they began building some big, gaudy mansions of many different styles and continued to for many years. Unfortunately, three quarters of those mansions are now gone.” 

But the walls and gatehouse (Yes, a police station) remain a legacy and a reminder of a past era; one of vision, leadership and “old money.”

This was also an era of few machines and many craftsman doing lasting construction with hard, rough labor and their strong backs.                          

Peter J. Marcucci has over 25 years of fabrication experience in the stone industry. Send your comments to our Contacts page.