Greyston (William E. Dodge House)

690 West 247th Street | also 4675 Hadley Avenue | Riverdale | built 1931

Open on the map6 entries

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

1. 1863

   James Renwick Jr. designs a granite summer house for William E. Dodge Jr.

   Dodge bought the land from Joseph Delafield early in 1863 and work started that year on a house by James Renwick Jr., architect of St. Patrick's Cathedral. Built of local gray granite laid in a random pattern, it began as a fairly modest Hudson River Gothic summer cottage drawing on English Tudor and Elizabethan manor houses, and was much enlarged later.

   “Construction was begun in 1863, following Dodge's purchase of land early that year from Joseph Delafield.”

   Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

2. 1864

   Spring

   The Dodge family moves into Greyston in the middle of the Civil War

   Family lore holds the house may have been done by the end of 1863, but the Dodges did not live in it until spring 1864. It was then much smaller than today: an early sketch of its north side, still kept at the house, shows pointed dormers and little gables over the windows, and a wooden porch with Gothic openwork, part of which survives.

   Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

3. 1887

   Grace Hoadley Dodge, a founder of Teachers College, hosts its conferences at Greyston

   Grace Hoadley Dodge (1856-1914), eldest of the six Dodge children, was a social worker whose Kitchen Garden Association grew into Teachers College, founded in 1887. As the college's acting treasurer and the chair of its trustees, she hosted a great many conferences at Greyston, many of them international.

   “Teachers College, founded in 1887, is the outgrowth of her formation of the Kitchen Garden Association…”

   Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

4. 1892

   The Dodges expand their summer house into a year-round home

   Built as a summer residence for the copper magnate William E. Dodge Jr., Greyston was enlarged in 1892 so the family could live in it all year as a suburban house. The 2 1/2-story Gothic Revival building joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

   Source: Wikipedia

5. 1961

   Cleveland E. Dodge gives Greyston to Teachers College after forty years there

   Cleveland E. Dodge, grandson of the builder and nephew of Grace Dodge, made Greyston his home for four decades. In 1961, as chair of the Teachers College trustees, he gave the house to the college. It was formally dedicated as Teachers College's Greyston Conference Center on May 27, 1963.

   “In 1961, while Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Teachers College, he gave "Greyston" to that institution.”

   Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

6. 1970

   October 13

   Greyston is designated a New York City landmark

   The Landmarks Preservation Commission held its hearing on April 28, 1970, when a single speaker testified in favor and none against, and named the Greyston Conference Center a landmark on October 13, 1970. Its report noted that the entrance side had been heavily reworked by the addition of a big dining-room wing and further changes.

   Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

Further reading

• William E. Dodge HouseWikipedia

Nearby

• Greyston Gatehouse4695 Independence Avenue | 4 entries
• Alderbrook4715 Independence Avenue | 5 entries
• Anthony Campagna Estate640 West 249th Street | 5 entries
• Duff House4767 Henry Hudson Parkway West | 2 entries
• Riverdale Temple4545 Independence Avenue | 3 entries
• Riverdale Presbyterian Church4765REAR Henry Hudson Parkway West | 4 entries

All 301 buildings with stories in Riverdale