One of the most significant achievements in Rye’s excellent record of historic preservation is its role in saving the Jay Estate. Those who are interested in the complex history should explore the “About Us” section of its website (jayheritagecenter.org), which begins:
“The Jay Estate in Rye is the childhood home of John Jay, one of our nation’s greatest leaders and Founding Fathers…. Thanks to the efforts of its subsequent owners who cherished it and community advocates who saved it, this sylvan and historic 23-acre oasis, once part of an expansive 400-acre farm, still boasts a magnificent view to Long Island Sound.”
Information about Jay family members and the “subsequent owners who cherished it,” can be found on the site under the sub-heading “History of the Jay Estate.” A “Timeline” notes that to escape the ongoing threat of a smallpox epidemic in New York City, Peter Jay bought a farm at Rye in 1745 with 250 acres that later grew to 400.
John Jay was three months old when the family moved to Rye in 1746. Records show that Peter Jay enslaved as many as nine people to help manage the plantation and to help care for seven children, two of whom were blind.
John Jay inherited the property in 1782, together with three of his brothers, and deeded it in 1822 to his son, Peter Augustus Jay, who built the current Greek Revival mansion in 1838.
As described in an article published by the Cultural Landscape Foundation:
“Long before he inherited the property outright, John Jay treated it like his own, maintaining gardens, planting trees, and establishing, in 1807, a tranquil cemetery lined with cypresses for himself, his siblings, and descendants. Together with his son Peter Augustus Jay, he oversaw the installation of gardens and elm tree plantings …
“The most prominent feature of this landscape is an expansive meadow that is believed to be the oldest man-managed meadow on record in New York State. This magnificent swath of golden grass pre-dated his family’s residency by thousands of years, to Paleo-Indian times when the land was a fertile settlement site and regularly burned to renew growth.”
The property was inherited at Peter’s death in 1843 by his son, Dr. John Clarkson Jay, who renamed the estate “Alansten,” and it remained with his children and other members of the Jay family until the death of Dr. Jay in 1904. Among the subsequent owners were members of the Palmer and Devereux families.
In 1924, The Rye Chronicle described a garden tour at “the home of Mr. and Mrs. Edgar L. Palmer, ‘Alansten,’ on the Post Road in Rye, a beautiful old Colonial mansion, formerly the old Jay estate…. Nearby is the old family burial plot of the Jay family, surrounded by guardian trees….The garden visitors of previous years cherish memories of the garden of Alansten with sundial and paved paths and roses and shrubbery, of the stately trees and of one majestic elm in particular.”
Zilph Palmer inherited the estate from her father in 1935 and lived there with her husband, Walter Devereux, for more than 30 years. In what The New York Times in 1966 called an “unusual disposition,” Mrs. Devereux donated a 23-acre parcel of the estate, including the Jay residence, to the Methodist Church for use as a regional headquarters and conference center. The JHC website notes that “this discrete park is what is known today as the Jay Estate.”
She also donated 120 acres of undeveloped land overlooking Long Island Sound to Westchester County in 1966 for conservation purposes. The preserve, which was called the Devereux Reservation and renamed Marshlands Conservancy, opened in 1972 and grew with a gift of 17 acres from the Parsons family, who owned an adjoining property, called Lounsbury.
In 1979, the Methodist Church sold the residence and 23 acres to a real estate developer, DGM Partners, which announced plans to build numerous single-family houses on the property.
The next “Bit of Local History” column will focus on the lengthy battle of private and public organizations at the local, county, state, and federal level to stop the planned housing development from encroaching on the Marshlands and the Jay Estate.
