Photo Album

Ironically, Oliver Hazard Payne lived in Esopus for a shorter time than any other owner. Yet his decisions cast a long shadow over his successors.===>>	photo 6 October 2002 by Victor VanCarpels		<<=== Designed by architects Carrère & Hastings, the main house was modeled on a villa Payne noticed on the French or Italian Riviera during one of his summer trips on the Aphrodite.
	<<=== South and east elevations of main house. The main entrance was the east elevation. The balustrade in foreground surrounded a formal garden outside the dining room. photo circa 1915		<<=== South and east elevations after restoration of the limestone exterior. photo 6 Oct 2002 Victor VanCarpels
The design team planned that the trees from the mansion to the river would frame Payne's yacht, the Aphrodite. This was not evident in 1942, as the space between the river road and the river was overgrown with tall trees. The plan became evident when these trees were cleared in the early 1950s. ===>>		Conversely, these same trees formed a frame for the main house when seen from the river or across the river in North Hyde Park. ===>> <<=== photos ===>> 6 October 2002 Victor VanCarpels
	<<=== Aerial view of main house, with reservoir built by Astor or Russell visible. Also part of the main garden opposite the greenhouse in upper part of photo. photo circa 1915.		<<=== Payne's yacht, the Aphrodite, moored below the main house. photo circa 1915
Another view of the belvedere, a covered porch with grand view of the Hudson, which was the predominant feature of the east facade ===>> photo circa 1915		The same view taken after the limestone restoration. Note the balustrade atop the front porch has been replaced with solid wall. ===>> photo 6 October 2002 by Victor VanCarpels
	<<=== The north facade was the usual entrance for those arriving by automobile. A driveway wound round the front door, and there were parking spaces in the foreground. photo circa 1915		<<===. This photo shows the north elevation shortly after the limestone had been restored. photo 6 October 2002 Victor VanCarpels
Interior courtyard of main house. There were alcoves and murals on three sides, with the principal background a pale blue to set off the white limestone. ===>> photo circa 1915		Grillwork on north entrance by Thomas Hastings includes monogram for Oliver Hazard Payne ===>> photo 21 Sept 2002 Rich Foy
	<<=== Another view of the belvedere and part of north wall outside the library. Note that balustrade has been replaced with a solid railing above the front porch. photo 21 Sept 2002 Rich Foy		<<=== Closeup of section of grillwork showing the initials O H P for Oliver Hazard Payne. photo 6 Oct 2002 Victor Van Carpels
photo copied from essay by Elizabeth Burroughs-Kelly in Esopus memorial book dated 1978.	<<=== The Waldorf at West Park, forerunner of the Payne main house. Foundations of this house can be seen in the center cellar of the Payne mansion. It is uncertain whether the Waldorf was built by Archibald Russell or John Jacob Astor, although Astor certainly renovated it. Astor also gave it the name Waldorf, in honor of the town in Germany from which the Astors emigrated.		<<=== Urns framed several of the driveway entrances to the main house. photo circa 1995? Bro Steven Kappes
The south elevation opened onto a garden with balustrade wall matching that on the front and the east balcony. Inside were the dining room and morning sun room. ===>>	photo 21 Sept 2002 by Rich Foy	The west elevation contained living quarters for female servants. These rooms were converted into classrooms for Marist Prep. This was the normal entry for students, who would change shoes as they entered.the building. This section is unusual for a Hastings building; he usually favored L or U shapes. ===>>	photo 21 Sept 2002 by Rich Foy
photo 21 Sept 2002 by Rich Foy	<<===This reservoir was built by either Astor or Russell. In the Payne era it stored water for the firehouse system in the mansion.	photo 21 Sept 2002 by Rich Foy	<<=== Raymond Rich, the new owner in 1986, neatly kept the basic reservoir, added an unobtrusive roof and now has a nice equipment storage facility!
The Payne garages in the English village were converted to kitchens in 1952.. With the growth of usage of autos, trucks, tractors, both the Ray Rich and the Brothers built simple garages. ===>>	photo 21 Sept 2002 by Rich Foy	This field southwest of the main house may likely have been part of the original Donaldson farm. Overgrown in the 1940s, it was cleared when the main house became a novitiate inthe 1980s under Brother Peter Hilary. . ===>>	photo 21 Sept 2002 by Rich Foy
photo 21 Sept 2002 by Rich Foy	<<=== Just south of the walled garden was a rock garden, the remains of whose sitting nook can be seen	photo 21 Sept 2002 by Rich Foy	<<=== The rock garden has not been restored. The trees inside the garden grew after the Payne era.
Robert and Faye Pomerantz of Kerhonkson NY discovered this postcard at a flea market in October 2003. It probably was commissioned in the 1940s or 1950s, and is basically the original photo artfully enhanced with air brush work for the sky and grass ===>>		On 23 September 2009 it was announced at a press conference held in the main house hosted by President Dennis Murray of Marist College and Claire Carlson, longtime companion of Ray Rich and executrix of his will that the Esopus estate was willed to Marist College to establish the Raymond A Rich Institute for Leadership Development.