Residence of the Schermerhorn family

Creator

The Rockefeller Archive Center

Preview

Creation Date

5-2019

Description

Residence of the Schermerhorn family, foot of 64^th Street and East River

Reproduced from the original print owned by Cris Kenzel and given to RU Archives by Joshua Lederberg on January 26^th, 1981.

Almost 120 years ago the search for a permanent site for the new Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research ended with the purchase of the Schermerhorn estate, an almost perfectly preserved 18th-centuryDutch farm, complete with grazing cows and chickens and a house described as “a Swiss chalet with Dutch trimmings.”

The house, built in 1747, served for a number of years as the “country” retreat of George Clinton, who later became the first governor of New York and who served twice as vice president.