Clermont State Historic Site

Clermont State Historic Site in Germantown, New York, was the Hudson River estate of the Livingston family for seven generations, and the home of Chancellor Robert R. Livingston, one of the five men who drafted the Declaration of Independence. Guided mansion tours run Thursday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., on the hour, for $10 an adult. The gardens and grounds are open every day from 8:30 a.m. to sunset, with a $5 vehicle fee on weekends and Monday holidays from April through October.

The Livingstons of Clermont

State Parks calls Clermont the country seat of the Livingston family. The first mansion went up around 1740 as a Georgian house, and later generations added on. Judge Robert R. Livingston (1718–1775) helped write the Stamp Act Congress's protest to King George. His son, Chancellor Robert R. Livingston (1746–1813), served in the Second Continental Congress, sat on the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence, and became the nation's first Secretary of Foreign Affairs.

In 1777 British troops invading the Hudson Valley burned the house to the ground. The Chancellor's mother, Margaret Beekman Livingston, oversaw the family's escape and the rebuilding during the war.

More Than One Family's Story

State Parks is plain that the Livingstons were not the only people at Clermont. Enslaved people, Indigenous people, tenant farmers and paid servants lived and worked on the land. The Visitor Center exhibit, "Spero Meliora: Life in the Land of Livingston," tells how their lives were bound up with the family's.

Mansion Tours

The house is decorated as it was around 1930, when Alice Delafield Clarkson Livingston lived there with her daughters Honoria and Janet and their staff. Tours run year round, Thursday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., on the hour.

• Adults: $10
• Seniors and students over 12: $8
• Children under 12: free

For group or school rates, call (518) 537-4240.

Gardens and Grounds

The grounds are open every day of the year, 8:30 a.m. to sunset. State Parks names three gardens: a cutting garden that once supplied flowers for the house, a walled garden influenced by gardens in Florence, and a wilderness garden that links the upper garden to the walled garden around a fishpond. State Parks also lists hiking, equestrian, cross-country ski and snowshoe trails and a picnic area. A trail map is on the State Parks website.

Fees

• Vehicle: $5, paid at pay stations in the lot on weekends and Monday holidays from April 1 to October 31, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and at the gate for special events.
• Group picnics: permit required over 25 people; $40, $50 over 50, $100 over 100.
• Lawn rentals and weddings: priced on the State Parks page.

Clermont and Lake Taghkanic

State Parks lists Clermont among the sites within a 45-minute drive of Lake Taghkanic. Pair a morning tour with an afternoon on the West Beach, or visit on a cool day of a camping week. Olana, Frederic Church's estate in Hudson, is the other great Hudson River house in the region.

Getting There

One Clermont Avenue, Germantown, NY 12526. For GPS, State Parks says to use 416 Woods Road. Phone (518) 537-4240.