Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion State Historic Park is a state park located at 151 Charlotte Street in Canandaigua, New York, at the north end of Canandaigua Lake, in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York. The house and gardens are open to the public every day, May through October.

History

The property was once the summer home of Frederick Ferris Thompson, a prominent banker in New York City, and his wife Mary Clark Thompson, whose father, Myron Holley Clark, was Governor of New York State in 1855. The Clark family was from Canandaigua. Mr. & Mrs. Thompson's main home was in NYC in a large townhouse on Madison Avenue. The Thompsons purchased the Sonnenberg property in 1863, keeping the name, Sonnenberg (which means "sunny hill" in German). In 1887, they replaced the original farmhouse with a forty-room Queen Anne style mansion. The property also had a farm to the east. Sonnenberg's gardens were designed and built between 1902 and 1919, and originally consisted of nine gardens in a variety of styles.

The Thompsons had no children. The nephew who inherited the estate after Mary Clark Thompson's death in 1923 sold the property to the Federal Government in 1931, who built a veteran's hospital (today the Canandaigua VA Medical Center) on the adjacent farmland.

The mansion's facade is rusticated graystone with Medina sandstone trim and gables made from timber and stucco. The roof is slate with lead-coated copper.

The Thompsons had a Roman bath constructed in 1914 to act as a swimming area. The bathhouse and pool were designed by Allen in the neoclassical revival style. The bathhouse includes a wrapped around porch shelter covered with Ludowici clay roof tiles.

Other attractions

In addition to the nine gardens and mansion, the property hosts the Finger Lakes Wine Center, which is housed in the Bay House and offers a number of local wines for tasting and purchase, as well a fine gift shop.

A cafe is located in the Gardener's House serving light lunches.

See also

  • List of botanical gardens in the United States
  • List of New York State Historic Sites
  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Ontario County, New York

References

  • New York State Historic Sites: Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion State Historic Park