Manhattanville College

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Table of Contents

Tours

1. Historical Tour

   Special Thanks to the Museum Studies 3001 Capstone Spring 2014 Class for their work on this historical tour.

   Stops

   1. Reid Castle

      In 1888 Whitelaw and Elisabeth Mills Reid purchased this estate. Whitelaw was owner of The New York Tribune and US Ambassador to Britain and France. Elisabeth was a member of the influential Mills family of California. The current building, completed in 1892 was designed by McKim, Mead & White and replaced an earlier structure that had been destroyed by fire during renovations. The Reids used the property as a self sufficient farm and country estate. Manhattanville College relocated here from Upper Manhattan in 1952. In 1974 the U.S. Department of the Interior placed Reid Castle on the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of its historical and architectural significance.

       

   2. Quad

      The Reid’s prize-winning sheep once grazed on “The Great Lawn.” Frederick Law Olmsted, a pioneer in urban landscape architecture and best known for Central Park, designed the grounds of the Reid’s estate. Olmsted’s style of naturalistic landscaping can be seen throughout the campus. Today the greenspace is known as The McCormack Quad. It is named of honor of Elizabeth J. McCormack, alumnus and President of Manhattanville from 1966 to 1974.

       

       

   3. The Barbara Knowles Deb House

      The Barbara Knowles Debs House, also known as the President’s Cottage, is one of the oldest buildings on campus. Ben Holladay, the original owner of the estate built the carriage house in 1864. Holladay earned his fortune in mail delivery and mining on the Western frontier. Longing for the West, Holladay imported American bison and elk to roam his estate. Today the Cottage is the home of the College President.

       

   4. Kennedy Gym

      The Kennedy family helped fund this gymnasium which was completed in October 1957. Members of the Kennedy family who graduated from Manhattanville include Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy (1910), Jean Kennedy Smith (1949) Ethel Skakel Kennedy (1949), and Joan Bennett Kennedy (1958). 

       

   5. Cemetery

      Manhattanville was founded in 1841 by the Society of the Sacred Heart, a Catholic women’s religious order. Members of this religious community dating to the nineteenth century, as well as several beloved pets are buried here. 

       

   6. Ohnell Environmental Classroom and Lady Chapel

      The Lady Chapel is one of the oldest family chapels in Westchester County. The small Norman Gothic structure was built by Ben Holladay for his wife in 1866. The family burial vault had once been beneath the Chapel but was relocated in 1919 to a cemetery in Port Chester. In 2004 Manhattanville commissioned architect Maya Lin to restore the Chapel and to design the Ohnell Environmental Center. The Chapel renovations were completed in September 2006.

       

   7. Facilities Management Building/Cottage Row

      The campus was once a working farm under the supervision of the Reid Family. Ophir Farm consisted of over 200 acres of crops, a large dairy with hundreds of cattle, and a prize-winning herd of sheep. The building used today for facilities management was originally the stable and later a garage for the farm’s vehicles. Cottage Row was built as the carpenter’s shop and residence for farmhands. 

       

   8. The Music Building

      The Music Building is home to the Pius X Auditorium, named for the world renowned music program located at Manhattanville from 1916-1969. The Pius X School of Liturgical Music specialized in Gregorian chant. In the summer of 1959, the school worked with Richard Rogers and other members of“The Sound of Music” production on musical arrangement and costumes.