Residence Park (New Rochelle, New York)

 draw only border, residential area

Residence Park is a historic residential community located in southern New Rochelle. The area is bordered by the South Side area on the west, Shore Road on the south, and Downtown New Rochelle on the north and east. Residence Park is one of the first planned 'residential parks', or 'garden communities', in the United States. The area is located on the former country estate of Simeon Leland, a wealthy 19th century New York City hotelier. In 1848, Leland purchased 40 acres overlooking New Rochelle Harbor as a site for his country home. It wasn't until 1855, however, that he hired architect William Thomas Beers to design an "English castellated Gothic edifice". The sixty room residence "Castle View" was constructed between 1856 and 1859 and, according to town records, served as Leland's main residence until his death in 1872.

In 1884 the castle and property were purchased by real estate developer Adrian Iselin Jr. who sold off most of the land to create "Residence Park", one of the earliest 'garden city' communities in the United States. Iselin constructed surrounding streets, including Castle Place, put in gas lines and greatly enhanced the natural landscape planting trees and shrubbery, and soon the 40-acre original estate was diminished to just 21⁄2 acres on which the castle remained.

There are a number of historically significant structures located within the community including the country home of the American patriot and Huguenot Lewis Pintard. Louis Pintard was a member of the Committee of One Hundred in New York before the Revolution. He founded the Chamber of Commerce of New York. As a New York merchant, Pintard served General Washington as Commissary for the prisoners in New York City.His son, adopted from his deceased brother, founded the New York Historical Society, served as secretary of the New York Chamber of Commerce, and was elected first Sagamore of the Tammany Society. The First Presbyterian Church of New Rochelle (Pintard Church) was built next to the Pintard House, which has been incorporated into the church property as the priory. The house and the church are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Other notable sites include the home of Lou Gehrig located on Meadow Lane and the College of New Rochelle.

The Garden City Movement arose in England during the 19th century as a reaction to the crowding and pollution of cities as a result of its Industrial Revolution. In his 1898 book "To-Morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform", Ebenezer Howard conveyed his ideas concerning the creation of new towns. Howard believed that these towns should be limited in size and density, and should be surrounded with a belt of undeveloped land. His ideas led to the creation of Letchworth, in Hertfordshire, England, credited there as the first "Garden City." The movement spread to the U.S. into the 1920's resulting in a number of planned communities such as Radburn, New Jersey, and Jackson Heights, New York, however, some early residential developers started to experiment with the 'Garden City' concept way before it gained the title, most notably, Adrian Iselin's “Residence Park” planned in 1885.

"Residence Park" can be viewed as the grandfather to suburban living in the modern American city. Prior to its existence, residential settings were limited to either very rural or very urban extremes. Lots were fronted by no more than a ditch or a dirt road when not directly in the urban environment. When in the city, there was little to no natural space except for public parks. In "Residence Park", the attention to public spaces, visual beauty and natural settings, continues to set it apart from other suburban developments.

When creating the community, Iselin paid considerable attention to the layout and measurements of streets, the parkways, sidewalks, lighting, public spaces, parks, and the overall landscape plan of the community. One of his fundamental goals was to create an area that blended in with the natural topography, designed around large garden areas, landscaped islands and traffic medians, and winding streets. The streets follow a very naturalized route so that navigating them can be an adventure for a newcomer. To this day residents remark that delivery drivers and other visitors to the area often become lost. It may have been the intention of Iselin to “get lost” in the naturally winding streets or may have simply been his response to monotony of the grid system of streets and avenues in New York City.

From the onset, the community had a set of conditions, covenants and restrictions that set minimum property costs, controlled what was built and established property setbacks. The residential architecture reflects several distinct styles popular around the turn of the twentieth century such as Queen Anne Style, Colonial Revival and Tudor. The neighborhood is largely intact today as its layout has not been altered, the landscaping of the common areas has matured, and virtually all the original residences remain. Most significant development and change has occurred on the campus of the College of New Rochelle which is situated on the remaining 2 1/2 acres of the former Leland estate which, while completely surrounded by Residence Park, was not a part of the initial community as planned by Iselin.