1904 Tudor Revival in Tuxedo Park, NY – $975,000
Status and price shown on OHD may not be current. Check the links below.
Added to OHD on 1/6/20 - Last OHD Update: 4/12/20 -
Added to OHD on 1/6/20 - Last OHD Update: 4/12/20 -
For Sale
116 Tower Hill Rd W, Tuxedo Park, NY 10987
Map: Aerial
- $975,000
- 7 Bed
- 7.5 Bath
- 12637 Sq Ft
- 2.6 Ac.
Believe. Paxhurst, also known as the Hoffman Castle at the top of Tower Hill Road, is now available for the first time in more than 35 years. Designed in 1904 by the firm of Barney and Chapman for William Mitchell Vail Hoffman, the residence is a true landmark, with its tower visible from miles away. The house is in its original condition, and when one enters its two story front hall, with wbfp, the magic begins. Straight ahead is a fabulous square great room with wbfp. To the left is a library and a den, both with wbfp's. On the right is a suite of three entertaining rooms, with 2 wbfp's. On the 2nd and 3rd floors there are several bedrooms with wbfp's. At the top of the house is a breathtaking oversized penthouse room with wbfp and access to rooftop terrace. A lower above ground level opens to extensive grounds. There is nothing like Paxhurst anywhere, and it is true that there is a castle within 40 miles of New York City. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Contact Information
Walter Deane, Tuxedo Park Fine Homes(845) 351-0001
Links, Photos & Additional Info
Photography by Jump VisualVirtual Tour
Listing details may change after the posted date and are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Independent verification is recommended.
Independent verification is recommended.
State: New York | Region: Northeast (Middle Atlantic) | Associated Styles or Type: Castle, Tudor Revival
Period & Associated Styles: Eclectic Era, Tudor Revival (1890+)
Features: Original/Vintage Bathroom, Original/Vintage Kitchen, Painted Wood, Unpainted Wood | Misc: Commercial/Business Use, Fixer-Uppers, Must See Houses
Period & Associated Styles: Eclectic Era, Tudor Revival (1890+)
Features: Original/Vintage Bathroom, Original/Vintage Kitchen, Painted Wood, Unpainted Wood | Misc: Commercial/Business Use, Fixer-Uppers, Must See Houses
50 Comments on 1904 Tudor Revival in Tuxedo Park, NY – $975,000
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OHD does not represent this home. Price, status and other details must be independently verified. Do not contact the agent unless you are interested in the property.
Commenting means you've read and will abide by the comment rules.
Click here to read the comment rules, updated 1/12/20.
OHD does not represent this home. Price, status and other details must be independently verified. Do not contact the agent unless you are interested in the property.
Is a big house, so needs a lot of work of course. But I like how original it still is, hasn’t been too messed up yet.
But spooky how there is the same fire in every fireplace! Ghosts!!
Chestatee, GA
Someone is going to read your comment and not understand the joke. 😀
HAHAH I caught that too! I thought first of all, why is there a fire raging in an unoccupied house. Secondly, hmmmmm how does fire repeat its pattern exactly in multiple fireplaces. That’s some talent.
Stowe, VT
I’ve seen this with other homes! It’s so funny when they do this.
Once owned and inhabited by John Foreman. May he rest in peace. http://bigoldhouses.blogspot.com/2010/11/paxhurst-tuxedo-park-ny.html
Chestatee, GA
I didn’t know that. Thanks for the link.
I came here to say the same thing! I sure do miss him. We never met, but after reading his site for five years, one really felt like he was a good friend.
John was my first introduction to this marvelous house as well. Still miss reading his take on these big old houses.
Noblesville, IN
True that. Thanks’ for linking to BOH, Nona.
Kind of thrilling, yet still sad, to see this house John mentioned often in his threads. Somewhere in one of them is a funny anecdote about his being a crazy person for ‘re-installing raised tank toilets’ instead of ripping them out and installing contemporary units. Heheheh. Fun and sad to see them now.
John loved antique plumbing: a fixation I myself share; in addition to basements, attics, boilers and heating systems, and all manner of arcane, residential convenience and quality of life technologies. It’s really fun to see those toilets these years later. Heheheh. It’s a shame he passed a few years ago, because I have noooo doubt he’d be Johnny on the spot back to Paxhurst to treat us all to a delightfully entertaining and informative article about this house, in addition to at least 100 quality photos of every nook and cranny from the deepest cellar to the highest garret. That would be thrilling!
Ah! Here it is. This is the thread about the toilets. Heheheh. It’s a great house too, so don’t miss it.
http://bigoldhouses.blogspot.com/2012/05/one-hundred-years-later.html
25 Tower Hill Loop on OHD:
https://www.oldhousedreams.com/2019/05/01/1899-tudor-revival-tuxedo-park-ny/
More paxhurst:
http://bigoldhouses.blogspot.com/2010/11/more-paxhurst.html
Inside Paxhurst;
http://bigoldhouses.blogspot.com/2010/11/inside-paxhurst.html
I’m sorry to see that BIG-OLD-HOUSES.com is now gone. 🙁 Should have known that was inevitable. There were images there I would like to have had. bah..
Rosewater, you can try going to http://www.archive.org and put http://www.big-old-houses.com in to the Wayback Machine. It will come back with a list of dates it was scanned. Pick one and start looking. You may have to look at several different backups as any indivdual backup may not be complete. Quite often the links on the page won’t work but it’s worth a try. You might get lucky. It is also rather slow so be patient.
Noblesville, IN
Thanks’ Topper. I’ll give that a try!
Jamestown, IL
This is BIG-OLD-HOUSES from 2010 thru 2015.
http://bigoldhouses.blogspot.com/
I hope this helps.
Chestatee, GA
I’m afraid the blog will disappear. Has anyone went through and saved all those posts?
What a treasure that is! I really enjoyed the few posts I read, and will go back and read the rest.
Noblesville, IN
No! Really? OMG. Can we save it? I’d for sure chip in to pay Blogspot what ever is necessary to keep it up. Maybe Archive, like Topper mentioned above is an option tho. Ugh. What can be done. BOH must NOT be lost! Maybe we’ll have to get in touch with his daughter?
Chestatee, GA
I don’t mind hosting it, my host allows “freebie” blogs because mine is on it’s on server. But I’m not sure copyright wise, we’d need to get permission from his family, does anyone know them?
Noblesville, IN
I did a little research and found his daughter in Bethlehem, PA: but it would probably be easier to to contact Randi Sue Foreman, his ex-wife, since she has an Instagram account.
https://www.instagram.com/randisueforeman/?hl=en
I don’t have an Instagram account, but wouldn’t mind getting one if you would like for me to contact her about your hosting BOH. If you have an Instagram, that would be easier; but I don’t mind doing it; just lmk.
Delete this and send me an email if you’d prefer this to not be a public conversation.
I’m pretty sure it’s going to come down to Jazzy, his daughter, for permission; but I strongly suspect Randi Sue won’t mind helping to facilitate this. I recall John mentioning them having parted on amicable terms a couple of different times.
Noblesville, IN
Comfy. 🙂
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b3IRy4URlU0/U_E7o1876qI/AAAAAAAAfbs/prU4JlMI8Ic/s1600/IMG_7228.JPG
Bainbridge Island, WA
NonaK, thanks for the most fascinating link…….I enjoyed it thoroughly. What fun it would be to just walk through and imagine past lives as lived in their times. Wonder what energies one might feel here now….?
Upstate/Central, NY
The various animals on the newel posts are cool!!
Really love this house and it’s great to see some additional pictures since zillow only has the first few available.
I was wondering if you all knew what that space above the vents and beneath the windows is to the left in this picture? https://fpo-tour-files.imgix.net/2019_09/326623/presentation/orig__MG_6967_8188765.jpg?w=1920&h=1276
You can see a panel door partially open and I wasn’t sure what that was meant for. I’m also dying at the ceiling in that room!!
ME
Would it be to regulate the heat in the room?
That’s a radiator grill below the window. The other radiator looks like it might be a later addition to the room.
Noblesville, IN
Nice spot / good question, Rachel. There is a large radiator(s) inside of that built-in below the window. You can see the vents at floor level which would draw in cold air through the process of convection through the radiator, with warm air then rising through the vents above it at sill level. This was most likely done simply to hide the radiator, which are by some considered unsightly.
The up-swinging access panel you noticed was likely there for cleaning purposes; as well as giving access to the regulator(s) used for controlling the flow of heat to the radiator(s); whether hydronic or steam.
The second radiator in the room, (now detached), was likely added after original construction when the principal unit was likely found to be lacking adequate BTU’s to heat such a large room: hence the reason it is apparently without a similar enclosure.
Otis Orchards, WA
That’s a perfect description. You can see the upper vents in the sill of the window if you blow the picture up a little.
I worked on an old house here in my home town that had concealed radiators. Each one was concealed slightly differently, depending on the room style but the concept is exactly as you laid out! While I can understand the idea of hiding them, from what I’ve read it does reduce their efficiency some.
ME
I know it is photo shop but I imagine the realtor walking around with a cardboard picture of fire and putting it in each fireplace before taking the photos.
I wish I had the money for this place. It is magnificent. I wonder if the stables are still included.
Emporia, KS
40 minutes away, a 1-bedroom condo in NYC can cost $1M.
So, relatively speaking, this place is a steal.
I also love love love it. Truly, madly, deeply.
Me too, Ross. Deeply.
But, like a car or a dog, it’s not the purchase price – it’s the upkeep.
Indianapolis, IN
First I would repair the ceilings, I think I could do it. Then some cool antique period furniture, then I’d have to upgrade my wardrobe to match the place. Fancy top hat maybe, starched collars, shiny shoes, striped trousers, and maybe a dark blue cape.
Love this place. I could go mad here.
That is a wow of a comment, timhildebrandt, one that provided an unexpected chuckle. Certainly If you are going to live in a home of this beauty, it is only fitting that your wardrobe match the place. Definitely a dark blue cape! And perhaps a canoe to wile away a lovely afternoon on that river I see off in the distance. Meanwhile, I absolutely love the stairs in this house, all the windows, the fireplaces and everything else.
Upstate/Central, NY
I think that might be Tuxedo Lake you’d go canoeing on. (But don’t quote me!😉)
I’m in love with the two rooms with trellage on the walls. Can you imagine cutting all those little sticks of wood? Then they were mounted with mathematical precision. It was popular as a decorative interior finish for many years before this house was built, and made popular by designers such as Elsie de Wolfe. Often the furniture was based on French prototypes, but covered in caning, not upholstery, and there were cushions. This is work we cannot afford to duplicate today.
It helped to bring the idea of being in a garden indoors. Here are some other examples:
https://www.ladolcevitablog.com/2018/01/16/ldv-loves-timeless-treillage/
and
http://www.tabulousdesign.com/2015/05/lattice-make-you-feel-at-home-with-treillage/#more-8838
I’ve seen photographs of turn-of-the-century interiors with artificial flowers woven through the trellage work. I think most of the flowers were lost to cleaning campaigns.
Jackson, MS
That room reminds me of the interior at Brennan’s in New Orleans (https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=!1s0x8620a60ddc6ab78d%3A0x2f47deede9e0b20a!3m1!7e115!4shttps%3A%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMdr_fzvYSXkzPxmx9Vt4NnxNWz2e3Z9RClzvDJ%3Dw240-h160-k-no!5sbrennan%27s%20new%20orleans%20-%20Google%20Search!15sCAQ&imagekey=!1e10!2sAF1QipMdr_fzvYSXkzPxmx9Vt4NnxNWz2e3Z9RClzvDJ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj2y9mwoffmAhWnq1kKHeiiAaQQoiowFXoECAsQBg).
Okay everyone let’s pitch in and buy it. You know we have to. I volunteer to live there and supervise the renovation and repair. (so brave, I know) We could create an amazing retreat space for all of us to use. Again, I will caretake and do scheduling. Tell me where to sign. I’m in. 🙂
Noblesville, IN
Floor plans for 1, 2, and 3:
1;
https://tuxedoparkfinehomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/005-326623-1.jpg
2;
https://tuxedoparkfinehomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/018-326623-2.jpg
3;
https://tuxedoparkfinehomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/026-326623-3.jpg
Antique postcard:
https://thumbs.worthpoint.com/zoom/images1/1/0517/21/tuxedo-park-ny-residence-m-hoffman_1_6c75b188e1738e1b3f764a417db34577.jpg
Exterior close-ups of lower floors:
from the back;
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9EqQM5FsF1Q/TNc18Ya6TcI/AAAAAAAAAYY/JGzFlP-HYLY/s1600/Paxhurst+-+from+the+west208.jpg
From the side = WOW! Sweet!
https://fpo-tour-files.imgix.net/2019_09/326623/presentation/orig_20190909-DJI_0399_8188431.jpg?w=1920&h=1276
That stone work is amazing!
Upstate/Central, NY
Thanks for the floor plans; the “waiting parlor” on the ground floor cracked me up. I know it was a custom to have a visitor wait in a parlor until you arrived to meet them, but have never seen a room specially designated as such. For those one might want to keep at a distance… if they have to wait long enough, maybe they’ll give up & go away?😅
Noblesville, IN
Lol. Maybe, Cathy; maybe. Heheheh.
They are actually not all that uncommon. I’ll point some out when I see them pop up in the future. Most are just small rooms off the main hall; as opposed to grander examples like in this house. Sometimes they are just a large niche or turret.
Absolutely stunning. It seems 99% original. National Trust-worthy. Yes, loads of work… in just about every room… and who know about the systems… heating, plumbing, etc. Most importantly, it should be in the middle of at least 10 acres…. perhaps 20. A Tiffany diamond on a princess setting doesn’t look right to me. The views, perhaps, make up for that. Wish I had known about it during my trip to NY last Sept. 😉
A true jewel in the rough – and you would only need an extra million to restore everything that requires attention. I would imagine new roofing would be the first point of order. Many of the ceilings would … unfortunately … have to be torn out since they are separated from the supporting lath. The amount of original detail in good condition is amazing. I wonder what the property taxes are on this treasure?
It is now possible to re-anchor sagging plaster to its laths. You access the problem from the floor above. You have to decide if it is worth pulling up flooring or pulling down plaster.
Boston - Metrowest, MA
This is my new favorite OHD posting. I not only love this house, and Tuxedo Park, but I am obsessed with it. This is just so fantastic, so lovely…and the fact that it is in its “original condition” is just outstanding. There are few unrestored spaces like the conservatory (as it is) which is so fabulous, such a time capsule, and so rare in 2020. The old plumbing fixtures are exquisite. Obviously it needs a new roof and other maintenance: A few hundred thousand alone. The toughest pill to swallow is the 12,000 SF. How do you use and maintain all of that space? It is so nice how it appears to grow out of its surroundings. It strikes my heart looking at every photo. I would love to be the architect for the new owner 🙂
Drooling!!
For me, it needs a few more bedrooms and I’m home!!!
(Despite the repeating fires in the fireplaces in an empty house. LOL)
I’m thinking about making a offer ,I email the agent of the property and I will share my information with you guys ,I love this house so much and I love the character of this exquisite house.
Who help with the restoration on the property when I buy it,I probably going to make a offer this week sometimes and I’m try make a offer round $899,999-$972,500 between that range.
Bainbridge Island, WA
Oh DO keep us posted on progress……on the sale and your plans for it. It will be most appreciated and fun for all of us. I wish you well and congratulations…!!!
No problem I will keep you posting on it. I will probably do rooms by section.here some of information the agent said to me:
The basement is in bad shape as is the sub basement. There has been water damage and several basement and sub basement windows are boarded up.
This has some historical information:
https://www.brownstoner.com/upstate/tudor-revival-tuxedo-park-house-for-sale-paxhurst-116-tower-road-william-mitchell-vail-hoffman/
Yes, several leaks.
There are many different roofs, and I do not know the ages of the roofs or of the roof repairs. I would imagine that all of the roofs will need to be replaced. I do not know the age of the water heater.
We do not have blueprints, but we do have floor plans on the web site, except for one large room on the 4th floor:
http://tuxedoparkfinehomes.com/?property=116-tower-hill-roadtuxedo-park-ny-10987
Will you keep all the bedrooms on the third floor? There’s like a million!
Probably yes ,i have no clue.im turning round flip it for the money.
I’m thinking resell it at $2,200,000
This would be a dream!