Irvington NY Community

Named in 1854 after one of its most famous citizens, Washington Irving, this 4.0 square mile upscale community of 6,700 showcases the Hudson with a small-town flavor blended with urban chic. Manhattan expats abound (ballet star Peter Martins and singer Julius La Rosa to name a few), and women's clothing guru Eileen Fisher has set up her home office and retail shop at the waterfront Bridge Street Properties building. There are lots of Revolutionary War history here, with the local Odell'sTavern, the oldest edifice in town, standing chock-full of memories as a place where Washington and his buddies would plan their next battle strategies. The streets off Main Street are all named for earlysettlers, and the city itself is composed of land taken from Frederick Philipse (of Philipse Manor fame) and sold to local farmers after the Revolution. In the 1850's, wealthy New Yorkers started to buildsummer residences in the area, and many of these still stand as a testament to the architectural whimsy of the period. The Octagon House, built-in 1860, is rumored to be haunted, so watch out as you pass its stunning, quirky, eight-sided frame, and Nuits, the 1853 Italianate villa of the French textile importer Cottenet-Brown, is also a must-see for a glimpse into the lifestyles of the rich and famous, circa the nineteenth century. Louis Comfort Tiffany himself had a hand in many of the designs in the city, and produced the gorgeous stained-glass windows in Town Hall. Perhaps the most popular of the stately homes in the city is Villa Lewaro, built by Madam C.J. Walker in 1917. The neo-Palladian treasure was constructed by the nation's first African-American female millionaire and designed by the nation's first African-American architect, so there's lots of history as well as beauty to take in if you walk by.