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Before Eleanor Roosevelt made history as the longest-serving First Lady of United States, residing at the White House from 1933 through 1945, she spent summers at a sprawling 1872 estate in Germantown, New York.
Part of that estate is now for sale. The property was the home of Roosevelt’s maternal grandparents, Valentine G. Hall, Jr., and Mary Livingston Ludlow Hall, whom she lived with after the death of both of her parents by age nine. They spent summers at the home, called Oak Terrace, which had a modestly sized gate house that guarded a much larger Second Empire-style mansion.
The parcels have since been separated and much of the land sold off, but this listing is offering the smaller three-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath gate house on 2.7 acres. While the 10-bedroom mansion is a masterpiece of balustrades and cornices, the two-story house built in 1872 features peaked gables and dormers with iron cresting on the roofline.
Additions at the rear of the house expanded the home’s footprint, while inside some original details remain, like moldings, wood floors, and an original stairway. Meanwhile, a new, much larger kitchen—with skylights—features high-end appliances, a bake oven, stained glass windows, and an elaborately carved wood island.
The bedrooms upstairs are tucked into the dormers, and the master bathroom pays homage to the home’s 19th-century origins with a high tank toilet, clawfoot tub, and marble sink. The electric, plumbing, and HVAC systems come newly updated, and there’s also a fenced pool on the property. Interested? 794 Woods Road is on the market now for $960,000.