Editing Kykuit (section)

==History==
[[John D. Rockefeller]] purchased land in the area as early as 1893, after his brother [[William Rockefeller|William]] had moved into a 204-room mansion, [[Rockwood Hall]], nearby.<ref name="Roberts"/> When Rockefeller and his son chose Pocantico Hills as their residence, he quietly purchased multiple homes and properties in the area, and used the houses for himself and his family and staff, or to rent out. Rockefeller and his wife [[Laura Spelman Rockefeller]] moved into one of these, the Parsons-Wentworth House, in 1893. The couple would spend winter weekends and parts of each summer and fall there, sharing the upstairs rooms with their adult children and in-laws, pending construction of the manor house.

The Parsons-Wentworth House burned down on September 17, 1902, and the Kent House became their temporary residence until rebuilding could occur. ''The New York Times'' mentioned that Rockefeller had never been satisfied with the destroyed house's electric wiring, which had been installed before certain safety measures were developed. He had ordered workers to reroute the wires into conduits, work which had been planned to commence the day after it was pre-empted by the fire. The loss was estimated at $40,000.<ref name="NYTold">{{cite news|title=Rockefeller Home Fire|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1902/09/19/archives/rockefeller-home-fire-exassessor-martin-of-tarrytown-helped-to-save.html|date=September 19, 1902|access-date=July 6, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Rockefeller Loses House|newspaper=The Evening Standard|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/388968485/|date=September 18, 1902|access-date=July 6, 2018}}</ref><ref name="Roberts">{{cite book|last=Roberts|first=Ann Rockefeller|title=The Rockefeller Family Home: Kykuit|publisher=[[Abbeville Publishing Group]]|date=1998|isbn=0-7892-0222-0}}</ref>

Kykuit was designed originally as a steep-roofed three-story stone mansion by the architects [[Chester Holmes Aldrich]] and [[William Adams Delano]]. Aldrich was a distant relative of the younger Rockefeller's wife, [[Abby Aldrich Rockefeller]], who was involved as artistic consultant and in the interior design of the mansion.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

The initial eclectic structure took six years to complete. Before being occupied, it was substantially rebuilt into its present four-story [[Classical Revival]] Georgian form.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} Completed in 1913, it has two basement levels filled with interconnecting passageways and service tunnels.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} The home's interiors were designed by [[Ogden Codman Jr.]], and feature collections of Chinese and European [[ceramics (art)|ceramics]], fine furnishings, and 20th-century art.

The estate was designated a [[National Historic Landmark]] in 1976.<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1653&ResourceType=District|title=John D. Rockefeller Estate (Kykuit)|date=2007-09-11|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing |publisher=National Park Service|access-date=2007-09-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071123192931/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1653&ResourceType=District |archive-date=2007-11-23|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="nrhpinv">{{Cite journal |url={{NHLS url|id=76001290}} |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: John D. Rockefeller Estate|author=James Sheire |date=February 1976 |publisher=National Park Service }} and {{NHLS url|id=76001290|title=Accompanying 22 photos, exterior, undated.|photos=y}}&nbsp;{{small|(5.68&nbsp;MB)}}</ref> In 1979, its occupant, [[Nelson Rockefeller]], bequeathed upon his death his one-third interest in the estate to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Today, Kykuit is open to the public for tours conducted by [[Historic Hudson Valley]].<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D02E3D91238F931A35751C0A9659C8B63 New York Times, 2003: The Estate Next Door]</ref>

Kykuit was renovated and modernized in 1995 by New Haven architect Herbert S. Newman and Partners. Included were major infrastructure changes enabling the estate to accommodate group tours of the first floor and art gallery, as well as a reconfiguration of third and fourth floor staff quarters into guest suites.