A 1,600-Acre Catskills Estate Built by One of America’s Founding Families is on the Market for $14 Million
Beds: 8 + attic bunkroom Baths: 9 Interior: 7,000+ ft² / 650+ m² Land: 1,600 acres / 648 hectares
Amenities: 68-acre private lake, historic boathouse, formal gardens by Fletcher Steele, elevator, paneled dining room, family room, bar, butler’s pantry, marble mantels, carved spiral staircase, inlaid floors, rolling meadows, old-growth forest, stone-walled drive, iron gates, and expansive Catskills views
For the first time in its 237-year history, Lake Delaware Farm in Bovina Center, New York, is being offered for sale through Norah Burden of Brown Harris Stevens, listed for $14,000,000.
The property spans 1,600 acres in the Catskill Mountains, anchored by a 68-acre private lake.
The estate traces its origins to the Livingston family, one of the most prominent political and landowning dynasties of early America. In 1686, the English crown granted Robert Livingston 160,000 acres along the Hudson River, establishing Livingston Manor and the family seat at Clermont. Across successive generations, members of the family became influential figures in colonial commerce, politics, law, and the formation of the early republic. Chancellor Robert Livingston famously administered the presidential oath to George Washington in 1789.
Through the Hardenbergh Patent of 1708—a vast two-million-acre grant from Queen Anne encompassing much of the Catskills—the Livingstons expanded their holdings. By 1740, the family controlled approximately one-fifth of the patent. When Robert Livingston “The Judge” died, his daughter Gertrude Livingston inherited 20,000 acres spanning Delhi, Andes, and Bovina.
In 1774, Gertrude married Morgan Lewis, a Revolutionary War general who later served as governor of New York and maintained close associations with Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the Marquis de Lafayette.
In 1787, only a few years after the end of the Revolutionary War, the couple built the original Lake House on Gertrude’s inheritance. At the time, the Catskills remained densely forested and sparsely settled by Europeans. Establishing a Grecian-style mansion beside a remote mountain lake was an ambitious undertaking, placing the Lewises among the earliest families to create a grand country estate in the region.
Their granddaughter Julia Delafield later described the original residence as “a well-planned and extremely pretty mansion in the Grecian style.” Expanded across successive generations, it evolved into the house that stands today.
While the residence is known as The Lake House, the surrounding property is marketed as Lake Delaware Farm. It remained in continuous family hands, passing from Gertrude and Morgan Lewis to their daughter Margaret Livingston, then to Robert James Livingston and later Louisa Livingston Gerry. Louisa’s son, Peter Goelet Gerry, eventually inherited the estate.
The family’s wider presence in the area also produced nearby houses including Aknusti, a Georgian-style mansion designed by Thomas Hastings with grounds by Frederick Law Olmsted, and Ancrum.
At the heart of Lake Delaware Farm, The Lake House remains among the oldest surviving residences in Delaware County. Its classical façade is defined by a full-length Doric portico, while an unusual carved spiral staircase anchors the central hall, flanked by two sunlit 18th-century parlors.
Later 19th-century additions expanded the residence to more than 7,000 square feet, introducing paneled interiors, ceiling tracery, marble fireplace mantels, and intricate inlaid floors.
The house offers eight en-suite bedrooms, along with an attic bunkroom with its own bath, double showers, and sinks. A large eat-in kitchen, paneled dining room, family room, butler’s pantry, mudroom, laundry room, and bar complete the interiors, connected by front and rear staircases as well as an elevator. Despite its scale, the house retains the atmosphere of a grand country inn—formal yet inviting.
The estate is approached by a long, winding drive bordered by historic stone walls and interrupted by delicate iron gates. Beyond the house, lawns slope gently toward Lake Delaware, where a historic boathouse provides access for swimming and rowing.
Elsewhere on the grounds are the remains of formal gardens designed by landscape architect Fletcher Steele, including terraces, structural elements, and a seated statue of Diana overlooking the valley.
Developed across generations as a country estate combining architecture, landscape, agriculture, and recreation, Lake Delaware Farm once formed part of a much larger holding with working farms, stables, and a private chapel.
Today, it stands as one of the largest and most historically significant private estates in the Catskills—a rare convergence of natural beauty, architectural heritage, and early American history, now being offered outside the family for the first time.
All photos courtesy of the listing agency. See more on BHSUSA.
