You can finally book reservations again for a Road Trip: Close to home to the Philipsburg Manor in Sleepy Hollow after a two-year pause from the pandemic. 

We start our tour at the manor house - the only original building on the property dating all the way back to the late 1600s. “The Philips’ were people that came to New Netherlands, which was New York City at that time, and within 20 years, the first Philips, became the richest man in New York,” says Brenda Hundley, interpreter at Philipsburg Manor.

And you can actually see the family’s wealth within the walls of nearly a dozen rooms. “The table here is set up for making hot chocolate. That was considered only something wealthy people had,” says Hundley.

Between imports, exports and more - the family business thrived with the help of 23 enslaved people who called the manor house home. “You see a pallet that they will pull out at night for sleeping, you see shoes, you see clothing hanging,” points out Hundley.

Enslaved women used to milk about a dozen cows, then bring the milk to the dairy room using an extremely heavy yoke.

You’ll learn the lifestyles of enslaved people - along with the Philips Family - by simply walking through rooms as if they were frozen for hundreds of years.   

It’s a house that has stood the test of time.  “Westchester County has gone from a farmland to an industrial leader, to a sleepy suburban community…the house is still in the same location,” muses Hundley.

Booking a tour here with Historic Hudson Valley expands further than just the manor house — with about 20 acres of history to uncover!