Montgomery Place at Bard College

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Montgomery Place at Bard College

The 380-acre property is an amazingly intact example of Hudson Valley estate life.

Each of the estate's features has a story to tell about changing American attitudes toward nature, landscape, and home design over time. Bard College purchased the Montgomery Place estate, which is adjacent to the Bard campus, from the Historic Hudson Valley in January 2016, and is now in the process of creating a master plan to guide the integration of the two campuses and utilize the new facilit

ies in a manner consistent with the College’s commitment to historic preservation, public access, and the environment. The Montgomery Place Campus grounds include gardens, an arboretum, and three miles of hiking trails with views of the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains.

05/13/2026

Visit Montgomery Place this Saturday for the a Forest Bathing walk on our Old Growth Forest! A calming way to end off the year! Scheduled for this Saturday, May 16, 2026 at 1:00 pm.

05/04/2026

Join us at Montgomery Place for another Forest Bathing walk in our Old Growth Forest! Take this chance to breathe in the May flowers before leaving for break! On May 6, 2026 at 12:30.

04/22/2026

Come and join us at Montgomery Place for some tea and spring blooms! Tea time at Montgomery Place is run by the Bard Tea Club. Come to support! Hope to see you all there!

04/21/2026

Join the bees in appreciating the new blooms at our Formal Gardens! Pops of yellow, purple, pink, and white brighten up the gardens after a long winter. Make the most of the beautiful spring weather and come down to Montgomery Place!

04/17/2026

Join us again at Montgomery Place for another Forest Bathing event with artist and horticultural therapist Brian Mikesell! Come Monday and take in the spring weather in a mindful way!

03/18/2026

Spring has (almost) sprung! Out from the recently melted snow and dried leaves of all, our Snowdrops, Winter Aconites, Crocuses, and Daffodils provide a bright pop of color on even the cloudiest days. Visit Montgomery Place this Spring Break to enjoy the first blooms of the year!

02/13/2026

Come volunteer to help out during sugar season! It is a great way to enjoy the last few weeks of winter and get the experience of making maple sugar!

11/05/2025

Montgomery Place was bustling during parents weekend. We had the pleasure of showing Bard parents around the grounds. Thank you to our tour guide Henry for providing a plentiful MP grounds tour. Provided by there was the sugar shack was up and running, making apple cider. Along with the sugar shack, Montgomery Place had apple tastings from the orchard outside the manor for those who worked up an appetite from their tour. Later in the afternoon we had a brillant presentation from . The presentation was done by Faculty Director Laurie Dahlberg and two students Vivi Potee ‘26 and Maia Cook ‘28.
It ended up being a beautiful weekend in the fall colors bloomed at Montgomery Place

10/31/2022

Happy Halloween!
Today’s collection spotlight features a ghostly mourning locket commemorating the death of General Richard Montgomery. Most likely worn by his widow Janet, the miniature painting depicts a female mourner leaning on a domed plinth, while a shrouded figure of death approaches from behind. The reverse holds a paper inscription under glass:

“Sweet ivy twin'd with myrtle form a shade, around the tomb where brave Montgomery's laid! Beneath your boughs shut from the beams of the day. My ceaseless tears shall bathe the warriors clay. And injur'd freedom shall a while repair, to dwell with me, weeping hermit here."

Mourning Locket
ca. 1775
Watercolor on ivory, seed pearls, mother of pearl, paper, glass, gold
3.81 x 5.24 cm
Collection of Bard College, Montgomery Place Campus

07/21/2022

Long-time Montgomery Place volunteer, Henry Woods, has been working in the archives and on the ground to uncover the original ‘Morning Walk’ trail described by A.J. Downing in his publication The Horticulturist, published in October of 1847.

Pictured here with Bard professor, Lothar Osterburg, they are photographing various 1980s trail maps in the Montgomery Place archives. Henry has been comparing different versions of the trail to Downing’s descriptions, and then letting the woods tell its own story about where the original walking trail was located.

To experience this trail for yourself, join Henry at Montgomery Place for one or both of his Hudson River Valley Rambles : September 17 at 10am, or October 1 at 1pm. Historical highlights include the cascading waterfalls, the original hydro-power station, the 19th century arboretum, the A.J. Davis-designed carriage house, and the formal gardens.

Henry says: “There’s a combination here of natural beauty, of tranquility, a pastoral and peaceful sense at Montgomery Place. It is also an historical narrative, one which has been opened up by Bard.”

All are welcome!

For more information about the Hudson River Valley Rambles see our linkinbio.

07/08/2022

Sign-up is now open for the Bard Childrens’s Afterschool program next school year at Montgomery Place.

The program is a free-form forest exploration experience designed to immerse children in the natural world and encourage independence and self-motivation while utilizing the incredible land/facility that Bard offers us at Montgomery Place. If you are new to this program and considering it for your child please don't hesitate to contact Nora at [email protected]

We offer 2, 3 and 4-day/week schedules for K - 5th students.

While many of our participants come to us from Mill Road School (bus service is available) we also welcome children from other area schools and we can try to help arrange carpooling for those not coming from Mill Road.

The program runs in (almost) all weather from 3:30 - 6 with occasional days off for professional development. Calendar forthcoming!

The cost is $30/day. financial aid is available.

Address

Gardner Way
Red Hook, NY
12571

Website

http://www.bard.edu/montgomeryplace/

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