Untermyer Gardens: Everything You Need to Know

I’ve been visiting Untermyer Gardens for years.

And then, somehow, I forgot all about it.

On a recent spring weekend though, we drove over from Greenwich. I remembered immediately why it had stuck with me. And walking the grounds again felt like reconnecting with an old friend.

Untermyer Park and Gardens is well worth a trip. That’s especially so if you want a dramatic, historic garden less than an hour from New York City and about 25 minutes from Greenwich. Go early or go late (I’ll explain both) and leave time for the Temple of Love if you want the visit to feel complete rather than merely good.

Most people discover the Untermyer Gardens by accident:

• A mention in someone’s Instagram caption
• A friend describing it as a “Persian garden in Yonkers”

I can understand the skepticism. Yonkers isn’t exactly a tourist destination.

But Untermyer Gardens has been sitting above the Hudson River for more than a century. That said, TikTok and Instagram have found it. So spring weekends now come with company. Go anyway. Just plan around the crowds.

Why Untermyer Gardens Exists at All

Samuel Untermyer purchased the former Governor’s original estate in Yonkers in 1899 for $171,500. Being a successful lawyer has its perks.

He then spent four decades making it into something the national press called “America’s Most Spectacular Garden” by the 1920s.

He reportedly became the first lawyer in American history to earn a $1 million fee on a single case. He also served as president of the Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League from 1933 to 1938. The British press called him “Hitler’s Bitterest Foe.”

His wife Minnie was just as formidable. She helped transform the New York Philharmonic in 1909, and brought Gustav Mahler to conduct. She also served as president of the Poetry Society of America.

At its peak, the estate employed 60 gardeners and ran 60 greenhouses. Untermyer once said that if he could do it over, he’d have been NYC’s Parks Commissioner. You believe him when you’re standing in what he built.

He died in 1940 and bequeathed the gardens to the City of Yonkers, without an endowment. Which seemed a rather cruel thing to do. They declined for decades as Yonkers tried to figure out what to do. The city even tried to pass it-off to the state or Federal government (both declined). The Untermyer Gardens Conservancy formed in 2011 and they’ve been doing the restoration work ever since. The most recent update was a complete rebuild of the Persian Pool, finished in 2023.

The gardens are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They are also, still, free.

The Walled Garden

This is what everyone comes for, and it’s easy to see why.

The design tradition is the Indo-Persian charbagh, “four gardens,” divided into quadrants by cross-axial waterways. The word “paradise” traces back to the Persian for “walled garden.”

Architect William Welles Bosworth layered Greek and Roman elements onto that Persian framework:

• Corinthian columns
• A Mycenaean-inspired entry gate modeled on the Lion Gate at Mycenae
• Mosaic floors drawn from ancient Tiryns frescoes dated to around 1400 BCE

The entry itself is a narrow doorway between two massive weeping European beech trees.

I would describe the moment of stepping through as theatrical.

What to slow down for:

• Canal beds planted with around 10,000 tulips in spring
• Tropical water lilies and koi in the reflecting pool
• More than 30 varieties of hydrangea along the east border
• The Persian Pool mosaic, rebuilt in 2023 with starfish, lobsters, and crabs drawn from ancient Roman designs
• The open-air amphitheater at the north end: sphinxes on tall Ionic columns, intricate mosaic stage floor

Recorded music plays in the Walled Garden daily at 10:30 AM and 3:30 PM, free.

This is not a place you can rush. There’s a ton to see, after all.

Crowds, Timing, and Terrain

The crowd situation is worth understanding before you go.

Morning arrivals: Arrive by 9:30 AM on a spring or summer weekend. By 11:30 AM, parking is circling and the garden is packed. The Walled Garden is small enough that crowds change the experience.

Late afternoon arrivals: We got there after 4 PM on our most recent visit. It was crowded at first. But by the time we worked our way through the garden and back toward the entrance, around 6, the crowd had thinned quite a bit. The garden closes at 7 PM, so you have a real window. This is the option I’d choose if you have trouble getting out and about too early (guilty).

The terrain trade-off: The farther you get from the parking area and North Broadway, the fewer people you’re sharing the space with. The catch is real, though. The farther in you go, the steeper the terrain and the more stairs you’ll face on the way back. Not a hard hike. But plan accordingly, especially in summer heat.

Accessibility: The Walled Garden is flat, gravel-surfaced, and wheelchair accessible. The Vista stairs are steep and not accessible. The Temple of Love and farther sections involve more uneven ground. Traveling with anyone who has mobility limitations? Then the Walled Garden and amphitheater area are a complete visit on their own.

The Vista

Through an inconspicuous doorway in the Walled Garden’s west wall descends a long staircase. The staircase at Villa d’Este on Lake Como was the inspiration for this sweeping view. At the bottom: a circular terrace flanked by two Ancient Roman monolithic columns roughly 2,000 years old, sourced from Italy.

They frame an unobstructed view of the Hudson River and the New Jersey Palisades.

The staircase is steep. And you’ll be sharing with all kinds of influencers taking the zaniest photos. But you can’t miss it.

Temple of Love and the Rock and Stream Garden

Most first-time visitors stay in the Walled Garden and the Vista and then leave. That’s a good visit.

The Temple of Love and Rock and Stream Garden is what makes it a great one.

The Temple sits on dramatic man-made rock outcroppings accessed via bridges and tunnels. Below it, a series of cascading waterfalls flows into the Rock and Stream Garden:

• Vernal pool
• Stone throne
• Island seating drawn from Mughal garden design
• Stone bridges
• Multiple waterfalls

The cherry blossoms near the Temple peak in early April.

Budget an extra 20 to 30 minutes. Reach it via the wood-chip path heading east, through a yellow-painted deer fence gate.

Ruin Garden, Rhododendron Walk, and Ornamental Vegetable Garden

The Ruin Garden is intentionally uncurated: graffiti-covered walls, a hidden alley, a secret grotto with a fountain. Lion and unicorn gate sculptures flank the entry from the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail. You can pass onto the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail from here via stone gateposts, speaking of which.

The Rhododendron Walk runs between the Ornamental Vegetable Garden and the Ruin Garden. Peak is early May. When we visited, blooming azaleas lined the trail.

Wander here long enough, and you really do forget there’s a hospital, executive park, and all sorts of trappings of modernity within a stone’s throw.

When to Go

Late March–April: 30,000 daffodils on Daffodil Hill; cherry blossoms peak early April; lilac border mid-April.

Early May: Rhododendrons, wisteria, and tulips in the canal beds all at once. This is the best window. Weekday mornings especially.

May–September: Full foliage, longest hours, and the Minnie Untermyer Concert Series in the amphitheater. The 2026 season runs May 30 through September 12, tickets around $37.90. Performers range from the Westchester Philharmonic to the Saba Ensemble. Persian classical music in a Persian-inspired amphitheater: a deliberate pairing, indeed.

September–October: Fall foliage. Still worth the trip; noticeably less crowded.

December–January 1: Holiday lights display, free. Reviewers call it peaceful and worth the drive. Free hot chocolate, I hear. Confirm on the Conservancy’s site before you build your evening around it.

Winter: Open 9 AM–4:30 PM. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, MLK Day, and President’s Day.

A heads-up:

If you’re planning a Saturday evening visit during concert season, the Walled Garden sometimes closes early to prepare for events.

Quick Planning Reference

Question	Answer
Best arrival time	Before 9:30 AM or after 4 PM on weekends
Best overall season	Early May
Don’t miss	The Walled Garden; Temple of Love if you have the time
Closest train station	Greystone on Metro-North Hudson Line (verify before publishing)
Parking	Two small free lots + street parking on N. Broadway
Closes at	7:30 PM (May–September); 4:30 PM November–March
Admission	Free; donations encouraged
Pets	No, except ADA service dogs
Nearby lunch	Lefteris (Greek) or La Perla Poblanita (Mexican), both in Tarrytown

Getting to Untermyer Park and Gardens

Address: 945 North Broadway, Yonkers, NY 10701.

By Metro-North: Hudson Line from Grand Central to Greystone station, roughly 38–39 minutes. Tickets around $8–14. Short walk or taxi from the station. Confirm the current schedule and station name at mta.info before you go(schedules change seasonally).

By car from Manhattan: 14–16 miles via the Henry Hudson Parkway and Saw Mill River Parkway. Call it 30–40 minutes without traffic.

From Greenwich: 25 minutes south by car. Close enough for a half-day excursion from Stanton House Inn, or a natural first stop if you’re arriving in Greenwich for the weekend.

Parking: Two small free lots near the Cola Community Center, about 20 spaces combined. Street parking on North Broadway. On busy spring and summer weekends, the lots fill by 11 AM.

Bikes welcome via the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail from the south.

Who Restored It: Untermyer Gardens Conservancy

Untermyer Gardens Conservancy is the nonprofit founded in 2011 by Stephen F. Byrns. They’ve been doing the restoration work that makes a visit possible. They received a 2025 Excellence in Historic Preservation Award from the Preservation League of New York State.

Guided tours run Sundays at 11 AM, April–October, with rotating themes. Confirm current pricing at untermyergardens.org.

Self-guided audio tour and a downloadable walking guide are both available on the conservancy site.

Make a Day of It

On our most recent visit, after Untermyer we drove a few minutes north to the Lenoir Preserve. Another large estate on the bluff, now a nature preserve, also overlooking the Hudson. There’s less to see than at Untermyer. But that’s not a criticism, it’s much quieter and more naturalistic. The Old Croton Aqueduct Trail passes through both spots, downhill from the bluff, so you can walk between them if you’d rather not drive.

From there we went up to Tarrytown for dinner. I’ve been going to Lefteris, a Greek restaurant there, for years. We also rotate in La Perla Poblanita, a Mexican place in Tarrytown, on a pretty regular basis. Both are good. You do you.

Tarrytown to Greenwich is another 30 minutes northeast. By the time you arrive, you’ve had a full day and haven’t once backtracked toward the city.

The Corridor Connection

That’s the logic of this route:

• Untermyer Gardens
• Lenoir Preserve
• Tarrytown dinner
• Then northeast to Greenwich

The Walled Garden is the aperitif. Tarrytown is dinner. Greenwich is where you land.

Stanton House Inn is about 25 minutes up the road from Yonkers. We’ve been the first New England stop this direction for a long time. If you’re making a weekend of it, you’re already pointed in the right direction.

Planning a trip from NYC through Greenwich? Be sure to download our free visitor’s guide to Untermyer Gardens.