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NUITS
National Register of Historic Places, 1977

     Architectural historian John Zukowsky stated that Nuits is "one of the finest surviving examples of the Italian Villa style to be found in America. It was built in 1852-53 by dry goods merchant Francois Cottenet and constructed of finely cut French Caen stone. Architect Detlef Lienau built the house in the style that has become known as Italianate, a term popularized by 19th-century tatste-maker Andrew Jackson Downing. Although it was not exactly based upon historic Italian buildings, the style represents American appeal of Italy and Italian styles to American travelers of the day who back home were creating their own fashions and styles under the influence of Downing and his contemporaries. 

"Nuits, Residence of F. Cottenet." 
From Villas on the Hudson. A collection of photo-lithographs of thirty-one country residences. By A. A. Turner.
New York [etc.] D. Appleton & company, 1860. The New York Public Library - A Hudson River Portfolio. 

     Additions to the house were completed in 1860, including a conservatory built by Lord's Horticultural Manufacturing Company (later known as Lord and Burnham, whose office and factory is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places). Later owners included Cyrus Field, layer of the first Atlantic cable; John Jacob Astor III, who created a deed to protect the house; and Amzi Lorenzo Barber, the asphalt king. Once the seat of a forty-acre estate, Nuits survives on four acres, still a private home, after a nearly two-decade restoration was completed in 2000. 

 

Lord and Burnham Conservatory

Please respect private property

The buildings, structures, objects and sites documented in the National Register and found on this site have been identified as significant cultural resources in the State of New York. They represent both individual history as well as the collective history of the people of our state. This property is privately owned and is not accessible to the public. Therefore we ask that you please respect the owner's right to privacy. (Adapted from New York State Historic Preservation Office State and National Registers of Historic Places Web Page)