HomeMy WebLinkAbout11 Subdivisions pg 319-372 Rye Acres, Country Ridge, RSS 2026-06-01 ... 1004AM 319
Chapter 11: Rye Acres and Country Ridge Estates subdivisions
Four large tracts, aggregating 266 acres and spanning the uppermost mile at the westerly side of Ridge Street, as
highlighted in the 1929 map excerpt below, consisting of: (1) the 20.5-acre Sullivan M. Pine Homestead; (2) the
87.64-acre, Robert Law, Jr. Lawridge estate; (3) the 45.7-acre, Irving Lehman estate; and (4) the 112.1-acre, Merritt
Homestead, as of 1929 that later became:
(i) the 15-acre Ridge Street School campus [9.9533 acres with the Irving Lehman mansion and outbuildings
acquired on July 18, 1946 plus 5.044 acres donated by the Country Ridge developer on June 1, 1955]; and
(ii) 455 homes built between 1950-1968 on a combined 222.6 acre as: Rye Acres [151 lots on 67.2 acres] and
Country Ridge [304 lots on 155.4 acres], flanking the circa-1935 Hutchinson River Parkway extension
from Lincoln Avenue to King Street, which took 28.35 acres from those four tracts for the parkway.
1929 G.M. Hopkins atlas, Plate 42 excerpt, which map in its entirety is found as resource map at the Westchester
County Clerk land records website, on page 293 hereof, or in bound atlases of the Philadelphia, PA publisher. This
map pre-dates the circa-1935 extension of the Hutchinson River Parkway from Lincoln Avenue to King Street.
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1925 flyover survey #12841-300 by Underwood & Underwood from the Historical Aerial Photograph Collection --
Westchester County, shows the Ridge Street estates & farms (L to R): part of the 112.1-acre Merritt Homestead
(farm) extending west to the Blind Brook [and until 1915 had included an additional 55 acres in Harrison on the
west side of the brook sold to George Arents, Jr. for his 80-acre Lincoln Avenue estate, shown at upper left of photo];
the 45.7-acre Irving Lehman estate; the 87.64-acre Lawridge estate of Robert Law, Jr.; and the 20.5-acre Sullivan M.
Pine Homestead at corner of King Street.
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1910 G.W. Bromley & Co. atlas, Plates 38 (above) and 37 (below) showing parcels in the Towns of Harrison and Rye.
The 1982 Village of Rye Brook is east of the centerline of the Blind Brook and the Town/Village of Harrison is west.
Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division, The New York Public Library. (1910 - 1911). Westchester, V.
1, Double Page Plate No. 38 [Map bounded by State of Connecticut, White Plains, North Castle]. Links below:
Above (Plate 38): https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/a661eb3f-9cfd-29b0-e040-e00a18064cd8
Below (Plate 37): https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/a661eb3f-9cfc-29b0-e040-e00a18064cd8
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1927-1935 Extension of the Hutchinson River Parkway north of Westchester Avenue
The County of Westchester used eminent domain in 1927-1935 to condemn (purchase) land north of Westchester
Avenue in the Towns of Harrison and Rye, including 41.58 acres condemned between Lincoln Avenue and Ridge
Street ... plus 45.40 acres of land condemned between Ridge Street and King Street, for the extension of the
Hutchinson River Parkway to meet the Merritt Parkway at the NY/CT border at King Street, as depicted in the
1938 mapping below and land acquisition details that follow.
NOTE: Parcels situated east/ northeast (10.717 acres) and northwest (6.019 acres) of the Ridge Street HRP bridge
area, were acquired in 1954 and 1959 respectively. They’re included in the above 86.98 acres, but are not reflected as
HRP land in the 1938 map revision below. They are shown below in mapping under sections “I” and “J” below.
The County transferred ownership of the HRP to NYS and its East Hudson Parkway Authority (“EHPA”) in 1960.
On November 1, 1979, the EHPA ceased to exist, and administration of Westchester County’s parkway system was
taken over by the New York State Department of Transportation (“NYSDOT”), including the Hutchinson River
Parkway, Saw Mill River Parkway, Cross County Parkway, Taconic State Parkway, and Sprain Brook Parkway.
1929 G.M. Hopkins atlas, Plate 42 excerpt (Revision No. 4 dated January 1, 1938, with glued-on updates) showing
the circa-1935 Hutchinson River Parkway extension, heading northeast past Lincoln Avenue and Ridge Street, until it
connects to Connecticut’s Merritt Parkway at King Street. This map in its entirety is found as a resource map online
in its 1929 base mapping version at the Westchester County Clerk’s land records website or in bound atlases of the
Philadelphia, PA publisher. with glued-on updates/ revisions, like this author owns and has photographed here.
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The County condemned 86.98 acres of land for the Hutchinson River Parkway extension to meet Connecticut’s
Merritt Parkway, completed by 1937, with subsequent land takings/ modifications (see sections A-K below):
(A) 12.2438 acres of the 80.1-acre George Arents, Jr. Hillbrook estate at Lincoln Avenue (Harrison) in 1927;
(B) 2.01 acres abutting the Blind Brook/Lincoln Avenue from Dunlevy Milbank’s 66.3-acre, Ridgelands estate;
(C) 0.1668-acre at the southeast corner of the Irving Lehman’s 45.7-acre, Ridge Street property. NOTE:
9.9533 acres + 5.044 acres of the Lehman tract, were deeded for the Ridge Street School in 1946 and 1955);
HRP Sheet No. 25 dated July 1, 1926 ... filed April 13, 1951, as Map No. 7366, shows fee takings from Lincoln Avenue
to just northeast of the Ridge Street bridge, including: George Arents (3.3056 acres + 0.5723 acres in Harrison);
Emma Merritt (12.6573 acres); Irving Lehman (0.1668-acre); Sullivan Pine (5.025 acres, east of Ridge Street bridge).
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(D) 11.799 acres acquired for HRP from Wal Realty & Development Corp. ... east of Ridge Street (HRP bridge
area) for $33,497.50 on July 1, 1931, and abutting 0.394-acre acquired on June 18, 1935, from same owner.
Above: Westchester County Park Commission Map of Lands To Be Acquired For The Hutchinson River Parkway,
Westchester County N.Y. (Willam A. Smith, Surveyor) dated May 27, 1931, filed with County Register June 30, 1931 as
Map 3791. Below: Map No. 16 prepared by County staff, attached to June 18, 1935. deed from Wal Realty &
Development Corp. to County for 0.394-acre parcel to widen east side of Ridge Street abutting 1 Meadowlark Road
and facilitate the Ridge Street transition for the HRP northbound entrance.
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(E) 16.625 acres of the William W. Cook estate for $111,000, as affirmed by NYS Court of Appeals in 1935;
(F) 0.469-acre, District No. 5 schoolhouse parcel at King Street ... where current northbound HRP Exit 19A
ramp is located ... next to 952 King Street.
(G) 1.742 acres of the Pine family homestead condemned on October 10, 1931, for $18,000 ... to shift Ridge
Street’s intersection with King Street ~300 feet to the north, to facilitate the parkway exit/ entrance ramps
and connection with Connecticut’s Merritt Parkway. Before the HRP, Ridge Street intersected King Street
south of the 1935 parkway bridge, aligned with Glen Ridge Road in Glenville, CT, as shown below.
Westchester County Park Commission Map of Lands To Be Acquired For The Hutchinson River Parkway, Westchester
County N.Y. (Willam A. Smith, Surveyor) dated May 27, 1931, filed with County Register June 30, 1931 as Map 3791.
Full map (above left) and an excerpt (above right).
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(H) 10.717 acres of the Ridge Hill Estates property was acquired on June 23, 1954, from Ridge Hills Estates, Inc.
developer Charles A. Kelly, surrounding his lots at 375, 379, 383, 387, 391, 395 & 399 N. Ridge Street.
Above Left: 2nd Map Supplementary to Sheet No. 25A Map Showing Lands To Be Acquired by the Westchester County
Park Commission for the Hutchinson River Parkway, Westchester County N.Y. filed June 23, 1954 as Map No. 9145
(10.717 acres). Above Right: Fee takings just northeast of Ridge Street bridge under prior Maps 3791 (11.799 acres)
and 9145 (10.717 acres), as confirmed for EHPA in above Map No. 14262-25, filed March 5, 1965, with the County.
(I) 6.019 acres of the Country Ridge subdivision (formerly part of Irving Lehman estate, but predominantly
wooded land formerly of the Merritt Homestead), running from southwest corner of Rockinghorse Trail and
Ridge Street, between the HRP southbound entrance ramp #18 and continuing behind Country Ridge Drive
homes ... was acquired by the County on May 13, 1959 for $60,000, from Country Ridge Estates developer
Mannie Shapiro and his Country Ridge Land, Inc. entity. Intended for future HRP roadway modifications, as
were built 44 years later in 2003 when the HRP was widened between the Lincoln Avenue interchange and
King Street, with circa-1935, sharp curves in the HRP getting straightened out for safety of modern day
vehicles and 55+ mph speeds.
1st Map Supplementary to Sheet No. 25 Map Showing Lands To Be Acquired by the Westchester County Park
Commission for the Hutchinson River Parkway, Westchester County N.Y. (Chas. H. Sells, Inc., Surveyors)
dated May 27, 1931, filed with County Clerk on May 11, 1959, as Map No. 11991.
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(J) 26.4224 acres of the 112.1-acre, Merritt Homestead. The initial 20.4034 acres acquired by the County in
January 1930 for $76,000, cut a path for the HRP through the middle of the Merritt Homestead, severing the
farm into two parcels of 67.2 acres & 24.5 acres, aggregating 91.7 acres, separated by the HRP. Rye Acres
developer, William Walzer, purchased both parcels in April 1946 for $80,100 from the Estate of Emma Eliza
Merritt, who died a decade earlier on February 25, 1936, at age 95, at her Merritt Homestead on Ridge Street,
(near West Ridge Drive) where Emma, born in 1841 to Daniel & Hannah Banks Merritt, lived her entire life.
The New York Times, October 11, 1930 (Left); The Daily Item: Oct. 10, 1930 (Center) & Feb. 26, 1936 (Right)
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Re-development of the Merritt Homestead and Fairlawn Farms at Ridge
Street into the Rye Acres and Country Ridge Estates Subdivisions
(1) The 112.1-acre Merritt Homestead at Ridge Street, once included 55 acres in on the west side of the Blind
Brook in Harrison, sold in 1915 to George Arents, Jr. for his 80-acre, Hillbrook estate at Lincoln Avenue.
(2) Additional land was acquired on the east side of Ridge Street by various Merritt family members
including ~43 acres that became the 1950-1965 Rich Manor subdivision, which was purchased at a Court of
Chancery auction in April 1834 ... abutting the 4.1-acre parcel, also owned by Emma’s father, Daniel Merritt
that passed on to some of his unmarried daughters or Misses Merritt as they were referred to, which included
Maria, Lavinia and Henrietta Merritt. Daniel & Rebecca Bush Merritt had seven (7) daughters in total. Said
4.1-acre parcel that Roy A. Adams owned for 5 decades, was sold in March 2001, and developed in 2020 as
a 3-lot subdivision at 259-265 N. Ridge Street by local developer Louis Larizza that included: four (4)
affordable housing units in two structures on Lot 1 (263 & 265 N. Ridge Street); alteration of the former
Adams residence on Lot 2 (261 N. Ridge Street); and a new 1-family house at Lot 3 (259 N. Ridge Street).
3-lot subdivision plat map for 259, 261, 263 & 265 North Ridge Street filed August 18, 2020, as Map
No. 29458 with the Westchester County Clerk’s Office that includes the two structures on Lot 1
containing 2 units each of affordable housing at 263 and 265 N. Ridge Street plus single-family
dwellings at 259 and 261 N. Ridge Street.
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(3) The 67.2-acre parcel south of the HRP, was developed as the 151-lot Rye Acres subdivision, with its
Sections A, B, C & D plat maps filed in 1949-1953.
(4) The 24.5-acre Merritt parcel north of the HRP was sold on July 14, 1953, by the Rye Acres developer to
Samuel Katz of abutting Fairlawn Farms, a Guernsey dairy cattle breeding operation. A month later (and 2
days before his August 19, 1953 death), Samuel Katz immediately sold this 24.5-acre parcel on August 17,
1953 along with the balance of Katz’s assembled ~170-acre tract stretching from King Street south to the
Hutchinson River Parkway, to prominent Manhattan-based architect/ developer Irwin Chanin ... famous for
The Chanin Building art deco skyscraper at 122 East 42nd Street (across from Grand Central Terminal), The
Majestic and The Century apartment buildings on Central Park West, and six Broadway theatres and The
Beacon Theater concert venue (all landmarked properties).
(5) The Town of Rye was creating a Zoning Map and amending its zoning ordinance by upzoning the R-10
zoning (10,000 sf minimum lot sizes) to R-20 (minimum 20,000 sf lot sizes) when Chanin acquired the tract.
As reported in The Daily Item on January 27, 1954, Chanin aspired to build 457 new homes on the 170 acres
under the existing R-10 zoning, rather than being subject to the upzoning to 20,000 sf minimum lot sizes
that the Rye Town Council and the Rye Town Planning Board were in the process of adopting.
The zoning ordinance adopted on September 7, 1954 by the Rye Town Council included R-15 (15,000 sf
minimum lot sizes) for the former, 170-acre Fairlawn Farms tract that Chanin purchased in Summer 1953
from Samuel Katz (and a parcel from his son William Katz) ... and The Blind Brook Club tract (~140
acres) to the north was zoned as R-20 (20,000 sf minimum lot sizes).
Town of Rye, Zoning Map adopted September 7, 1954, as amended until the early 1980s, before the Village
of Rye Brook was incorporated in July 1982. After using the outdated, 1954 Town of Rye Zoning Map (as
amended, and the Town Code that the Village inherited out of expedience in 1982), the Village of Rye Brook
adopted its first Official Map and Zoning Map in November 2009, to reflect the extensive updates to the
Village of Rye Brook, Zoning Code. Compare the above Town map and the 2009 Village map on next page.
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Village of Rye Brook, Official Map and Zoning Map, adopted by the Board of Trustees (“BOT”) in
November 2009, as certified by the Village Clerk, Christopher J. Bradbury. This author, Dean Santon, was a
Trustee on the 2008-2010 BOT that championed this effort, as well on the 2001-2003 and 2003-2005 BOTs
that made significant, legislative improvements to the Village’s Zoning Code.
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(6) Unable to persuade the Rye Town Council to leave the zoning aa R-10 (10,000 sf minimum lot sizes)
back in 1954, Chanin flipped (sold) the 170-acre tract to another developer, Mannie Shapiro, on April 28,
1955. While contemplating the upzoning to R-20 (20,000 sf minimum lots), the Town ultimately applied
that R-20 zoning for the Blind Brook Club tract and areas north, but upzoned what became the Country
Ridge subdivision as R-15 (15,000 sf minimum lots).
(7) Mannie Shapiro led the development of the 304-lot, Country Ridge subdivision that got built under
R-15 zoning, and in 17 sections in 1955-1968. Mannie Shapiro built/developed 146 of the 304 lots as his
Country Ridge Estates. Other developers, built the other 158 homes, as detailed in the following pages.
As cited above in subsection (J), it was developer Mannie Shapiro of Country Ridge Land, Inc., who sold
6.019 acres of the former 24.5-acre, former Merritt Homestead for $60,000 to the County of Westchester in
May 1959, for future roadway modifications of the HRP ... finally built 44 years later in 2003, when the HRP
was widened between Lincoln Avenue and King Street, with circa-1935, sharp curves, straightened out.
(K) To confirm the transfer of ownership of the County parkways to New York State in 1960, and the
aggregation of 1927-1959 fee takings by Westchester County for the HRP, a series of maps were filed with the
County Clerk to memorialize those fee takings being administered by the East Hudson Parkway Authority
(“EHPA”) effective 1960. The following are those maps covering the Rye Brook sections of the HRP between
Lincoln Avenue and the King Street border with Connecticut’s Merritt Parkway.
Map Showing Lands of East Hudson Parkway Authority, from Lincoln Avenue to Ridge Street,
filed March 5, 1965, as Map No. 14262-24 with the County Clerk.
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Fee takings just northeast of Ridge Street bridge under prior Maps No. 3791 and 9145,
confirmed in this Map No. 14262-25, filed March 5, 1965, with the County Clerk.
Map Showing Lands East Hudson Parkway Authority (“EHPA”) showing 1930-1959 HRP fee takings by the
County, as parcels 1, 2, 3, 6a & 6b on prior Map 3791, just south of King Street, filed March 5, 1965, as Map No.
14262-25-1 aggregating the lands transferred by Westchester County to NYS 1960, as administered by the EHPA.
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Rye Acres (1949-1953) ... 151 lots across 67.2 acres in Sections A, B, C & D
1950 Rye Acres brochure Front Cover (above) and Back Cover (below)
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Map of Section “A” of Rye Acres ... “ filed October 13, 1949 with the Westchester County Clerk, as Map 6921
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Map of Sections “A” & “B” of Rye Acres ...” filed April 26, 1950 with the Westchester County Clerk, as Map 7050.
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Map of Section “C” of Rye Acres ...” filed July 23, 1951, with the Westchester County Clerk, as Map 7434
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Map of Section “D” of Rye Acres ...” filed March 5, 1953, with the Westchester County Clerk, as Map 7951
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Pine Homestead ... portion of Merritt Homestead ... Lawridge (1920-1942) ...
Fairlawn Farms (1942-1953) ... Country Ridge (developed in 1955-1968)
1929 G.M. Hopkins atlas, Plate 42 can be found as resource map online at the Westchester County Clerk’s
land records website or in bound atlases of the Philadelphia, PA publisher.
(a) The Sullivan Moulton Pine Homestead (20.5 acres) at King Street, including farmhouses remaining at
976 King Street and 15 Country Ridge Drive, served generations of the James Pine family of farmers,
who owned hundreds of acres of farmland on both sides (NY/CT) of King Street.
(b) The upper Ridge Street estate of financier Robert Law, Jr. and his wife Frances Burdsall Law, known as
Lawridge (87.64 acres acquired in 1920), featured a 9-hole golf course and polo field. The Lawridge gate
lodge remains at 446 No. Ridge Street just south of Fairlawn Parkway, but it has been expanded to over
10,000 sf with several additions in 1951 and 1998-2003. The Lawridge estate entrance pillars remain, at
the driveway for the Country Ridge subdivision house built at the adjacent 440 N. Ridge Street.
(c) As of 1929, the Merritt Homestead (farm) in the Town of Rye with 112.1 acres at the west side Ridge
Street and 4.1 acres across the street at the east side ... had once straddled the Blind Brook to include the
54.923 acres in Harrison, sold for $1,000 per acre in November 1915 by a committee for incompetent
Emma Eliza Merritt (1841-1936) to George Arents, Jr. who simultaneously purchased 25.18 contiguous
acres from major landowner Hobart Park to achieve an 80.1-acre tract at the east side of Lincoln
Avenue, where Mr. Arents, a wealthy industrialist and tobacco company executive, built his Hillbrook,
estate in 1916, featuring a 36-room, English-style (Elizabethan) mansion and gate lodge designed by
Lewis Colt Albro, Architect.
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Samuel Katz was in the corrugated paper/ box business: the Gibraltar Corrugated Paper Co., Inc. of North Bergen,
NJ ... and awarded US Patent no. 1,997,523 (see below) on April 9, 1935, for the creation a paper box/ carton,
In January 1942, Samuel Katz bought the 87.64-acre Lawridge estate from Robert Law, Jr.’s widow, Frances
Barnsdall. Law. 2½ years later in July 1944, Katz purchased the Pine homestead at the corner of King Street/Ridge
Street (20.5 acres less the 1.762 acres previously condemned in October 1931 for the Hutchinson River Parkway),
from farmer Sullivan Pine’s widow Harriet, to create Fairlawn Farms where Katz bred prized Guernsey dairy cows.
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By mid-July 1953 when Samuel Katz acquired 24.5 acres of the former Emma Merritt farm, he had assembled ~170
acres at his Fairlawn Farms at the west side of Ridge Street, stretching south from King Street to the HRP
(between the Ridge Street & Lincoln Avenue southbound exits). Essentially, Katz assembled all land surrounding
the initial 9.995 acres of land of the 1950 Ridge Street School, which the school district acquired from the 45.7-acre,
Irving Lehman estate in 1946.
Two days before his death on August 19, 1953, Mr. Katz sold all ~170 acres to prominent, NYC real estate
developer Irwin Chanin, and his Green Acres Homes, Inc. entity on August 17, 1953.
August 7, 1953, The Daily Item
The Town of Rye had compromised their targeted upzoning to R-20 (minimum lot size of 20,000 sf), when the 170-
acre, Fairlawn Farms tract was upzoned as a new R-15 (minimum 15,000 sf lots) zoning district by the Rye Town
Council on September 7, 1954. However, failing to persuade the Town of Rye in 1954 to leave the zoning at R-10,
so that Chanin could build 457 homes on smaller 10,000 sf lots. Chanin flipped the 170-acre tract to local builder
Mannie Shapiro of New Rochelle, NY in April 1955, who planned to build 300 new homes under the new R-15
zoning requiring minimum lot sizes of 15,000 square feet. Not only had Chanin aspired to build 50% more new
homes, Chanin wanted to build a retail shopping center component at the King Street/ Ridge Street corner. It just
wasn’t the vision of how the Town of Rye government was looking for less density of housing on larger lots.
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The Country Ridge subdivision covering approximately 165.35 net acres, was built as 304 single-family homes ... in
seventeen (17) sections (subdivision plats), between 1956 and 1968 by five (5) developers, as detailed below:
NOTES:
(1) The ~165.35 net acres is the ~178.34 acres of the former Pine Homestead, Lawridge estate and the
portion of the Merritt Homestead (farm) situated north of the HRP between the Ridge Street & Lincoln
Avenue interchanges ... less 7.9478 acres acquired by the County for the Hutchinson River Parkway from:
James Pine (1.762 acres), Irving Lehman (0.1668-acre) and the former Merritt Homestead (6.019 acres) ...
and less another 5.044 acres donated by developer Mannie Shapiro in June 1955 for the RSS campus.
(2) The 6.019-acre strip of land (Ridge Street at Rockinghorse Trail, southwest to the Blind Brook, behind
Country Ridge Close) was sold to the County by Mannie Shapiro in May 1959 for future HRP modifications
(i.e. the 2003-2005 widening/ straightening of HRP between Lincoln Avenue & King Street interchanges).
(3) 5.044 more acres of Mannie Shapiro's land at Ridge Street & Rockinghorse Trail, was donated to school
District No. 5 on June 1, 1955, and expanded the RSS campus from the initial 9.9533 acres acquired in 1946
from Irving Lehman’s widow, Sissie Straus Lehman, to 14.9973 acres. This enabled RSS to build two (2)
baseball fields in 1959-60 at the rear of RSS, and build the 1966 RSS "New Wing" with lower parking lot.
(A) Mannie Shapiro developed 146 of the 304 Country Ridge homes surrounding the Ridge Street School in what
he marketed as Country Ridge Estates in plat map filings for Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11 and 16 during a decade
of actual construction activity from 1956 to 1966.
Circa-1956, Aerial Photo of ~170-acre, former Fairlawn Farms tract that Samuel Katz assembled in 1942-1953, looking
south from King Street. Photo via developer Mannie Shapiro’s Country Ridge Estates brochure. NOTE: the
Hutchinson River Parkway & Ridge Street (far left); The Blind Brook Club golf course (far right); the 1950 Ridge
Street School (upper left center); the “Manor House” section of the 1924 Lawridge estate (center of photo) with
mansion, garage, reflecting pool & tennis court. The 1924 Lawridge estate gate lodge at 446 N. Ridge Street,
adjacent to the tree-lined driveway (center left ... see 1927 photo of the gate lodge and driveway on next page).
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Photos of the 1924 Lawridge estate of Robert Law, Jr. featured in the 1927 book:
The Work of Dwight James Baum, Architect book, published by William Helburn Inc. (NYC)
Back in 1992 while organizing the 20th reunion of the Ridge Street School Class of 1972 (9th grade), I met Albert R.
Brecken (1934-2014, age 89), an electrician in Port Chester and Greenwich, who graciously sold me his first edition
of the 1927 book of The Work of Dwight James Baum ... and for a mere $50. Albert told me how he worked
during his teens at the former Lawridge, when Samuel Katz owned it as part of his Fairlawn Farms (1942-1953)
with pure-bred, Guernsey dairy cows being raised there.
The 1927 first edition, is a large book, measuring 12.75” x 16.5,” and features 53 photos and several illustrations of
the Lawridge estate of Robert Law, Jr., spanning 26 pages. In 2008, the 81-year-old, out-of-print book, was
published again. This time, by Acanthus Press (New York City), reportedly with expanded content, but with much
smaller page sizes of 9.25” x 12.5”. I much prefer the aesthetics, size and clarity of the photos of the original book.
Baum grew up in upstate New York near Utica. Check out what the granddaughter of Dwight James Baum (1886-
1939) has proudly written for the Little Falls, NY Historical Society:
https://littlefallshistoricalsociety.org/writing-series/dwight-james-baum-the-worlds-most-famous-
architect-from-little-falls/
Title page from of 1927 first edition: The Work of Dwight James Baum, published by William Helburn, Inc. (NYC)
The 1927 first edition of The Work of Dwight James Baum includes an introduction page for the architectural style
section that Dwight James Baum (1886-1939) categorizes as The English Type, where he describes the house he
designed for Robert Law, Jr., as a “fine contribution to the adapted Tudor house in America.”
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1927 photos. Above: General view of the front (east) façades of the 30-room, Lawridge residence (left)
and massive garage (right), with 5 bays (loggia), tool and work areas, a squash court, and large attic room.
Below: 1927 photo of Ridge Street pillared, entrance to the ¼ mile long, curving driveway to the 1924 Lawridge
mansion ... with gate lodge on the rigtht (now part of the significantly expanded dwelling at 446 N. Ridge Street).
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Above: 1927 photo looking northwest at the front (east) façade of the Lawridge manor house, atop sloping terrain.
The footprints of that 30-room mansion; the massive garage with attached greenhouse & potting shed; the large
garden with swimming/ reflection pool; and a tennis court added later; are revealed (Below) in excerpt of March 19,
1965 Country Ridge Estates, Section 14 plat map with overlays of where 1924 Lawridge structures were located, before
developer Lou Simon built 40 new homes at Parkwood Place, Boxwood Place & Lawridge Drive extension in 1966.
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Site Layout of the manor house section of the 1924 Lawridge estate of Robert Law, Jr. as just one of 26
pages of photos/ illustrations of the project, published in the 1927 The Work of Dwight James Baum book.
Counterclockwise, from bottom: 2-story, 30-room mansion with circular driveway and porte cochère ... 2-
story, garage with 5 bays/loggia, squash court, tool and work rooms, attached potting shed and glass,
greenhouse, and large parking court ... large, rear garden with swimming/ reflecting pool at center.
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Three (3) views of/ from the rear garden of the 1924 Lawridge estate of Robert Law, Jr., as one of 26 pages,
with 53 photos, plus illustrations of Lawridge, published in the 1927 The Work of Dwight James Baum book.
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(B) In June 1956, developer Mannie Shapiro, owning an approx. 13-acre, “Manor House” tract at the center of his
Country Ridge Estates subdivision, containing the former 1924 Lawridge estate’s 30-room, mansion, the massive
garage structure, swimming/ reflection pool, and architectural walls, gates and features that were designed by
architect, Dwight James Baum for financier Robert Law, Jr. in 1924 (all clustered where Parkwood Place and
Boxwood Place are now) ... applied for a special use permit to operate a non-profit, recreation club.
As reported in the August 17, 1956, The Daily Item newspaper, the first 50 Country Ridge homes out of a
proposed 300 homes were underway. The financing approach was to build 50 homes at a time. Sell them, and then
the bank (Ninth Federal Savings and Loan Association and the Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn) would fund the
construction of the next 50 homes, while also providing mortgages for the built homes.
After 19 months of review, the Town of Rye, Planning Board granted the special use permit in January 1958,
allowing the proposed club (under its Country Club Associates, Inc. entity) to operate such a club facility. However,
Supervisor Anthony J. Posillipo and the Rye Town Council promptly revoked the special use permit, claiming there
were many Country Ridge Estates residents opposed to any type of club in their new, residential neighborhood.
Mannie Shapiro’s brother, George M. Shapiro, Esq. was legal counsel to NYS Governor Thomas E. Dewey until
1954 when Governor Dewey’s term ended. George joined the Proskauer Rose law firm in 1955, where he would
ultimately rise to be a long-term managing partner of the firm.
Excerpt of November 1960 flyover survey #1960_389_219 by American Air Surveys, Inc., from the Historical Aerial
Photograph Collection -- Westchester County, shows the portions of Country Ridge (surrounding the 15-acre, Ridge
Street School campus that were developed, as of such date.
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February 27, 1958 front page article in The Daily Item of how Country Ridge Estates developer, Mannie Shapiro filed
lawsuit against the Town of Rye, Town Council members, who voted on January 21, 1958 to revoke the Special Use
Permit for a proposed club utilizing the 1924 Lawridge estate buildings on ~10 acres of land, as granted in January
1958 by the Town’s Planning Board, following two referrals since June 1956, to review the developer’s application to
form a non-profit, country club within the R-15 zoning district. Another article at bottom of the page addresses how
school District No. 5 sought permission from NYS Education Department to add a ninth grade at the K-8, Ridge
Street School, after being informed that Port Chester High School lacked space for future RSS 9th graders.
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Excerpt of February 20, 1965 flyover survey #1965_1479_001_019 by unspecified vendor, from the Historical Aerial
Photograph Collection -- Westchester County, shows the portions of Country Ridge (surrounding the 15-acre, Ridge
Street School campus that were developed, as of such date. The 13-acre, tract with the 1924 Lawridge estate mansion,
garage, swimming pool and tennis court is shown prior to to 40-lot, Westgate subdivison being built by local
developer Lou Simon, who purchased the site on April 14, 1965 from local builder, Saul Braslow, who in turn
acquired the tract the day before from Parkwood, Incorporated of Washington, DC (Victor J. Orsinger).
Parkwood bought the 13-acre tract six years earlier in April 1959 from Mannie Shapiro’s Country Club Associates, Inc.
(C) Mannie Shapiro sold off land in Country Ridge, to five (5) other developers in 1959, who collectively built 158
of the 304 homes in Country Ridge known as Sections 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15 & 17 ... all being situated north of Sleepy
Hollow and Dorchester Drive, except for Section 13 of Country Ridge Estates with 48 new homes developed as
Fair Oaks along Country Ridge Circle and the southwesterly end of Country Ridge Drive, and along Rockinghorse
Trail between Dorchester Drive and Ridge Street (near the RSS New Wing) in 1965-68 by developer Robert Katz of
his Rye Ridge West, Inc. entity.
(D) The other four (4) developers of tracts acquired from Mannie Shapiro, included: Lou Simon (Section 14
known as Westgate with 40 lots), Eugene Wallach of Oakhill Manor, Inc. and Ridge Meadow Homes, Inc.
(Sections 10, 12 and 15, with 56 lots), Heathcote Homes (Section 9, with 11 lots) and Warwick Village Inc.
Section One (Section 17, with 3 lots at 480, 484 & 488 N. Ridge Street plus the 9 lots at 978-994 King Street from
the 31-lot, Section 15 that Warwick Village, Inc. Section One (Marcel Weiss, President) acquired from Eugene
Wallach in July 1963, and then built the 11 homes fronting onto Ridge Street and King Street.
We clearly remember how some of the Country Ridge “kids” in various grades, including our beloved RSS Class of
1972 classmates like Pattie Morris of Rockinghorse Trail, and Mike Finkelstein and Lori Slater of Lawridge Drive),
who didn't arrive at RSS until 4th, 5th and 6th grades in 1965-1968, because their new homes weren't built yet. These
final sections of Country Ridge to be built were: the 48 homes in Country Ridge Section 13 (Fair Oaks) along
Country Ridge Circle, the end of Country Ridge Drive & Rockinghorse Trail opposite the RSS ... and the 40 homes
in Country Ridge, Section 14 (Westgate) along Lawridge Drive, Parkwood Place & Boxwood Place, as you can see by
perusing the various subdivision maps in the following pages, and their dates/sequence.
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Below are the subdivision plat maps covering the seventeen (17) sections of Country Ridge,
as filed with the County Clerk between March 19, 1956 and November 19, 1965, and built by
six (6) different developers, plus the cover and the 5 architectural models of the lead
developer, Mannie Shapiro in his Country Ridge Estates circa-1956 brochure. Contemporary
model designed by architect, Roy S. Johnson of Tarrytown, offered in November 1958.
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354
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September 23, 1955 (page 11), Country Ridge Estates advertisement in The Daily Item newspaper.
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Above: 11/28/1958, The Daily Item, page 25, unveiling of Country Ridge contemporary ranch model, designed by
architect, Roy S. Johnson, of Tarrytown. Below: 5/25/2021 photo of 3 Country Ridge Close contemporary, built in
1960 for RSS 1972 classmate, Daryl Hawk’s family. 11/7/1960 Chas. H. Sells survey. 2-car Garage addition in 1985.
357
Above: Country Ridge Estates, Section 1, filed March 19, 1956, as Map 10430 by Country Ridge Land, Inc.
(Mannie Shapiro) for 52 lots along Ridge Street, Sleepy Hollow Road, Dorchester Drive & Country Ridge Drive.
Below: Country Ridge Estates, Section 2, filed May 7, 1956, as Map 10505 by Country Ridge Land, Inc. (Mannie
Shapiro) for 7 lots at 80, 84, 88, 92 and 81, 85 & 89 Country Ridge Street.
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Above: Country Ridge Estates, Amended Sections 1 & 2, filed March 20, 1957, as Map 10913 by Country Ridge Land,
Inc. (Mannie Shapiro) for 56 lots along Ridge Street, Sleepy Hollow Road, Dorchester Drive & Country Ridge Drive.
Below: Country Ridge Estates, Section 3, filed February 25, 1957, as Map 10867 by Country Ridge Land Inc. for 31 lots
including 11 lots at western end of Rockinghorse Trail and 20 lots on CRD, from 128 CRD to south of RHT
359
Above: Country Ridge Estates, Section 4, filed April 12, 1957, as Map 10996 by Country Ridge Land Inc.
(Mannie Shapiro) for 9 lots at 61, 69, 73, 77 and 56, 64, 68, 72, 76 Country Ridge Drive.
Below: Country Ridge Estates, Section 5, filed March 7, 1958, as Map 11394 Country Ridge Land Inc. (Mannie
Shapiro) for 10 lots at 51, 53, 55, 57, 59 and 36, 40, 44, 48, 52 Country Ridge Drive, just north of Fairlawn Parkway.
360
Above: Country Ridge Estates, Section 6, filed February 13, 1959, as Map 11869 by Country Ridge Land Inc. (Mannie
Shapiro), covering 6 lots at 24, 28, 32, 45, 47 & 49 Country Ridge Drive. Below: Amended Country Ridge Estates,
Section 6, filed September 22, 1959, as Map 12169, by Country Ridge Land Inc. (Mannie Shapiro) for 6 lots at 24, 28,
32, 45, 47 & 49 Country Ridge Drive.
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Country Ridge Estates, Section 7, filed on April 21, 1960, as Map 12383, by Country Ridge Land Inc. (Mannie Shapiro)
for 12 lots at 1, 3 & 5 Country Ridge Close; 168, 172, 176, 180 plus 177, 181, 185, 195, 201 Country Ridge Drive
362
Above: Country Ridge Estates, Section 8, filed on May 4, 1959, as Map 11988 by Country Ridge Land Inc. (Mannie
Shapiro) for 17 lots at south end of Holly Lane. Below: Country Ridge Estates, Section 9, filed on April 8, 1960, as
Map 12372, by Heathcote Homes Inc. for 11 lots at southeast end of Fairlawn Parkway
363
Above: Country Ridge Estates, Section 10 filed September 9, 1960, as Map 12527, by Oak Hill Manor Inc. (Eugene
Hallack) for 12 lots at beginning of Country Ridge Drive (northeast of Fairlawn Parkway).
Below: Country Ridge Estates, Section 11, filed on November 18, 1964, as Map 14135, by Country Ridge Land Inc.
(Mannie Shapiro) for 4 lots at the Lawridge Drive cul-de-sac.
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Above: Country Ridge Estates, Section 12, filed February 27, 1961, as Map 12709, by Oak Hill Manor Inc
(Eugene Hallack) for 13 lots along Whippoorwill Road. Below: July 30, 1965, The Daily Item (page 18)
photo of foundation work underway for the 48 homes in Country Ridge Estates, Section 13 being marketed
as Fair Oaks by developer Robert Katz of Rye Ridge West, Inc. Photo appears to be view northwest from Country
Ridge Drive & Rockinghorse Drive, of built Dorchester Drive homes behind RSS softball field, in the distance.
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Fair Oaks (Section 13 of Country Ridge ... 48 homes built in 1965-1968 by Robert Katz)
Excerpts of the circa-1966 Fair Oaks marketing brochure for Country Ridge, Section 13. See plat map on next page.
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Country Ridge Estates, Section 13, filed November 18, 1964, as Map 14134, by Country Ridge Land Inc. (Mannie
Shapiro) for 48 lots along Country Ridge Circle, the end of Country Ridge Drive and Rockinghorse Trail between
Dorchester and Ridge Street. The tract with subdivision approval in place, was sold by Mannie Shapiro to Rye
Ridge West, Inc. (Robert Katz, President) on January 18, 1965, and developed/ marketed as Fair Oaks.
367
Excerpt of March 11, 1970 flyover survey #1970_k_07 by Ratheon Co., from the Historical Aerial Photograph Collection
-- Westchester County, shows the portions of Country Ridge (surrounding the 15-acre, Ridge Street School campus
that were developed, as of such date. The most recent being Section 13 (Fair Oaks with 48 homes at Rockinghorse
Trail, Country Ridge Circle & Drive) southwest of RSS ... and Section 14 (Westgate with 40 homes at Lawridge/
Boxwood/Parkwood) northeast of RSS ...both sections built in 1965-68 were the last of 304 homes in Country Ridge.
368
Westgate (Section 14 of Country Ridge ... 40 homes built in 1965-1967 by Lou Simon)
Cover and models/ floor plans from 9-page, brochure for Westgate ... Section 14 of Country Ridge Estates.
369
Subdivision Map, Section 14, Country Ridge Estates, filed on April 28, 1965 as Map No. 14304 for 40 lots on ~13 acres.
Washington, DC-based developer, Parkwood, Incorporated (Victor J. Orsinger, Pres.) acquired the tract with the
1924 Lawridge estate mansion and garage on April 28, 1959 from Country Club Associates, Inc. (Mannie Shapiro).
Parkwood went through six years of planning and achieved subdivison in April 1965. Parkwood sold the project to
local builder, Saul Braslow on April 13, 1965, who then flipped the project to local developer, Lou Simon on April 14,
1965. Lou Simon transferred it to his Westgate Acres, Inc. entity on April 22, 1965, for future deed conveyances.
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Gate Lodge and driveway remnants of the 1924 Lawridge estate of Robert Law, Jr. at North Ridge Street
Aside from the 1924 Lawridge Gate Lodge being preserved and later expanded at 446 N. Ridge Street by multiple
additions ... with the construction of the forty (40) Westgate homes in Country Ridge Estates, Section 14 underway
in 1965-1967, and the 1924 Lawridge mansion & garage being demolished in May 1965, only the Gate Lodge and
the adjacent, initial 15.99’ wide x ~152 linear feet of the Lawridge estate driveway with its brick & concrete pillars
and walls at the Ridge Street frontage, remained as remnants of the magnificent, 1924 Lawridge estate designed by
architect, Dwight James Baum. That 15.99’ x ~152’ remainder of the 1924 Lawridge driveway, was sold in October
1966 with the 26 Lawridge Drive house by developer Lou Simon of Westgate Acres, Inc. to Sandra & Eliot
Finkelstein ... parents of RSS alumni Michael (RSS 1972/MHS 1975), Steven (BBHS 1976) & Peter (BBHS 1981).
The 15.99’ x ~152’ driveway strip was already serving the adjacent 440 N. Ridge Street house, via a September 1960
easement granted by developer Parkwood, Incorporated, who bought the ~19-acre, Lawridge “Manor House” tract
in August 1959 from Country Ridge developer, Mannie Shapiro, after it was clear to Mannie Shapiro that the new
Country Ridge residents and Town of Rye officials were not in favor of turning the Lawridge mansion & garage
into a club facility, which might generate traffic and noise in their new, residential neighborhood.
Parkwood spent six (6) years obtaining approval for the 40-lot subdivision, which was finally granted in April 1965
by the Rye Town Planning Board. However, DC-based, Parkwood sold the project to local builder Saul Braslow on
April 13, 1965, who flipped the project the next day to local developer, Lou Simon, who built the 40 new homes in
1965-1966 ... including the 26 Lawridge Drive house. The 440 N. Ridge Street house with a detached garage, was
built in 1960-61 by Frank Alimena, who obtained the 1960 driveway easement for access to his new garage.
Land Surveys for: (i) 26 Lawridge Drive (left) dated July 7, 2008; and (ii) 440 N. Ridge Street (right)
dated July 18, 2008, confirm that the 15.99’ x ~152’ driveway strip is part of the 26 Lawridge Drive lot,
but 440 N. Ridge Street, has acce via the September 1960 easement.
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Sections 15, 16 and 17 ... the northernmost 39 of 304 homes in Country Ridge Estates
Above: Subdivision Map, Section 15, Country Ridge Estates, by surveyor Chas. H. Sells, Inc., dated August 15, 1962, as
filed on April 25, 1963 as Map No. 13680 by developer Ridge Meadow Homes, Inc. (Eugene Wallach, Pres.) for 31 lots,
including the 9 lots at 978-994 King Street, which were sold to Warwick Village, Inc Section One (Marcel Weiss, Pres.)
in July 1963, who then built the nine (9) homes at King Street, along with 3 homes from Section 17. Below:
Subdivision Map, Section 17, Country Ridge Estates, by surveyor Chas. H. Sells, Inc., dated March 8, 1965, as filed on
May 19, 1965 as Map No. 14362 by Warwick Village, Inc. Section One: three (3) lots at 480, 484 & 488 N. Ridge Street.
372
Subdivision Map, Section 16, Country Ridge Estates, by surveyor Chas. H. Sells, Inc., dated August 19, 1964,
as filed on October 5, 1964 as Map No. 14065 by developer Country Ridge Land, Inc. (Mannie Shapiro, President)
for 5 lots: 492 N. Ridge Street; 972 & 974 King Street; and 15 & 17 Country Ridge Drive