A Rhinebeck estate, once the site of lavish parties nearly a century ago, today is the home of a nursing home and a forest preserve.

In 1853, William Backhouse Astor Jr. purchased several farms along River Road in Rhinebeck, built a manor house and named his estate Ferncliff Farm. He was the son of John Jacob Astor, who made the family’s fortune in opium, fur trading and real estate

Read On: www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009907150319