 The mansion, a New York State Historic Site, is considered a fine example of the great estates built during the Gilded Age.In 1792, Morgan Lewis, the third Governor of New York, purchased an estate covering of about and commissioned the construction of a colonial-style house on the site of the present day mansion.In the summer of 1824, on his visit to the United States, the Marquis de Lafayette dined there on his way upriver to visit Lewis' brother-in-law, Chancellor Livingston.