Nassau County Department of Parks, Recreation & Museums

Hours: The house is open Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m. - 5 p.m., April through November; group tours may be arranged by reservation. The grounds are open daily, year-round.
Admission: Free

Cedarmere has been designated a part of the New York State Underground Railroad Heritage Trail.

HISTORY. Cedarmere, the historic property of prominent 19th-century poet, newspaper editor and civic leader William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878), includes the Bryant home and several other structures on a beautiful 7-acre property overlooking Roslyn Harbor.

Cedarmere served as the rural Long Island home of Bryant from 1843 until his death in 1878. Bryant purchased the home as a retreat from the pressures and congestion of the city, so that he could work on his poetry and indulge his love of nature.

Born in Massachussetts in 1794 to parents whose ancestors traced their history in America to the Mayflower, Bryant was educated at Williams College and studied law at Worthington and Bridgewater, gaining admission to the bar in 1815. Bryant worked as a lawyer in Massachussetts until 1825, when he moved to New York with his wife and took a job with the New York Review and the New York Evening Post. He became editor in 1829, a position he held until his death and from which he pressed his anti-slavery and liberal views, including support for the Republican Party (of which he was a founder) and the candidacy of Abraham Lincoln.

In February of 1860, Bryant introduced Lincoln to New Yorkers, as the then-presidential aspirant made his famous address before a packed auditorium at Cooper Union in Manhattan. Upon Lincoln’s death, Bryant penned “The Death of Lincoln,” including this verse:

“Thy task is done; the bond are free

We bear thee to an honored grave

Whose Proudest monument shall be

The broken fetters of the slave.”

Bryant published his first work of poetry when he was 10 and his first book of poetry when he was 14. Later in life, Bryant translated Greek and Latin classics, including The Iliad and The Odyssey. Manhattan's Bryant Park, on 42nd Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues, is named after William Cullen Bryant.

THE PROPERTY. The oldest section of Cedarmere was constructed in 1787 by Richard Kirk, a Quaker farmer. Bryant greatly enlarged the original farmhouse, renovating it several times. He also planted numerous exotic trees and flowers on the grounds, tranforming the estate into a horticultural showplace.

Following Bryant's death, Cedarmere was occupied by his daughter, Julia, and his grandson, Harold Godwin. Godwin ultimately added such features as a stone bridge and sunken garden to the landscape. He also rebuilt the house following a major fire in 1902. The estate was left to Nassau County by Godwin's daughter, Elizabeth, to preserve as a memorial to Bryant.

Visitors can view the exhibits in the house and stroll on the property, which includes a Gothic mill, a pond spanned by a rustic stone bridge, and a small formal garden. Cedarmere also hosts a numa ber of educational, arts and community events during the course of the year. Elements magazine has called Cedarmere "one of the most beautifully preserved and serene enclaves on the North Shore of Long Island."

Cedarmere has received a $75,000 matching grant from the New York State Envirornmental Protection Fund designed for renovation work on the home; the county is in the process of soliciting additional funding from private donors.

Cedarmere Museum Hosts Classical Concert on May 18

Cedarmere, the historic Roslyn home of prominent 19th-century poet and editor William Cullen Bryant, is hosting a concert of operatic selections by soprano Ilya Speranza on Sunday, May 18, at 3 p.m., announced Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi.

The program will include selections from Verdi’s “Rigoletto,” both Gounod and Bellini’s settings of “Romeo and Juliet,” and the “mad scene” from Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor.” As a special feature, the Donizetti piece will be accompanied by a musical saw played by virtuoso performer Natalia Paruz. The eerie tone of the saw will reflect the composer’s original use of a glass harmonica for this aria, and add to the fevered pitch of the mad scene.

The concert will take place in Cedarmere’s wood-paneled Great Room, which provides an intimate setting and excellent acoustics; seating is limited to 45 attendees. Concert tickets are $20 and reservations are required by calling 516-571-8130. Cedarmere will open on concert day at 1 p.m.

Cedarmere Opens for 2008 Season with Readings, Music and Art Show

Cedarmere, the Roslyn Harbor home of prominent 19th-century poet and newspaper editor William Cullen Bryant, will feature readings, music and an art show as it opens for the 2008 season on the weekend of April 26 - 27, from 1 to 5 p.m.

On both days, visitors to Bryant's home and grounds will be able to meet Bryant himself, as portrayed by local actor Frank Hendricks, who will read from the writer’s poetry and discuss his life.

On April 27, guests can join Mr. Bryant in planting an old-fashioned fruit tree in honor of Arbor Day. Between 2 and 4 p.m. each day, there will also be a program of mid-19th-century parlor music performed by Bryant's daughter Julia, as interpreted by pianist Linda Pratt.

In addition, the weekend marks the opening of a contemporary art show by the Cedarmere staff. “The Artists of Cedarmere” includes photographs by Iris Levin and Robert Harrison; prints by Amanda Buonocore, a fine arts major at C.W. Post College; mixed-media pieces by architect and designer Dennis Cook; and watercolors by Selma Stern, the painting instructor at Cedarmere. The exhibit will be on display through June.

The 7-acre Cedarmere site, located on beautiful Roslyn Harbor, includes Bryant's house, carefully restored gardens, and a Gothic Revival mill and summer cottage overlooking a picturesque pond. It is open weekends and holidays from 1 to 5 p.m. until November 2.

Registration Begins for Watercolor Classes at Historic Cedarmere Museum

Cedarmere, the historic Roslyn home of prominent 19th-century poet and editor William Cullen Bryant, is accepting registrations for its spring watercolor painting class beginning in May, announced Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi.

The series of five classes will be held on Tuesdays on the following dates: May 13, 20, and 27; and June 3 and 17. The classes are held from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.

The program is designed for beginning and intermediate watercolor students with special attention given to those with little or no previous painting experience. Selma Stern, recently honored by the American Watercolor Society, returns for her 11th year as instructor.

All sessions will be held in Cedarmere’s Gothic Revival mill, built in 1863 and located in a pastoral setting by the pond on the property. Participants will have the opportunity to paint “en plein air” (outdoors), weather permitting.

The mill was once used as an artist’s studio by Francis Bryant Godwin, great granddaughter of William Cullen Bryant. Harold Godwin, Bryant’s grandson, was also an accomplished watercolorist whose work, displayed at the estate, was inspired by the picturesque Cedarmere grounds.

The fee for the course is $115, and no refunds will be issued once classes begin (students are required to provide their own materials). To register and receive more information, call 516-571-8130.