Bayard Cutting Arboretum

Great River, New York, United States

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Bayard Cutting Arboretum in Great River, New York, is a 691-acre state park originally developed in 1886 as the country estate of William Bayard Cutting, a prominent New York City lawyer, financier, and avid horticulturist.

The estate, designed by the renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, preserves many mature trees and an extensive conifer collection advised by Charles Sprague Sargent of Boston’s Arnold Arboretum.

The manor house, built in a Tudor Revival style by Charles C. Haight, features English oak paneling and Tiffany stained glass windows. The property, once known as Westbrook, was a social hub for New York elites and hosted English-themed garden parties with notable guests like Theodore Roosevelt's cabinet.

Donated to the Long Island State Park Region in 1936 by Mrs. Bayard James, daughter of William Cutting, it officially opened as a public arboretum in 1954. The arboretum has weathered natural challenges such as hurricanes but continues to serve as a living museum dedicated to informal planting, botanical conservation, and public enjoyment, welcoming over half a million visitors annually.

Recent enhancements include a new visitor center and expanded parking, supported by a multi-million-dollar endowment left by the Cutting family to maintain the estate’s legacy.