Llewellyn Park

750-acre Llewellyn Park is comprised of 173 homes networked around a 50-acre parcel of common land, a series of ravines known as the Ramble. In 1852, New York pharmaceuticals magnate Llewellyn Haskell and architect Alexander Jackson Davis developed a concept for a “Neighborhood Park” in which the central parkland forms the fundamental organizing element and provides structure for the design of the neighborhood. The picturesque gateway to the community was a stone gatehouse, designed by Davis in 1857. The Ramble includes a forest of evergreens, a lyceum, a kiosk, and a series of ponds along a stream running the length of the park. Haskell spent over $100,000 on improvements to the land for building preparation and for embellishments to the Ramble, bringing in native trees and flowers as well as exotics, many of which were from Europe, South America, and Asia. Each building site was between one and ten acres. Individual residents were required to pay an annual fee for maintenance of the common land based upon a figure of ten dollars per acre of privately held land. A number of additional designers are credited with input into Llewellyn Park, including Eugene A. Baumann, landscape gardener, Howard Daniels, architect and landscape gardener, and James MacGall (also known as James McGall), landscape gardener. Now comprised of 421 acres, Llewellyn Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.