Samuel Tilden built this estate in North Yonkers sometime in the late 1840's. Later on Samuel Untermeyer bought the place. And his son Louis took the place over.
It is reported that back in '76 David Berkowitz aka "son of sam" was meeting with a cult and performing strange rituals in a guard house down by the Aqueduct Trail . It is believed that many of the cult members were involved in the shootings that were attributed to him alone. That guardhouse (near the lion), is really scary.
The grounds and remains of the estate are really beautiful. There is a foundation set up and there is an effort to restore much of what is there and preserve the grounds. There is also a performance series they run in the summer.
The Untermeyer estate is a peaceful place to go and take a stroll. It is usually pretty desolate, not a lot of people around. When I was there the other day, the fall foliage was really beautiful and there are so many different colors on the wide variety of trees and shrubs....
Anyways, this is a place worth checking out.