Chappaqua, Where the Clintons Live
The Clintons enjoy being part of Chappaqua’s holiday parades. Photo credit: Marianne Campolongo.
I’d be surprised if Chappaqua, New York is on your list of must-visit destinations. In fact, if you’ve heard of it at all you’re probably relocating to the area and looking for an upmarket community with outstanding public schools within commuting distance of New York City.
In addition to a range of large custom homes, Chappaqua provides what the former president of CNN Jon Klein called “an emotional distance from the chaos.” It’s a pro-kid, pet-friendly, almost bucolic place – which is why my sister moved there several decades ago and why I happen to know about it.
Not moving to NYC? You might also know about Chappaqua if you’re a news journalist with an interest in writing about the Clintons. Yes, those Clintons – Bill and Hillary. Life in this charming hamlet was forever changed when Hillary and Bill Clinton bought a Dutch Colonial home on Old House Lane in 1999.
The Clinton’s Chappaqua home is on a quiet cul-de-sac. ADAMS / HANSEN STOCK PHOTOS.
The Clintons and Chappaqua
While news helicopters no longer circle overhead on a regular basis, sightings of the Clintons still set off a flurry of phone calls. These days, with Hillary busy promoting Hard Choices it’s the First Resident that folks see most often. He’s no stranger at Lange’s Deli, where the staff describe him as “one of the guys.”
Having said that, Hillary was very much in attendance at a baby shower for daughter Chelsea last month. The event was held at Crabtree’s Kittle House, the Clintons favorite local inn. In fact, all the Clintons were there because Bill and Chelsea’s husband Marc Mezvinsky also stopped in to great the guests.
Crabtree’s Kittle House is known for its great wine cellar, gourmet meals, and cozy colonial-style lodgings. ADAMS / HANSEN STOCK PHOTOS
A charming colonial inn
I once stayed at Crabtree’s Kittle House when my sister’s home was over-flowing with family. The building is more than 200 years old and positively oozes with charm. I loved my cozy room – one of 12 available to overnight guests.
The stately Kittle House began humbly in 1790 as a barn on Ivy Hill Farm. Over the years it has been a guesthouse, prohibition-era roadhouse, school, inn, and restaurant. Since 1981, the Kittle House has been owned and operated by the Crabtree family, who returned the landmark to its former glory and transformed the stables into an award-winning wine cellar.
A Methuselah of Romanee Conti at Kittle House. ADAMS / HANSEN STOCK PHOTOS.
Today, Kittle House has the second largest restaurant wine cellar in the world, based on selection. On any given day, 40 wines are available by the glass. Only the Tour d’Argent in Paris offers more choices. This would explain why the wine list is more than three inches thick and contains over 6,000 different labels. I wasn’t surprised that the inn has won more than one Wine Spectator Award.
On one visit to Chappaqua, the maitre‘d gave me a tour of the wine cellar where I nervously held a Methuselah of 1988 Romanée-Conti worth the price of a new luxury car.
The Clintons dine here frequently when they are in town and have entertained heads of state – including Germany’s (then-Chancellor) Helmut Kohl – at the award-winning restaurant.
Horace Greeley’s residence is now the New Castle Historical Society. ADAMS / HANSEN STOCK PHOTOS.
Exploring Chappaqua
The center of Chappaqua consists of three blocks of small shops and cafes. Outside of this area, winding wooded lanes lead to colonial mansions that sprawl across large properties. Residents of the town’s 4,400 households are well educated and affluent – and have learned to dodge the deer that routinely dash across the roads at night. In this rural environment, it’s hard to remember that mid-town Manhattan is only 35 miles to the south.
The local high school is named for Horace Greeley, founder and editor of the New York Tribune, candidate for President in 1872, and literary friend of Emerson, Thoreau, Dickens, and Mark Twin. Greeley bought property in Chappaqua shortly after rail service began in 1846 and was among the early commuters. Today, the train remains an integral part of life in this community – carrying residents to Grand Central in just under an hour.
If you visit, start your exploration at the New Castle Historical Society’s museum located in Horace Greeley’s former residence on King Street. Here I learned about the Quakers who built homes in the area in the 1730s. This motivated me to visit their nearby meeting house, built in 1753.
Susan Lawrence serves delicious cakes, pastries, and lunches. Credit Joe Budd.
For a casual meal, I can’t imagine a nicer spot than Susan Lawrence Gourmet Foods on Greeley Avenue. Here, you can choose from among a variety of light lunches, freshly baked breads, and exquisite pastries and sit inside under a copper gilded tin ceiling or outside at café tables.
The bistro’s collection of antique copper, 19th century style pine furniture, and sparkling chandeliers make this a great place to linger over tea and a yummy treat. Susan Lawrence has catered Donald Trump’s Christmas party more than once. The chef was a bit more coy when I asked about the Clintons, but he did say Bill “has really changed his eating habits since his heart surgery.”
After a visit to Susan Lawrence, I’m ready to walk up the King Street hill and do some shopping. I’d also like to walk to Temple Beth El, the synagogue designed by architect Louis Kahn, but without sidewalks, the stroll down Highway 117 is not really recommended.
Pruyn Sanctuary. Courtesy Saw Mill River Audubon.
Instead, my sister and I park at the temple and walk around, admiring the structure’s stunning simplicity and the way it is built into a hill on seven wooded acres. Temple Beth El was modeled after the ancient wooden synagogues of Poland and Russia that were destroyed in the Holocaust. It’s Kahn’s memorial to an Eastern European Jewish past and reflects his spiritual approach to architecture.
For safe walking, my family and I enjoy the sanctuaries of the Saw Mill River Audubon – especially in the fall, when we are surrounded by crunchy leaves and beautiful colors. Pinecliff, where a wooden boardwalk stretches over and around a red maple swamp is one of my favorites. I also like Pruyn Sanctuary, where trails traverse woodlands, wetlands, and rocky hilltops. Both places are great for birding.
More places to walk
Two other great strolling spots are within 15 minutes of Chappaqua: At the PepsiCo World Headquarters in Purchase, The Donald M. Kendall Sculpture Gardens includes more than 40 works of art by Giacometti, Calder, Rodin, Henry Moore, Joan Miró and other major 20th-century artists. The pieces are placed among fountains, ponds, and pavilions, as well as trees, shrubs, and flowering plants in a spacious garden setting.
Rockefeller State Park Preserve is a great place for a walk. Courtesy NYSP.
Rockefeller State Park Preserve – comprised of a portion of the Rockefeller family estate in Pocantico Hills – is another glorious place to walk. Here, carriage roads wind through woodlands, meadows, and fields and past streams, rivers, and lakes. They also traverse wood and stone bridges and lead to panoramic vistas of the Hudson River and surrounding hills.
I’m told that Bill and Hillary enjoy long walks in the Preserve. You also might see the Clintons walking their dogs around Chappaqua. He with Seamus, a chocolate lab, and Hillary with Tally, a toy poodle.
Like their neighbors, the Clintons seem to relish the distance from the chaos – and so will you when you need a break from nonstop New York City sightseeing.
Cheers!
Category: USA Eastern States
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And where my mother was born and raised! She still has relatives that live in the area.
A charming place. I lived in Chappaqua with my family in 1986, and we all loved it. We met great friends there! We still miss that nice place!
Nice article. I have lived in Chappaqua since the 70′s and still love it here.
The Crown House is no longer open. The owner retired and there’s now a business in there. We miss the Crown House.
Thanks for letting me know about the Crown House, Pam. I updated the article.
You did a great job of capturing “my town” through the eyes of a visitor~
I loved the article, having grown up in a town like that in Central New York. I once ate at the Crabtree Kittle House and have said many times that it is my favorite restaurant ever. I’m glad it’s still in business.