Our Stroll Continues ...

Our stroll continues at Village Hall, the second municipal center built in the Village’s 100 year history.

On Pondfield Road, occupying one of the “Four Corners” of our civic square, our Village government is entrusted with protecting the health, safety, property and general welfare of Village residents. The Mayor and the Board of Trustees are diligent in moving Bronxville steadily into the future while preserving the very essence and heart of its past.

Across the street, the Village Library underwent its first major renovation since its construction in 1942 and was completed in the spring of 2001. The two wings that were added to architect Harry Leslie Walker’s Georgian style brick library added 70% more space, are fully air conditioned and provide a state of the art community meeting room, an art exhibit gallery and computer connections throughout the building.

Another Harry Leslie Walker building that also underwent renovations is the Bronxville Public School, directly across from the library on a second of Bronxville’s “Four Corners.” The Bronxville School is rated nationally for its excellence in education. More than 1,400 children in Kindergarten through 12th grade are taught by both traditional and innovative educational approaches that accommodate individual learning styles and continue a long standing commitment to high academic standards.

Architect Harry Leslie Walker left yet a third imprint on Bronxville’s “Four Corners”    the Reformed Church of Bronxville, the first Village church. This imposing 1925 stone building is the second sanctuary constructed on this site after the congregation outgrew its modest 1850 New England style structure. The Reformed Church celebrated its sesquicentennial year, while Bronxville’s Episcopal Christ Church celebrated its 100th year.

Residents also worship in St. Joseph's Catholic Church, the Church of Christ, the Golden Sword International Fellowship Church, and the Village Lutheran Church. Synagogues are also nearby in neighboring communities.

Most of the Village’s churches are within easy walking distance of the Central Business District where you can shop at designer clothing boutiques, antique and gift shops, art galleries and small independent book stores. Buy items on your grocery list at a supermarket, a health food store, a green grocer or a delicatessen. You can visit the doctor or dentist, consult with your lawyer, and do your banking all within a few blocks.

Then pick up the dry cleaning, any items on your list from the drug store and a bouquet of flowers. Later, you can head back into town for dinner at any of a number of fine restaurants, spend an entertaining evening at the movies and then top off a sweet day with not one, but two big scoops at our local ice cream shop. A pleasant and healthy walk home might be a good idea!

Close knit neighborhoods have been the hallmark of Bronxville’s history. Part of a community that is only one square mile in area, our neighborhoods are all within walking distance of the business district and train station.

Bronxville’s 1840’s station is where William Van Duzer Lawrence first set eyes on Village land. With a businessman’s vision, the 43 year old self made millionaire bought a tumbledown farm and turned it into the hamlet’s first housing development    an array of graceful homes and spacious mansions skillfully tucked among ancient trees and rock formations on a winding hillside. Elizabeth Custer, wife of General George Custer, lived here as did many other notable writers and artists. Lawrence Park, known as the “Hilltop,” is now a National Historic District listed officially on the National Register of Historic Places.

Lawrence Park is only one of many Village neighborhoods. Others include Crows Nest, perched on an even higher hill where on a clear day, one can see Manhattan; Sagamore Park, whose stately homes attracted early 20th century investors such as composer Jerome Kern; Masterton Wood, where architect Lewis Bowman created his stockbroker tudor style homes to meet the tastes of Wall Street magnates of the 1920’s; and the Pondfield Road corridor, site of Bronxville’s oldest home, the Abijah Morgan House as well as Crownlands, home of young John F. Kennedy and his family from 1929 to the early 1940’s.

The lure of a Bronxville address is so strong, it made headlines in the real estate section of The New York Times. Certainly the Village’s homes are a major attraction, but William Lawrence had more in mind than residences with his planned community. His legacy also includes Lawrence Hospital, built in 1909, one of Westchester County’s finest health care facilities and Sarah Lawrence College, established in memory of his wife. Sarah Lawrence is one of the nation’s finest liberal arts colleges with such distinguished graduates as Barbara Walters, Joanne Woodward and Alice Walker. Even the historic Bronxville Womans’ Club sits on land donated by Lawrence’s daughter, Anna Lawrence Bisland, the Club’s founder.

Concordia College, established in Bronxville in 1909 by the Lutheran Church, is also renowned for its music and academic programs. Its beautiful 33 acre campus includes spacious athletic fields which are generously shared with the community.

Open space and recreational parks, a luxury in the Village’s one square mile, add to the beauty of Bronxville. Residents visit:

• Dogwood Park, for tennis...
• Maltby Courts, for paddle tennis...
• River Lake Park and The Meadow, for quiet reflections...
• Scout Field, for big team sports...
• Bicentennial Park, for a sit in the sun...
• Sagamore Park, where children can play...
• Francis Bacon Park, to honor our first Village president...
• The Bronxville School Track, where young and old get fit for life....

Though Bronxville has been ranked high on Worth magazine’s list of ‘richest towns,’ its true wealth is the people who live and work here    many of whom give generously of their time and resources to preserve and enhance the special legacy of this small suburban community and to enrich the lives of others.

As Goldberger noted, “The most important virtue of a town like Bronxville has to do with history and with the idea of commitment to a place .... belief in place and a willingness to stake ourselves to our communities. “If Bronxville teaches us any lesson, it is that of the power of place...it has worked here for a hundred years and it will continue to perform its magic for a hundred, two or three or four hundred more.”