President Franklin Delano Roosevelt designed Top Cottage—a simple, one-story Dutch Colonial building and one of the nation’s first wheelchair-accessible buildings—to escape and unwind from the pressures of the Presidency.
Image Credit: FDR Presidential Library
In 1996, we acquired Top Cottage to preserve a key piece of Presidential history. Our acquisition helped reunite the 32nd President’s retreat with the Roosevelt National Historic Site—Roosevelt’s birthplace, lifelong home, and burial place—on the banks of the Hudson River in Dutchess County.
We also preserved nearby parcels that connected Top Cottage with Eleanor Roosevelt’s nearby retreat, Val-Kill. Now, visitors can enjoy a gentle two-mile hike on woodland paths offering splendid views around Top Cottage and Val-Kill.