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Talia Lakritz
- President Franklin D. Roosevelt maintained a lifelong connection with Springwood, his family home.
- He was raised at the property in Hyde Park, New York, and hosted dignitaries there as president.
- Measuring about 21,000 square feet, Springwood has 49 rooms and eight bathrooms.
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President Franklin D. Roosevelt's estate in Hyde Park, New York, is the only place in the US where a president was born, maintained a connection throughout his life, and is buried, according to the National Park Service.
Widely regarded as one of the most influential US presidents, Roosevelt was elected in 1932 and led the country through the Great Depression and World War II. Known for expansive government programs such as the New Deal, he died in office while serving an unprecedented fourth term in 1945.
Roosevelt's 21,000-square-foot family home, an Italianate-style villa known as Springwood, is open to the public as part of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park. Everything inside is original to the home.
Take a look inside the historic site.
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President Franklin D. Roosevelt's home, known as Springwood, is in Hyde Park, New York.
The Vanderbilt family's 45,000-square-foot Gilded Age mansion is also in Hyde Park, which is about 95 miles from New York City.
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It's located on the grounds of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
The National Park Service operates both the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum and the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, while the National Archives manages the library's collections.
The National Park Service offers 40-minute guided tours of Springwood from May through October. Tickets cost $15 each and are sold in person on a first-come, first-serve basis.
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As I began my walk to Springwood, I passed bronze statues of Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt.
The statues were modeled after a 1933 photograph of the Roosevelts at their Hyde Park home.
A park ranger told me to follow the sign for the stables to reach Roosevelt's home.
Further along the path, I began to see signs for Springwood, which is located next to the stables.
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The stables still featured the names of the Roosevelt family's horses.
Roosevelt was an avid equestrian and continued riding even after his legs became paralyzed due to polio.
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The tour started outside Springwood as a park ranger spoke about the history of the home and the Roosevelt family.
Roosevelt's father, James Roosevelt, was a Harvard-educated lawyer who earned his fortune as a businessman for various railroad and coal companies. He purchased the original farmhouse on the property in 1867 and named it "Springwood."
In 1915, Roosevelt and Eleanor added two stone wings and most of the third floor to make more room for their six children.
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The guide also pointed out a front portico that resembled the South Portico of the White House.
"Perhaps a little political foreshadowing?" he said.
The Entrance Hall was decorated with prints from Roosevelt's naval collection and editorial cartoons from the 18th century.
Roosevelt served as assistant secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson. His fondness for Navy ships was evident in the decor throughout Springwood.
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The Entrance Hall also featured Roosevelt's boyhood bird collection and a bronze statue of him at age 29.
As a child, Roosevelt collected birds and had them stuffed in order to study them up close.
The bronze statue depicts Roosevelt in 1911 when he was serving his first term in the New York State Senate.
In the Dining Room, Roosevelt sat at the head of the table in the seat pulled out on the left.
The small round table in the back of the room was the kids' table.
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After dinner, guests would move to the Dresden Room, which functioned as a sitting room.
The room is named for the Dresden chandelier and sconces that Roosevelt's father brought back from Dresden, Germany.
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A foldable ramp made the stairs leading into the Library accessible for Roosevelt's wheelchair.
At 39 years old, Roosevelt was diagnosed with polio and became paralyzed from the waist down. He didn't want people to know that he used a wheelchair, so the ramp could be folded up and hidden away when guests were present.
When Roosevelt took business meetings at Springwood, his aides positioned him in an armchair and put a stack of papers in his lap to give him a plausible reason not to stand when his guests arrived.
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In the Library, Roosevelt met with world leaders and dignitaries.
Roosevelt's famous guests included King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother), Prince Frederik and Princess Ingrid of Denmark, Prince Olav and Princess Martha of Norway, and Winston Churchill.
The room also featured a portrait of Roosevelt painted by Ellen Emmet Rand.
Roosevelt sat for the portrait after he was elected to his first term as president in 1932.
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The tour continued upstairs with the Pink Room, which functioned as a guest room.
King George VI and Winston Churchill slept in this room during their visits to Hyde Park.
Another guest room was used by his political advisors.
Louis Howe and Harry Hopkins, two of Roosevelt's close political advisors, stayed in this room.
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The Chintz Room was also used as a guest room for important visitors.
Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, Russian pianist Madam Knavage, and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, stayed in the Chintz Room during their time at Springwood.
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Roosevelt was born in the Blue Room on January 30, 1882.
His father, James Roosevelt, wrote in his diary on the night of Roosevelt's birth that he was a "splendid, large baby boy" who weighed 10 pounds. Everything in the Blue Room is original, including the mattress Roosevelt was born on.
James and his wife, Sara Roosevelt, slept in the Blue Room. After James' death, Sara moved into another room down the hall when the home was renovated in 1915, bringing her furniture with her. The Blue Room was then redecorated and repurposed as a guest room.
Sara requested that the original furniture be moved back into the Blue Room after her death to restore it to the way it looked when Roosevelt was born.
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Growing up, Roosevelt slept in this bedroom until he married Eleanor in 1905.
When the Roosevelts had children of their own, the oldest son living at home slept here.
The hallway leading to the primary bedrooms included a unique piece of decor: a mirror mounted on a 45-degree angle.
The Secret Service used the mirror to monitor activity down the hall and around the front of the house.
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Roosevelt's mother, Sara Roosevelt, slept in a bedroom at the end of the hall.
Roosevelt's father, James, died in 1900, while Sara lived for another 41 years. She moved from the Blue Room into this room after the home's 1915 renovation.
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Eleanor moved into a smaller bedroom connected to Roosevelt's room after he became sick with polio.
The space was originally intended to be a morning room.
After Roosevelt's death in 1945, Eleanor moved to Val-Kill, a cottage she built with friends Nancy Cook and Marion Dickerman. Located around 2.5 miles from Springwood, the property is now known as the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site.
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Roosevelt's bedroom windows featured views of the Hudson River.
Roosevelt would often spend early mornings in his room reading the paper or meeting with one of his secretaries.
Beside his bed, a designated phone provided a direct, secure line to the White House.
Having direct communication with Washington was state-of-the-art technology at the time, and proved crucial as his health began to fail towards the end of his life.
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Our tour guide ended his presentation with a surprising detail: the clothes hanging in Roosevelt's bedroom closet.
"The clothes that are in that room on display, FDR handpicked for you to see," our guide said. "He knew you were coming."
Eleanor turned Springwood over to the National Park Service in 1945, shortly after Roosevelt's death, and spoke at its dedication as a national historic site in 1946.
"I think Franklin realized that the historic library, the house, and the peaceful resting place behind the high hedge with flowers blooming around it would perhaps mean something to the people of the United States," she said at the event, author Olin Dows wrote in his 1949 book, "Franklin Roosevelt at Hyde Park," according to the National Park Service. "They would understand the rest and peace and strength which he had gained here and perhaps learn to come, and go away with some sense of healing and courage themselves."
As I exited Springwood through the south lawn, I was greeted by stunning views of the Hudson Valley.
Roosevelt planted many of the trees on the property as part of his forestry experiments and conservation efforts.
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Visitors could also pay their respects at the Roosevelts' burial site in Springwood's rose garden.
Roosevelt wrote that he wanted to be buried where the sundial stood in the rose garden on his Hyde Park estate, according to the National Park Service.
Roosevelt's legacy lives on in his presidential library and museum, the construction of which he oversaw himself.
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum was dedicated in 1941.
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He was the first US president to establish a library to house papers and artifacts from his political career, a model that every president since has followed.
When I visited my first presidential library, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, I bought a passport to fill with stamps from all 15 presidential libraries nationwide. I was delighted to find a desk with stamps to add to my booklet just outside the gift shop.
Springwood remains a meaningful historical site memorializing one of America's most prominent presidents.
Nearly 10,000 people visited Springwood on the first day it was open to the public in 1946, and they haven't stopped visiting since.
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