The Castle was designed by
Stanford White and built in 1892 as a dwelling for
Whitelaw Reid after he returned from Paris after serving as the 28th
United States Minister to France.
Frederick Law Olmsted was hired to landscape his estate. Reid Hall occupies the footprint of the previous property owner
Ben Holladay's Ophir Hall, which burned down and was rebuilt by Reid with the massive granite
crenellated mansion. The building was expanded in 1912 by
McKim, Mead & White with a large library wing and guest cottage. Reid Hall was at one time a potential site for the
United Nations. The property was purchased by Manhattanville College in 1951. It was added to the
National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
Features It is a four-story, L-shaped building built of
granite blocks in the
Renaissance Revival style. It features a five-story tower and a corbelled battlement parapet that conceals a flat roof. ==See also==