Grey Towers National Historic Site
Grey Towers National Historic Site, also known as Gifford Pinchot House or The Pinchot Institute, is located just off US 6 west of Milford, Pennsylvania, in Milford Township. It is the ancestral summer home of Gifford Pinchot, first chief of the newly developed United States Forest Service (USFS) and twice elected governor of Pennsylvania.
Gifford Pinchot House | |
U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
U.S. National Historic Landmark | |
U.S. National Historic Site | |
Pennsylvania state historical marker | |
Two of the fieldstone chateau's three conical towers (2007) | |
| Location | Milford, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Port Jervis, New York, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 41°19′39″N 74°49′15″W |
| Area | 102 acres (41 ha) |
| Built | 1886 |
| Architect | Richard Morris Hunt H. Edwards Ficken |
| Architectural style | Neo-Norman |
| Website | Grey Towers National Historic Site |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000694 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | May 23, 1963 |
| Designated PHMC | June 1, 1948 |
The house, built in the style of a French château to reflect the Pinchot family's French origins, was designed by Richard Morris Hunt with some later work by H. Edwards Ficken. Situated on the hills above Milford, it overlooks the Delaware River. Gifford Pinchot grew up there and returned during the summers when his later life took him to Washington, D.C. and Harrisburg. His wife, Cornelia Bryce Pinchot, made substantial changes to the interior of the home and gardens, in collaboration with several different architects, during that time.
In 1963, his family donated it and the surrounding 102 acres (41 ha) to the Forest Service; it is the only U.S. National Historic Site managed by that agency. Three years later, the Department of the Interior designated it a National Historic Landmark. Today it is open to the public for tours and hiking on its trails. It is also home to the Pinchot Institute, which carries on his work in conservation.