Belvidere

Camp Road & Gibson Hill Road, Belmont, Allegany County, New York

Built from 1804, for Judge Philip Schuyler Church (1778-1861) whose father had given him a half-interest in the surrounding 100,000-acres on which he founded the town of Angelica, named for his mother. The design is reputedly attributed to Benjamin Latrobe; the bricks were made on site; and, the stone was imported from Italy by Philip's father. It was here that John Barker Church's pistols were kept following his duel with Aaron Burr, and it was from here that those same pistols were taken and used again in the duel fought by his former assailant which ended so tragically for his brother-in-law, Alexander Hamilton. Villa Belvidere was not occupied by Philip until 1810, by which time he was married to Anna Mathilda Stewart, of Philadelphia. It passed to their fourth son, Major Richard Church, whose finances forced him to part with it in 1892....

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This house is best associated with...

Philip Schuyler Church

Judge Philip Schuyler Church, of "Belvidere" Allegany Co., New York

1778-1861

Richard Stephen Church

Major Richard Church of "Belvidere" Allegany County, New York

1824-1911

Frederick Bristol Keeney

Fred B. Keeney, of Warsaw & "Belvidere" Allegany County, New York

1858-1926

Snyder Hoxie Clark

S. Hoxie Clark, Attorney, of St. Louis, Missouri & New York City

1869-1944

Robert Bruce Bromeley

Robert B. Bromeley, of Bradford, Pennsylvania; Newspaper Publisher

1910-2000

The new owner was Fred Bristol Keeney (1858-1926), a shipper of hay and grain to the New England states who kept the world's largest herd of Jersey cattle here. Nine years later, in 1901, Mrs and Mrs Keeney sold up to S. Hoxie Clark, a prominent attorney then practising in St. Louis, Missouri, and the only son of Railroad President S.H.H. Clark. The Clarks, "lived elegantly, perhaps romantically, by candlelight," refusing to allow electric cables to ruin the ambience of the old house. They maintained the long wing for servants and enjoyed entertaining frequently, on a large scale, with "epicurean delicacies".

Clark survived his wife, "a patron of many charitable institutions," and three years after his death (1947) the estate was purchased by Mr and Mrs Robert B. Bromeley whose family continue to call Belvidere 'home' today. The house now sits on 5-acres of gardens and contains 27-rooms and 13 fireplaces. Notable outbuildings include the hexagonal tea house built in 1806 and a 9-sided barn. It is private property and not open to the public.