Margaret Taylor Bard

Margaret Taylor Bard (Johnston)

Find A Grave Memorial ID # 98026367

In 1852, Blithewood (by then increased to 130-acres) was sold for $63,000 to John Bard (1819-1899) and his first wife, Margaret Taylor Johnston. Mrs Bard immediately renamed the estate "Annandale" as it had been named by Mary (née Johnston) Allen back in 1801. Neither of the two women were related to one another; neither were Scottish by birth; and, despite claims, neither had concrete evidence of descent from the chiefs of Clan Johnstone, the Earls of Annandale.

However, interestingly, both were daughters of past Presidents of the Saint Andrew's Society of New York and would therefore have been well-imbued with most likely romantic tales of their past and the traditions of Scotland. There is a distinct similarity between the undulating landscapes of the strath ("river valley") of Annandale and that of the Hudson, but it is unlikely that either of the Ladys of Annandale had set eyes upon its Scottish namesake.

Aside from changing the name, the Bards left the house essentially as they found it, but that is not to say that they did not make changes to the estate. Mr and Mrs Bard were devout Christians and devoted to the cause of education. In 1854, they built "Bard Hall" on the estate to serve as a Sunday school for the local community. Two years later (1856), they paid for the construction of the Chapel of Holy Innocents; and in 1860, they gave over 18-acres of Annandale to found St. Stephen's College; which later became Bard College.

Blithewood Once More and the Zabriskie Mansion

In 1868, on the tragic early death of their only son, William Bard, the Bards and their three daughters left America and moved to Europe. Blithewood was left empty and by the time it had gone to foreclosure some thirty years later, the estate was a shadow of its former self.

In 1897, the property was purchased by St. Stephen's College for $38,444, before being sold two years later to Captain Andrew Christian Zabriskie (1853-1916) and his wife Frances Hunter. The timber house was then beyond repair and they replaced it with the Beaux-Arts mansion that they named Blithewood. Its architect, Francis Hoppin, also designed the gardens and followed many of the original lines laid out by Andrew Jackson Downing.