“The Real Gilded Age”

Themed Mansion Tour at Staatsburgh State Historic Site

Staatsburg, N.Y.  (4/8/25) —Staatsburgh State Historic Site’s popular “The REAL Gilded Age: America’s Elite in the Downton Abbey Era” theme tour explores the real-life characters and themes at Staatsburgh that parallel popular shows such as Downton Abbey and HBO’s The Gilded Age. This 90-minute tour will be offered on May 3 at 11:00am, May 10 at 2:00pm, and May 11 at 2:00pm. Advanced reservations are required at https://www.Bookeo.com/StaatsburghSHS.

Led by a costumed guide, “The REAL Gilded Age” tour shows how servants and the Mills family conducted a busy weekend of high-society entertaining, comparing Staatsburgh to what viewers saw in the popular period dramas. The fictionalized romances of Downton Abbey had their historical counterparts at Staatsburgh: Downton’s American heiress, Cora, married the fictional Earl of Grantham; Staatsburgh’s Beatrice Mills married the real Earl of Granard. Reservations for “The REAL Gilded Age” are required and can be made at https://www.Bookeo.com/StaatsburghSHS. Admission is $12.00; $10.00 for seniors and students; children under 12 are free.

Visitors to Staatsburgh may also wish to stroll or picnic by the Hudson River, follow the site’s self-guided landscape tour, or walk the woodland trails in adjacent Mills and Norrie State Parks. A full list of all Staatsburgh’s programs is found on the site’s reservations page: https://www.Bookeo.com/StaatsburghSHS

Staatsburgh State Historic Site and the Ogden Mills & Ruth Livingston Mills Memorial State Park are located on Old Post Road in Staatsburg, off Route 9 between Rhinebeck and Hyde Park. The historic site is one of 6 sites and 15 parks administered by the Taconic Region of New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. For more information, call 845-889-8851, or visit Staatsburgh’s websites at, https://www.Bookeo.com/StaatsburghSHS , www.facebook.com/StaatsburghSHS, and www.staatsburghstatehistoricsite.blogspot.com. Staatsburgh’s events are also listed at parks.ny.gov

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees more than 250 parks, historic sites, recreational trails, golf courses, boat launches and more, and welcomes over 80 million visitors annually. For more information on any of these recreation areas, visit parks.ny.gov, download the free NY State Parks Explorer app or call 518.474.0456. Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), the OPRHP Blog or via the OPRHP Newsroom.

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Zachary Veith | (845) 889-8851 x 355 | Zachary.Veith@parks.ny.gov