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Day Tripping Out Of Queens

Sprawling gardens, impressionist and mordern art, classic cars and idyllic natural settings highlight a three-hour tour of Kykuit, the historic estate of John D. Rockefeller in Sleepy Hollow — a quick day trip outside of Queens.

The grand tour, a comprehensive three-hour experience, provides visitors with a sweeping view of the estate, and includes all of the best features of Kykuit’s house & inner garden tour and gardens & sculpture tour. And, for the first time, it gives visitors access to the second floor of the house.

The new grand tour takes visitors upstairs, to the balcony overlooking the music room, with splendid east-west views through family sitting rooms. The balcony also displays four of the most important abstract expressionist works from Gov. Nelson Rockefeller’s collection: Bradley Walker Tomlin’s “Number 5” (1949); Karel Appel’s “Bird Woman” (1951); James Brooks’s “Jackson” (1956) ; and Pierre Soulages’s “10 September” (1953). None of these works has been shown to the public before their inclusion in the new grand tour.

The grand tour begins at the coach barn, with its collection of antique carriages and classic cars. There, Kykuit guides relate stories about the importance of the carriage roads to John D. Rockefeller and his son, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and they tell about a time when carriage driving, largely for pleasure, was an important part of the Rockefeller family’s daily life at Kykuit.

Also included at the coach barn is an exhibit on the evolution of the gardens at Kykuit. Visitors hear about the importance of Kykuit’s landscape and gardens to the Rockefeller family — John D. Rockefeller’s enthusiasm for the golf course and his love of the majestic trees, carriage roads, and landscape architecture; and John D. Rockefeller, Jr.’s focus on the creation of a grand Beaux-Arts estate. In the coach barn, the stage is set for visitors to learn how Kykuit was built and developed, and how Nelson A. Rockefeller brought his own vision to it.

The grand tour continues as Kykuit guides interpret the main floor of the house; the second floor balcony’s architectural features and art; the many garden rooms and terraces that make up Kykuit’s landscape including the rose and brook gardens; the golf room; and the underground art galleries with works by Alexander Calder, Robert Motherwell, Andy Warhol, Elie Nadelman, George Segal, and others, culminating in the Picasso tapestries.

In the gardens, Gov. Rockefeller’s 20th-century sculpture collection transforms the Beaux-Arts gardens into a vibrant and contemporary landscape.

The grand tour takes three hours and is offered daily (except Tuesdays) weekdays at 9:45 a.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 10 a.m.

Reservations are suggested for the grand tour, although some tickets may be available on a walk-in basis. For reservations, call 914-631-9491. Walk-in tickets when available may be purchased at the Philipsburg Manor/Kykuit Visitor Center, located on Route 9, in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. The visitor center opens at 9 a.m. each day. Reservations for the other tours offered to Kykuit are not required.

The Kykuit Visitor Center at Philipsburg Manor is in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., on Route 9, two miles north of the Tappan Zee Bridge. Driving directions are available online or by phone at 914-631-8200. The phone number of the visitor center is 914-631-3992.