top cottage - home of franklin d roosevelt

Great way to spend an afternoon - the FDR Library, Estate & Val-Kill the Eleanor Roosevelt Cottage. Add in the Vanderbilt Estate for a information filled day

It was remarkable to tour the home in which FDR was born and see where he was buried. We viewed the had roped elevator he used to be able to get up to the second floor and learned that the last person to use the elevator was Bill Clinton, when he was president.to feel what it was like. The tour guid was patient and knowledgeable.

If you are doing the whole FDR tour, go up to Top Cottage. It is small and quaint but very calm and peaceful. The rangers are very nice and very knowledgeable. If you don't have time to do this stop, don't worry about it. It is nice if you can do it, but you aren't missing a big piece of history if you don't go.

After a brief narrated van ride from the main visitor center, we arrived at Top Cottage and were met by a historian, who enthralled us for 90 minutes. There was virtually nothing that he didn't know.I can see why FDR chose this location and why he designed this Dutch-style cottage the way he did. Wow. I so thank the US government for preserving all these FDR properties.

We were there in the summer of 2014 and to be honest, the house wasn't as spectacular as the rest of the grounds...I liked the park and the surroundings more than the house itself. Our ranger knew a lot and tried to tell us as much as he could combined with a few jokes, but compared to other trips I've done, he wasn't the best.

Top Kill was closed for the season but we drove up the road, parked and sat on the empty front porch an looked at FDR's view of the Hudson River Valley. The view must have helped him cope with the enormous world problems he faced.

Not a lot to see at Top Cottage, but the talk by the Park Ranger was very interesting. There is lot of history that should not be missed.

Of the four Roosevelt places to see in Hyde Park, I would rate this number 2. You get a shuttle at the Wallace visitor center (Wallace BTW was one of FDR's vice presidents) and they take you on a winding drive through the country side to the cottage. You can also walk a trail that is a mile or two or three long (which would be really nice if you have family). The cottage itself it no great shakes. There is no real tour of it and it consist of 5 or 6 rooms of which you can see 4 and a bathroom. There is really nothing on the walls and only some random chairs and a desk that is a replica of one down at the Library. What makes this worth seeing is the porch that is a broad portico that faces west toward the Hudson, although you are too far to see the river. This is the place where FDR would come to sit and look out at the trees and just think or get away from it all. You can really understand why he liked to come up here. If you get the chance there are some older park rangers who bring you up in the shuttle and who have lived in the area their whole lives and know people who worked for FDR back in the day, and sometimes they will take all of the chairs in the big living room area out to the porch and tell you stories about FDR's interactions with the locals or what he did up at the cottage and really personalized the man much more than anything you see down at Springwood or the library. Top Cottage is a really peaceful and beautiful place. The view that FDR would have been able to have enjoyed is grossly overgrown now and all of those young trees should be cut down to return the porch to the way it was when FDR used to go there so you could really get the feeling that you were on the porch getting away from it all and trying to take your mind of the cares of the world.

Top Cottage is a cozy stone cottage atop a hill not far from the FDR Library and Home and Val-Kill. FDR designed the cottage to meet his physical limitations and it flows beautifully from a large, vaulted ceiling great room with several double atrium doors that fling open (no screens) onto a simple, large covered open porch overlooking the valley through the dense foliage. The cottage tour took all of 10 minutes and then it is on to the porch where everyone is offered a comfy rocker or wicker chair on which to sit and listen and participate in the Ranger talk. It was a stunningly frank and intimate story of how FDR escaped the "noise" all around him by recklessly driving up the hill to enjoy a day to his liking. I'm nearly always taken aback at the passion and knowledge of our National Park Rangers and their obvious love and respect for "their" particular site and their ability to share it with those in their care for an hour. Put this at the top of your list.

The only way to visit here is by taking a NP bus from the FDR visitor center. A National Park Ranger is on the bus telling about known and many unknown facts about FDR. Sitting on the porch in the wicker rockers listening to the ranger relating stories of FDR and his family was one of the best afternoons ever! They only allow a few people to go at a time, so make sure you purchase your tickets at the visitor's center. I also don't think they take the bus up to the cottage more than 2 times a day, so plan your trip accordingly. The tickets to Val-Kil are also available only at the Visitor Center and a limited number of people are allowed on each ranger led tour. Anytime you have an opportunity to go on any NP Ranger led activity, just DO IT! They have so much knowledge of the park where they work, it is always such an interesting tour.

It was a wonderful coincidence that we visited Top Cottage the week that PBS was showing the seven day program about the Roosevelts. This is where the "hot dog" picnic for the King and Queen of England took place. The guide moved the wicker chairs to the porch in a semi-circle and he sat in front of us. He pointed to one woman, and said, "the Queen sat there." He then told the whole story of the cottage and the event. I loved it. Reservations are required and there are only two tours a day as it is a short van ride from the FDR visitor center.

We found the visit to Top Cottage to be somewhat of a waste of time. The small, cabin-like dwelling was devoid of any original pieces. The National Park has made a very poor attempt at furnishing one room, the living room, with reproductions that were not like the photos that were presented. The site is not very handicap accessible and the visit could have been 15 minutes but went on for nearly an hour with some photo sharing and historical vignettes on the porch. If you have to chose between Val-Kill and Top Cottage, skip Top Cottage. You certainly won't be missing much at all. Pictures in the Visitor's Center are certainly adequate.

This National Park Service tour is different than the rest. A shuttle runs from the main visitor's center to the site, but you can also walk up from Val-Kill. Just make sure you get your ticket before you head out. On this tour, a park ranger lets you walk around the main room, which does not have any original pieces, and peek into the bathroom and an exhibit room. You can't go upstairs. The cottage is lovely, even if you have to imagine what it looked like, but the highlight is the porch talk. While you enjoy the breezes on the porch and the view of the woods, the park ranger tells you about the cottage and FDR, while occasionally reading excerpts from letters and books. All of this is done while you sit in comfy porch chairs. I could have stayed there all afternoon listening to the ranger. Worth a trip. Check out the shuttle bus schedules so you can coordinate a visit with Val-Kill.

First time at Top Cottage. A very unique tour conducted on the front porch of the cottage, which is located a few miles away from Springwood, the Roosevelt family home. The Top Cottage visit was a highlight of our time in Hyde Park. The tour guide tells FDR stories with the small tour group seated on the front porch. A Q&A session ensues. Don't miss it. Travel by shuttle from FDR home.

FDR never spent the night at Top Cottage, but he had it built as a place for him to get away. It is in a wooded area and we sat on the porch in comfortable chairs while the Park Ranger gave us an instructive talk about historical events at Top Cottage including the King and Queen of England visiting for a picnic when hotdogs were served.