Alder Manor

Alder Manor is a 72-room abandoned estate built in 1912 by William Boyce Thompson.

After success in the mining industry in his native Montana, William Boyce Thompson came to New York in 1895. He continued to be involved in mining as an investor on Wall Street, and a decade later, he began acquiring the 22 acres on which he built his mansion. Originally called Alder Manor after Alder Gulch, his hometown, it was intended to be a weekend residence. He commissioned Carrère and Hastings to design the house. As a lover of plants and gardens, Thompson had supervised the planning and planting of the landscapes around the house, and retained considerable influence over it. While the house has many similarities with the Frick Mansion in New York City, which the firm was designing and building at the same time, the Thompson Mansion has some touches that reflect his personal preferences, such as the colored marble in columns, imported fireplaces, and classical detailing in the gardens.

Today the mansion is used for weddings, events, and film shoots. It was first used in that latter capacity in the 2001 film A Beautiful Mind, as the mansion where Russell Crowe, as mathematician John Nash, visits. It was also used for scenes in The Royal Tenenbaums and Mona Lisa Smile.