Dateline: Gothic revival structures still grace Marist
In 1908, Brother Louis Zephiriny of the Marist Brothers congregation acquired an estate in Poughkeepsie named Rosenlund, which today serves as the heart of the Marist College campus. The property went through 10 owners by the time Edward Bech purchased it in 1863.
Named Hickory Grove by the Bartlett family, upon acquiring the estate Bech – who made his fortune in the iron business — rechristened it Rosenlund and hired architect Detlef Lineau to design several Gothicrevival-style structures. The Bechs planned to reside in a Greek revival house built by an earlier owner until their mansion was complete.
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Lineau designed and erected a gatehouse, gardener’s cottage and carriage house. The gatehouse provided housing for Bech’s carriage driver, who cared for the horses and transported family members as needed. Rosenlund became known for its gardens and landscaped grounds, which were cared for by head gardener David Gindra. The cottage served as his family’s residence.
Sadly, Edward Bech died in 1873 and the mansion was never completed. His widow Elizabeth remained in the Greek revival house until she passed away in May 1900.
The Bechs had three children, two daughters who married and lived in Austria and two sons, Edward and George. The latter sibling married Mary Strong in 1879 but she died in childbirth. The 1880 census lists George, his mother Elizabeth, a ladies maid, cook, coachman and the Gindra family as occupants of the estate.
George Bech remarried in 1887 and with his wife Julia resided at Rosenlund with his mother, but spent winter months in Maryland. In 1890, while preparing to return to Poughkeepsie, George died suddenly at his Maryland home. While his wife handled his affairs, Elizabeth Bech retained ownership of Rosenlund through her death.
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Elizabeth Bech’s handwritten will, dated 1896, bequeathed Rosenlund to her granddaughter Pauline Braem Von Nauerdorff, who lived in Austria. Having no intention of leaving Europe, in 1905 Von Nauerdorff transferred ownership of the estate to Nicholas Jungeblut of Minnesota, likely legal action to make the sale of Rosenlund less complicated.
Brother Zephiriny, who was sent from Manhattan in 1904 by the Marist Brothers to explore possibilities and property in the Hudson Valley, had already acquired the MacPherson estate, adjacent to Rosenlund in 1905.
“Brother Zephiriny apparently had his sister purchase the MacPherson property because there was concern about the original owner not selling the land to a group of Catholics,” said Marist archivist John Ansley. “They continued to buy adjacent land in his sister’s name.”
The combined property served as a residence for the Marist Brothers through 1969. Brothers living there taught in St. Peter’s school in Poughkeepsie and they adopted that name for the property.
The southern portion of the Bech property – including the Greek revival house – was transformed into a novitiate while the northern section – including the carriage house, gatehouse and gardener’s cottage – was used as a post-novitiate training center. The MacPherson property was renamed the Juniorate Provincial House and farm center.
In 1929, a two-year Marist College curriculum was established in conjunction with Fordham University. Marist was granted its four-year charter in 1946.
“Three original buildings from Rosenlund that still exist on campus are the gatehouse, the gardener’s cottage and the carriage house (today’s Greystone building), where the college president’s office is located,” Ansley said.
“The gardener’s cottage was used by the brothers as a dormitory and then as an administrative center, and it is now occupied by the college’s Upward Bound program.”
Open to high school students from low-income families and families in which neither parent holds a bachelor’s degree, the program strives to increase the rate at which participants complete secondary education and enroll in and graduate from institutions of postsecondary education.
“We currently serve 147 students between Poughkeepsie High School and Newburgh Free Academy, and just celebrated our 50th anniversary at Marist,” said program coordinator Chrystine Alhona.
The Bech family is interred in a Lineau-designed mausoleum at Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery.
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