Floorplan and Elevation of the West Front of Lyndhurst, also known as Knoll (Tarrytown)

This representation of the west front and floorplan of the Gothic villa built by A.J. Davis near Tarrytown, NY is a late rendering by the architect. The inscription on the front notes all three nineteenth-century owners of the property: General William Paulding for whom he originally conceived the building, the merchant George Merritt who acquired it subsequently and made further changes to the design, and railroad tycoon Jay Gould who bought it in 1880 and in whose family the property remained until the 1960s when it was bequeathed to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The drawing was likely conceived for the architect himself. Towards the end of his lifetime, he created scrapbooks that offered an overview of the many commissions he worked on during his long-lasting career. An inscription on the verso of the drawing reads: "For the great album...", but the sheet was slightly too large and may never have been inserted into the album it was intended for.