To mark the Grand Opening of Bennett Park, Millbrook Community Partnership President Oakleigh Thorne wielded giant scissors to for the ribbon-cutting part of the program. Left to right are Ryan Manning, landscape architect, and MCP board members Charlie Pierce, Larry Shapiro, George Whalen III, Thorne, Suzie Kovner, Kira Wizner and David Stack.
MILLBROOK — Marking completion of the first phase in the historic development of the new Bennett Park on the site of the former Bennett College, the official grand opening on Sunday, Oct. 5, drew a wide representation of residents and friends, contributors of funds and considerable professional expertise.
An official ribbon-cutting ceremony was held under a large white tent erected on the park’s Great Lawn. That the ribbon to be cut was forest green in color was an appropriate symbol to open a green space. The large audience had assembled to appreciate the reality of the project, brought about by generous donors and collaborators, but additionally to be present at a milestone moment in local history.
The first phase has brought the creation of Millbrook’s largest public green space. The project is a giant undertaking by the nonprofit Millbrook Community Partnership, whose president, Oakleigh Thorne, recognized by name the multitude of local supporters and went on to share plans for the rest of the project, including the Woodland Trail feature, even more park features and the Thorne Center slated to become a community cultural center.
The final bit of ongoing work to finish Phase One is the creation of a woodland trail connecting the village to the park, slated for completion in spring of 2026.
The story of the long journey described by Thorne began in 2014.
“The Bennett College campus by then was an aesthetic calamity,” Thorne said. The once proud collegiate institution had been foreclosed on by Dutchess County. It was local businessman George Whalen III whose foresight led him to pay the back taxes and acquire the property envisioning the creation of a public park.
The phased project to create a green space began in 2021 with the demolition of the imposingly spooky Bennett College buildings, laden with asbestos and deteriorated beyond saving.
“We had bought ourselves a nightmare,” Thorne observed, adding that the calamity ultimately became a public space to be enjoyed by countless future generations.
Demolition, design and construction were the next phases. Thorne praised the work and herculean efforts of MCP board member Larry Shapiro and his “dramatic demolition.” An elevator that had sunk all the way to the basement of the old campus building was plucked upward in its shaft by a giant crane. That historic elevator cab is slated to be an installation at the Thorne Center where it will be an historic memento of Bennett College.
Next year Bennett Park will see expanded parking and rest room facilities.
The two limiting factors going forward are funding and necessary design work, Thorne said.
“We have $26 million in gifted funds to create the Thorne Center,” Thorne said. “That total is 75% of the $34 million in projected cost.” Those statistics drew robust applause. Design drawings for that project are currently underway.
Following the presentation, there was lively music and souvenirs including commemorative frisbees, refreshments and children’s activities including a scavenger hunt with prizes to complete the afternoon’s festivities.
Built in 1820, 1168 Bangall Amenia Road sold for $875,000 on July 31 with the transfer recorded in August. It has a Millbrook post office and is located in the Webutuck school district.
STANFORD — The Town of Stanford with nine transfers in two months reached a median price in August of $573,000 for single family homes, still below Stanford’s all-time median high in August 2024 of $640,000.
At the beginning of October there is a large inventory of single-family homes listed for sale with only six of the 18 homes listed for below the median price of $573,000 and seven above $1 million.
July transfers
79 Ernest Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 6.87 acres in 2 parcels sold to Matthew C. Marinetti for $1,225,000.
29 Drake Road — 3 bedroom/3.5 bath home on 2 acres sold to Harper Montgomery for $850,000.
6042 Route 82 — 4 bedroom/2 bath home on 1.09 acres sold to Spencer Thompson for $795,000.
125 Tick Tock Way — 3 bedroom/2.5 bath ranch on 1.9 acres sold to Fleur Touchard for $475,000.
August transfers
102 Prospect Hill Road — 3 bedroom/2 bath home on 6.35 acres sold to Karl Creighton Pfister for $565,000.
252 Ernest Road — 2 bedroom/1 bath cottage on .85 acres sold to Meg Bumie for $465,000.
1196 Bangall Amenia Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 2.16 acres sold to Roderick Alleyne for $875,000.
Hunns Lake Road (#759929) — 59.1 acres of residential land sold to Argos Farm LLC for $3,325,000.
* Town of Stanford recorded real estate transfers from July 1 to August 31 provided by Dutchess County Real Property Office monthly transfer reports. Details on each property from Dutchess Parcel Access - properties with an # indicate location on Dutchess Parcel Access. Market data from One Key MLS and Infosparks .Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Advisor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in Connecticut and New York.
Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office Harlem Valley area activity reportSept. 18 to Sept. 30.
Sept. 23 — Deputies responded to 1542 State Route 292 in the Town of Pawling for the report of a suspicious vehicle at that location. Investigation resulted in the arrest of Sebastian Quiroga, age 26, for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree. Quiroga to appear in the Town of Pawling court at a later date.
Sept. 30 — Deputies responded to Woodside Street in the Town of Pine Plains for a past-occurred verbal domestic dispute between a stepfather and stepson.Matter resolved without further police intervention.
PLEASE NOTE:All subjects arrested and charged are alleged to have committed the crime and are presumed innocent until proven guilty and are to appear in local courts later.
If you have any information relative to the aforementioned criminal cases, or any other suspected criminal activity please contact the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 845-605-CLUE (2583) or Emaildcsotips@gmail.com.All information will be kept confidential.
Hunt club members and friends gathered near Pugsley Hill at the historic Wethersfield Estate and Gardens in Amenia for the opening meet of the 2025-2026 Millbrook Hunt Club season on Saturday, Oct. 4. Foxhunters took off from Wethersfield’s hilltop gardens just after 8 a.m. for a hunting jaunt around Amenia’s countryside.
Joining in the fun at the dedication of the new pollinator pathway garden at The Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4, local expert gardener Maryanne Snow Pitts provides information about a planting to Lorraine Mirabella of Poughkeepsie.
MILLBROOK — Participating in a patchwork of libraries that have planted pollinator pathway gardens to attract insects and birds to their native plantings was one of the accomplishments being celebrated at the dedication of a new pollinator garden at the Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4.
“A lot of work went into it,” said Emma Sweeney, past President of the Millbrook Garden Club, who started the local library’s initiative two years ago.
The Pollinator Pathway program is a national effort to plant native plants that native insects depend upon for sustenance and preferred plants for their own seasonal reproduction.
Jana Hogan of Ridgefield, Connecticut, Executive Director of the Pollinator Pathway program, was on hand to present a plaque to the library for its successful participation.
“A garden is not just a garden,” said garden designer Andy Durbridge of Wassaic, designer of the library’s garden. “It may serve as a model for other gardens along the line.”
Speaking to the 50 visitors at the dedication, Durbridge said that the library’s garden has a mission, that it is a working garden, planned to serve insects and birds over their seasons. The earliest plants support pollinators, while the full range of plants continues to serve the needs of those they attract, offering habitat, shelter and food.
A pollinator garden is akin to a prairie, rather than a formalized European garden, Durbridge noted.
The garden project was supported by the library’s Friends group using funds raised during the Holiday Silent Auction and ongoing book sale. A grant from the Millbrook Garden Club also provided support.
