Due to generous donations and strong interest, The Yonkers Museum collection outgrew the space provided in City Hall in just a few years. In 1923, Glenview, a Victorian mansion on the banks of the Hudson River, was offered for sale. The home, designed by architect Charles W. Clinton for its original owner John Bond Trevor, overlooked 23 acres of Yonkers parkland. Executors of the estate advertised the property for subdivision into lots for 300 small houses, while a group of physicians was interested in purchasing it to turn it into a sanitarium. On June 30, 1923, people gathered for an auction of the Glenview estate; just before bidding began, it was announced that the City of Yonkers had purchased the property. The price: $450,000.

What the property should become—a school, athletic facility, or museum—inspired further debate. The Yonkers Art Association, a group of respected local artists dedicated to fostering art in the community and to beautifying the city, advocated for it to become a museum. On April 9, 1924, the Yonkers Common Council approved a city ordinance establishing “The Yonkers Museum of Science and Arts” at Glenview. Refurbished as a museum, the mansion opened its doors to the public in December 1924. Though the campus has expanded, Glenview remains a central part of the Hudson River Museum today.

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Image: Unknown. Trevor Auction Poster, 1923. Lithograph. (75.0.509)