Martin Van Buren National Historic Site is the former country estate of Martin Van Buren, the eighth president of the United States. It lies in Kinderhook, New York, Van Buren’s birthplace. Van Buren served as president from 1837 to 1841 and was the first president born with U.S. citizenship.
Van Buren purchased the estate in 1839. It became a profitable farm and grew as large as 220 acres (89 hectares) under his direction.
The Van Buren mansion, called Lindenwald, is the site’s central attraction. The house was built in 1797 in the Federal architectural style. It had 18 rooms. In 1849, Van Buren hired the famous architect Richard Upjohn to remodel the house in a Gothic Italianate style. Upjohn incorporated such modern features as central heating and indoor plumbing in his redesign, and he expanded the house to 36 rooms. Many of Lindenwald’s household furnishings date back to Van Buren’s lifetime.
After his presidency, Van Buren retired to Lindenwald. There he spent the last 21 years of his life as a statesman, political adviser, and farmer.
The Lindenwald estate became a national historic landmark in 1961 and a national historic site in 1974. The site also includes several significant archaeological sites. For area, see National Park System (table: National historic sites) . The National Park Service operates the site.
