St Michael's Villa/ Sisters of St Joseph of Peace

I like this place a lot. I bought the annual pass. I asked them to cancel the subscription. I keep on getting the bill.
Jun 16th, 2023

I had walked 2 miles and needed a rest room. I stopped here to ask and was told no. Not very friend;y to a person in need.
Jul 13th, 2021

History matters. Excellent historical recap. Thank you.
Apr 19th, 2021

I became curious about this site years ago while paddling 300 feet below on the Hudson. In researching it I found out not only the multiple uses it now has but also that a grand hotel and retreat briefly stood here. Today, there is a secondary campus of St. Peters University, a retirement home for nuns and a care facility for those older nuns that need specialized care as well as a nursing school. They had a fire here in 2016 that did significant damage, though no lives were lost. Back in 1884, a much bigger fire completely destroyed the structure then here, a massive, beautiful (see the pics) wooden 500-guest, hotel called the Palisades Mountain House. It had been built in 1872. They never discovered how the fire started and there were only a couple of relatively minor injuries among the staff and no deaths. It was gone within two hours, according to witnesses---too far away for the nearest fire brigade to get there in time. Two years later, The Sisters of St. Joseph purchased five and a half acres next to the former hotel from landowner William O. Allison in 1886. The Sisters first built a retreat for young women, then they purchased an additional seven acres from Allisons estate in 1903, constructing an orphanage and later the college and other institutions described above. This whole area was once called millionaires row because of the many mansions atop the cliffs. The only one still standing is what serves as park headquarters today. Many people dont know that what today is the Englewood Boat Basin started out as first a steamboat landing for the Palisades Mountain House, which then became a ferry landing for a ferry that ran regularly between here and Dyckman Street in Manhattan (until the GW was completed). And be sure to see Kenneth Krompinger's review below for additional history on the ferries (including the Yonkers ferry that continued running, and the sad demise of the beaches along the park (and thnx for the compliment Kenneth!).
Jan 21st, 2022

Fine review, Davis J! I want to add that while the GWB knocked out the ferry from Englewood (Cliffs) Boat Basin to Dyckman Street, the *other* ferry that used the same slip -- the Yonkers ferry -- continued for 2 more decades, until that one (and its sister run to Alpine) couldn't survive the competition from the newly built Tappan Zee Bridge. The ferry slip would then be removed from the basin. Plus besides the ferries, bridges also caused the demise of the beaches in the park, including Bloomer's (at the north end of Englewood Basin by the marina) and just a half mile up, Undercliff. First to go was Hazzard's, where the boat slip is now, under the shadow of the GWB. There was a seasonal ferry to 139th street to that one (though I've also read 157th Street). Of course opening city beaches like Orchard also reduced usage of the river beaches and the ferries to them.
Apr 11th, 2021