The first owner of the property, Henry Brockholst Livingston, originated from a powerful kinship of Hudson River Valley social influence that included the Beekmans, Astors, Roosevelts, and others. Livingston was appointed by Thomas Jefferson to the United States Supreme Court and was widely respected for his judicial opinions. Livingston named the property "The Locusts" in 1797, for the black locust trees planted there.


William B. Dinsmore constructed an Italianate mansion on the property in 1871 along with over 90 different structures throughout the estate. As president of the Adams Express Company, a powerful American rail and shipping company, Dinsmore amassed a great deal of personal fortune and political influence. Tycoon turned horticulturist, Dinsmore filled the estate with elaborate gardens and built massive greenhouses to cultivate rare species of plants including exotic orchids, daffodils, lilacs and roses. (At its peak the greenhouses had 9 boilers pumping hot water through 10,000 feet of pipes) Also a gentleman farmer, Dinsmore built a large farming complex famous both for its iconic clover windowed barns and its prize-winning livestock.

Dinsmore was known to host a multitude of powerful figures at The Locusts, including U.S. Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Chester A. Arthur, who delighted in the slumbering train ride up the Hudson and in viewing Dinsmore's vast gardens and award-winning orchids.


Mrs. Lytle Hull, formerly Helen Huntington and Helen Huntington Astor (married to Vincent Astor for 26 years) reinvented The Locusts as a more understated yet equally glamorous retreat. Hull inherited the estate from her grandfather William Dinsmore II in 1941. The 92 room Dinsmore mansion was both dated and far too large to maintain and so she had it demolished replacing it with the current neobaroque manor. 

Mrs. Hull was raised on a neighboring estate on the Hudson. She married Vincent Astor (also a Hudson valley resident) in one of the biggest society to-dos of the era. After they divorced, Helen went on to marry Lytle Hull and emerged as one of the stalwarts of the New York social scene. Fiercely devoted to her musical philanthropy she helped found the New York Opera Company and served as a prominent board member of The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, Lincoln Center and the New York Philharmonic. Hull took company with the likes of Cole Porter, Leonard Bernstein, and Elsa Maxwell, frequently inviting them and other musical luminaries to her Staatsburg estate. During her tenure at The Locusts, galas in the garden were frequently thrown to benefit her philanthropic projects.


Following the years after Mrs. Hull's passing, the property was bought and sold by different owners and ultimately fell into disrepair. In 2004 renowned hotelier André Balazs purchased the property as a private residence and has carefully restored the main house, barn buildings and grounds. He has re-interpreted its gilded past with his own vocabulary of modern luxury, one that has made his properties famous around the world.

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