Stately Mansion with Lush Gardens and Green House; Tours, Ceremonies, Receptions, History; even a Finger Lakes Wine Center: Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion State Historic Park is more than grandeur. It is magnificence. As a 40-room Queen Anne style structure, Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion is one of America’s longest surviving estates from the Victorian Era. Sonnenberg, German for “sunny hill,” lavishly sits atop a sun-bathed hill with nine formal gardens accompanying the mansion, along with a Lord & Burnham Greenhouse complex.
In 1863, Frederick Ferris Thompson, a New York City bank financier, and with his wife Mary Clark Thompson, purchased the brick farmhouse and 14 acres. Between 1885-1887, the couple added acreage and replaced farmhouse with mansion. While touring, visitors experience stately rooms, including: The Great Hall, Billiard and Trophy Rooms, Library, Drawing Room, Dining Room, and a Master Bedroom upstairs along with several guestrooms.
A paradise of beautifully curated gardens, with blooming schedule and bloom guide, range in style and grandeur with samples that include: Italian Garden (1903), Moonlight Garden (1914), and Peacock House/Aviary (1902-1912). Our Finger Lakes Wine Center, a gateway to all of the Finger Lakes Wine Trails and member of the Canandaigua Wine Trail, features more than 40 partner wineries and farms and is accessible from the parking lot, garden admission not required.
Sample wines in our Tasting Room, enjoy exquisite access to three Private Label wines, and peruse our Bay House Gift Shop. For Private Events or a daylong getaway, make Sonnenberg Gardens & Mansion a sunny stop in your wondrous journey through the New York Finger Lakes.
