I had been at the Brinkerhoff House last year for the Strawberry Festival and had planned on coming back again this year. This local festival is so much fun. It is like a throwback to the 1970’s with live music, demonstrations of farm equipment and blacksmithing, tours of the house and of course the delicious Strawberry Shortcakes that they pass around to all the visitors.It is such a nice family event and I see so many families having such a good time. I was taking so many pictures I felt like the Millennial at the event. If you ever get to the event in early June at the Brinkerhoff House, you will have a really nice time.

I had visited the Brinckerhoff Historical Mansion back in the summer of 2022 and remembered the docent talking about the recent Strawberry Festival they sponsored and how they went through almost 600 strawberry shortcakes. I planned on visiting the next year. Three years later and many planned activities such as travel for Grad School and other events always seemed to keep me away. So when I saw this on the events calendar, I made the effort to visit. It was well worth the wait.The Historical Society had all sorts of family activities like butter making and arts and crafts for the kids and tours of the house. The star of the event was the Strawberry Shortcakes, which were well worth the wait.The strawberries were so sweet and juicy and they put plenty of them in the bowl with the butter biscuit. It was delicious. After my snack, I toured the house and grounds, listened to the guitarist they had playing and ended the day on a hayride around the property. I know it may sound hokey but it really was a lot of fun and such a relaxing trip around the estate grounds.If you get a chance to visit the Historical Society for the Strawberry Festival, I highly recommend it. It was such a great family event and reminded me of events I went to as a kid back in the 1970’s. Not a cell phone in site!

I had visited the Brinckerhoff House during the summer months when the estate was in full bloom and it is very pretty to visit on a warm afternoon.The house was open for the Christmas holidays and I was able to visit before their annual tea fundraiser. It was really pretty and decorated for a Revolutionary War Christmas. This meant garlands and seasonal fruits decorating the mantels and doorways. There was a Christmas tree but that was more of the Victorian era.In the Keeping Room in the original part of the house had its fireplace going and the crackling sounds and smell of the fire really put you into the holiday spirit.Try to visit the house during the holiday season.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, I visited the Brinckerhoff House Historic Site which is the home of the East Fishkill Historical Society. The house and the grounds are in the middle of a development with maybe five acres around it, a far cry from the 2000 acres that once made up the farm.The house was built in three different stages so when you tour it, you go through one section at a time. You can see the period furnishings and hearths and fireplaces that used to heat the home and used for cooking.As you walk through the house, you will see the house change from pre-Revolutionary War to post-Revolutionary War where the family became more affluent and then added on in the pre-Civil War era. The house is really well maintained and gets a lot of support from the town so both inside and out the house looks like someone is living in it and the grounds are nicely landscaped.The house is well decorated with period furnishings and the group of staff and volunteers really take good care of this house. It is neat and doesn't have that musty smell that a lot of historic homes have over time.Take time to visit the schoolhouse and the blacksmith shop on the ground and stroll the gardens. It is a really interesting look at life in the pre-Civil War era. Take the hour-long tour of the house as well.