Troutbeck

TThe Champalimaud's are only the fourth owner since the early 18th century. First were the Benton’s, a family of officers, farmers and poets, the last of whom was an early transcendentalist; close friends with Emerson, Thoreau and Burroughs. All three spent a great deal of time at Troutbeck. Thoreau’s last letter in life was written to Benton and, Burroughs penned his obituary for the New York Times. The Benton’s were hospitable and popular people, building a tavern and inn on the property which still stands today. Colonel Joel and Amy Einstein Spingarn bought the estate in the early 1910’s. Amy was active in the fight for women’s suffrage, deeply engaged in the Harlem Renaissance, a poet and an artist. Alongside Joel, they were pillars of the Civil Rights movement with Joel credited amongst the founders of the NAACP. (His brother Arthur Spingarn, his brother, founded the Legal Defense Fund.