Indoor & Outdoor Dining
Sunday Brunch 12:00pm to 2:30pm
Sunday Brunch On Premises 4.18
The Story of Crabtree’sKittleHouse Restaurant & Inn
The Kittle House dates back to 1790, originally constructed as Reisig and Hexamer’s Barn on Ivy Hill Farm, a nursery and fruit farm. In the mid 1800’s, a local farmer named John Kittle purchased the farm and the barn and it was renamed The Kittle Barn and Carriage House on Ivy Hill. In 1890, Moses Taylor V, a prominent local businessman and wealthy entrepreneur, bought the Kittle property along with the surrounding 500 acres and established the expansive Annandale Farm, where he bred and raised prize cattle.
In 1895, Taylor refurbished the Kittle Barn into a lavish twenty-five room home as a surprise wedding present for his daughter, Marion, so that she and her new husband could live on the estate. Alas, Marion refused to live in “the barn” and the gift became a stately guesthouse for Taylor’s many business associates, dignitaries and friends visiting from New York City and around the world. Taylor passed away in 1928 and the Annandale Farm estate was parceled out and sold off.
During the gray years of Prohibition, the Kittle House began to develop its livelier, though discreet, reputation as a center for hospitality by serving the public as a ‘roadhouse’ (a country speakeasy). In 1931, the roadhouse was once again converted – this time into a private boarding school called the ‘Noble School for Girls’. Unsuccessful, the boarding school closed after only five years and thus, The Kittle House tradition as a restaurant and inn began.
The Kittle House, along with thousands of surrounding acres, was purchased by the well-known Lawrence Family of Bronxville (Sarah Lawrence College, Lawrence Hospital, etc.), whose dream was to create a modern suburban village replete with shops, a theater, railroad station and country inn. Under their proprietorship, the Kittle House thrived during the following years as The Lawrence Farms Inn. The Westchester Playhouse, located on the adjacent property of what is now the Mt. Kisco Country Club, was also in its prime. The birthplace of many an illustrious acting career, the inn played host to numerous famous and soon-to-be-famous actors and actresses, including Henry Fonda, Margaret Sullavan, Burgess Meredith and Talullah Bankhead, to name just a few. In fact, Fonda’s performances at the Playhouse helped to launch his legendary stage and screen career.
One of the most memorable incidents, or should we say performances, that took place at the Lawrence Farms Inn was on an “explosive” Fourth of July, when Sullavan quenched an argument with Fonda by pouring a pitcher of ice water on his head, much to the delight of the on-looking dining room crowd. In 1949, the inn was sold to restaurateur William Carlson and renamed “Carlson’s Kittle House”.
Since then the Kittle House has changed hands several times and many additions have been made to the building and property. In the late 1970’s, a beautiful mahogany bar was added to the restaurant, and it came with quite a long and colorful history of its own. The bar, originally bought in England by Vaudeville and Broadway actress and entertainer Fanny Brice (yes, Funny Girl!) as a birthday present for her then beau, Dutch Shultz (yes, that Dutch Shultz!), spent time in the Bronx at one of Shultz’s speakeasies before making its way to the Kittle House some fifty years later. It remains the centerpiece of the Tap Room today, although due to the limited ceiling height, it’s clock – stuck forever on 12 – sits majestically on the fireplace mantel piece just across from the bar.
The Crabtree Family purchased The Kittle House in 1981 and through countless renovations, they have brought the famous house back to its former glory. The lovely grounds that surround the house, beautifully designed with several intimate gardens, provide the perfect setting for outdoor dining, wedding ceremonies and cocktail receptions. The historic Atrium Carriage Room accommodates elegant affairs of up to 225 guests, The Wine Cellar Table seats 16 guests, and The Ivy Hill Room seats up to 40. There are 12 overnight guest rooms, offering a cozy retreat for weekend getaways and weary travelers, and the former stables, which once stored the carriages and horses, now houses the legendary Kittle House wine cellar, holding one of the greatest collections of fine wine to be found anywhere in the world. And now, as the story continues…we welcome you to Crabtree’sKittleHouse.
