Ferncliff Farm (or Ferncliff) was an estate established in the mid 19th century by William Backhouse Astor Jr. (1829–1892) in Rhinebeck, New York. Not far from his mother's estate of Rokeby, where he had spent summers, Ferncliff was a working farm with dairy and poultry operations, as well as stables where he bred horses. In 1902, his son and heir John Jacob Astor IV commissioned Stanford White to design a large sports pavilion (called the "Ferncliff Casino"), which included one of the first indoor pools in the United States. The sports pavilion was later converted into a residence (called "Astor Courts") for his son, Vincent Astor.
After the death of Vincent Astor, the 2,800 acre estate was broken up. Some parcels (such as the gatehouse, staff quarters, teahouse and dairy barns) became private homes. Two hundred acres were donated for the founding of the Ferncliff Forest nature preserve. An additional donation of land led to the establishment of a nursing home and rehabilitation center on the former estate property.[1]