Belvedere Estate (New York)

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Belvedere Estate is the former Tarrytown, New York residence of Reverend Sun Myung Moon. The estate is owned by the Unification Church.

Right next door to the Lyndhurst historic mansion (former residence of Robber baron Jay Gould), Belvedere Estate lies on 35 acres[1] overlooking the Hudson River, thirty miles north of New York City.

Purchased by the Unification Church in 1972 for $850,000, the large downpayment of $294,000 was paid for primarily by the members through the 'Belvedere Project': "[Premier Unification Church theologian Young Oon Kim] noted, 'For seven weeks nearly every member in our [Unification Church] Family, in every state, abandoned all other activities to sell candles.' There was total mobilization."[2]

In addition to the residential mansion, there are several other buildings on the property. The largest is a carriage house, the main building for "international training" (lecture workshops for members of up to 100 days) in the 1970s, with bunk beds in rooms upstairs housing participants. The garage area was converted to a large meeting room where lectures took place. Members sat on blankets spread out on the cement floor, as they have for Sunday services from that time until the present. At Sunday services, Rev. Moon, his sons Hyo Jin Moon and Hyun Jin Moon, and others have spoken to crowds that typically spilled out into folding chairs set up in the driveway, typically for several hours, and occasionally from 6:00 a.m. into the afternoon. Since the early 1970s this has been the primary place from which Rev. Moon gave speeches to the members.

For much of the 1970s, Rev. Moon and followers would walk silently from the carriage house after his speech to the "holy rock" (at the highest point on the grounds other than the mansion). Rev Moon, or he and his wife Hakja Han Moon, would stand on the rock with members gathered closely around, standing on the lawn with heads bowed. Rev Moon prayed in Korean, and afterward all those present prayed aloud in unison; both segments of the prayer were for longer periods than are typical in non-Unificationist church services.

On church holidays for most of the 1970s, speeches at the carriage house (or from a temporary stage on the lawn) and prayers at the holy rock were followed by celebrations on the lawn, which included a Korean meal and events such as sports competitions between groups within the church.

[edit] References

  1. ^ According to The Journal News/August 7, 2003: Unification Church plans house of worship in Tarrytown, it was 35 acres at that time. In the 1993 book A History Of The Unification Church In America, 1959–74: Emergence of a National Movement, Dr. Michael Mickler (now Vice-President of the Unification Theological Seminary) describes Belvedere as having been purchased as a 22-acre estate; the Unification Church purchased additional land in Tarrytown afterward. A Tarrytown Daily News article on Aug. 4, 1994 by Rob Ryser cites 200 acres, but this probably includes land owned by the Unification Church in the Tarrytown area not technically part of the Belvedere Estate.
  2. ^ A History Of The Unification Church In America, 1959–74: Emergence of a National Movement. Dr. Mickler continues: "[U.S. Unification Church President] Farley Jones enthused 'This is the greatest thing we've ever done because it is our first national project for a unitary goal.' Similar sentiments were voiced by a candle-seller who asserted, 'When it's over, we'll know that every American has paid for Belvedere. . . and we'll know that we've paid for it with everything we've got.'"


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