The Lyndhurst estate is emblematic of an era of great artistic, technological, and political change in the United States. At the time the estate was being built in the 1840s, the country was struggling to come to terms with its national identity and to create a uniquely American culture. Architects and homeowners particularly favored the Gothic Revival style for its asymmetrical massing and textural variations, and this style became immensely popular during the 1840s and 1850s. Lyndhurst is among the few remaining great Gothic Revival villas. The house and its settling embody nineteenth-century picturesque architecture and landscape design at its best. Built by Andrew Jackson Davis for former NYC mayor William Paulding, the estate was expanded by second owner and businessman George Merritt. Jay Gould, notorious railroad developer and speculator, was its third owner. Two of his daughters subsequently inherited the estate, and it was bequeathed to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1961.