Along with gardening stories, I also write home and real estate articles for the paper and lohud.com. I had a story yesterday announcing that Holly Hill, the late Brooke Astor’s estate in Briarcliff Manor, had just come on the market.

Rather than just link to the story on our web site, I thought it would be easier to run it here, with photos of the home and garden from Sotheby’s International Realty. I’m getting a tour of the property on Monday morning with the Sotheby’s agent for an upcoming feature story on the house. Can’t wait.

Here’s the story from Thursday. I’ll start with garden photos, to keep on topic:

“Holly Hill, the Briarcliff Manor home of the late Brooke Astor, came on the market yesterday for $12.9 million. The house sits on 64.5 acres of prime Lower Hudson Valley real estate.

Astor, a doyenne of high society and a tireless philanthropist who gave away nearly $200 million to causes great and small in New York City, died at her Scarborough Road home at the age of 105 on Aug. 13, 2007. It had been her weekend home since the mid-1960s.

A field of 30,000 daffodils:

Dogwoods:

Holly Hill, built in 1927, is one of the last great Hudson River estates to retain its original design and typically grand scale of acreage.

Foyer:

The 10,000-square-foot stone mansion was designed by William Delano, the same architect the Rockefellers hired to create Kykuit, their estate in Pocantico Hills.

The Colonial-style Astor house includes an indoor pool, 11 bathrooms, six marble fireplaces and 13 bedrooms spread over three floors and two wings — and an estimated annual tax bill of $199,386.

Cardinal’s Room:

Master bedroom:

The library:

Living room:

Dining room:

Sun room, one of two:

The property also includes a four-bedroom gardener’s cottage, a carriage house with a chauffeur’s apartment, a cabana, a barn, a greenhouse, a root cellar, an apple orchard, sweeping lawns and formal English gardens.

A rhododendron walk leads to the outdoor swimming pool, which is surrounded by holly bushes.

River views:

Sotheby’s International Realty is handling the sale of Holly Hill.

Earlier this week, The Daily News reported that the price of her Park Avenue apartment had been slashed by $12 million after first being put on the market for $46 million. The Corcoran Group is handling that sale.