If you’ve got a few extra million dollars that’s not tied up in the stock market, I would suggest plunking down a sizable deposit on Brooke Astor’s house in Briarcliff Manor. It’s gorgeous.

Here’s the back of the stone-clad house, facing out to the Hudson.

(photos from Sotheby’s)

I got an hour-plus tour of the house and grounds on Monday morning with David Turner of Sotheby’s International Realty for an article I’m writing about the sale of the 64-acre property known as Holly Hill. Here’s a link, with lots more photos of the house and grounds, to my blog post from last Friday.

My story will be running in the paper this weekend on the cover of the Real Estate section. It should appear on lohud.com on Saturday morning. If you can’t find it under real estate, click on Life&Style and it should come up. Or just search for “Astor” or “Bill Cary.”

I’m off to a long weekend in New Orleans and may not be able to post a link on Saturday.

For the story, I talked to Meryl Gordon, the author of the just-published “Mrs. Astor Regrets: The Hidden Betrayals of a Family Beyond Reproach” (Houghton Mifflin, $28).

Meryl is a former Gannett reporter and could not have been nicer. She’s coming to the Ossining Public Library on Dec. 17 to talk about her book with Bob Minzesheimer (USA Today book reviewer and Scarborough resident) and sign copies. (Details in a box with my article on Saturday.)

The NY Post had an excerpt from the book on Sunday. Did you see? Juicy stuff. Here’s a link.

Meanwhile, I can’t wait for the plane ride and a few hours with her book.

Gardening-wise, it’s the wrong time of year to see what was growing on the Astor estate. I hear she has magnificent cutting gardens, to keep the house stocked with fresh flowers. And David said the estate still has two gardeners on staff.

Here’s the four-bedroom Gardener’s Cottage, a sweet little 1,700-square-foot house. Loved the paisley wallpaper in the upstairs bathroom, circa 1971.

He pointed out a large grove of euonymus shrubs (Flame Bush or Burning Bush) between the house and the river. (I know, I know—an invasive no-no these days.)

And she’s got spectacular hedgerows of boxwood and of course hollies. And I hear the peonies are sublime. Wonderful mature oaks and maples and other trees near the house and elsewhere.

Sadly, the once-flourishing greenhouse was empty.

Even though the property is fenced, the fencing is not tall enough to keep deer out. David said he saw a five-point buck last weekend. And lots of wild turkeys.

Here’s the heated five-bay Carriage House, with a chauffeur’s apartment on the second floor.