Westchester looks to lift restrictions on Mount Kisco’s Merestead estate

An estate in Mount Kisco could eventually be used as a destination for weddings or a set for movies and television shows if a restriction on commercial uses is lifted, LoHud reported. Westchester County, which owns the 130-acre Merestead estate after it was donated by the William Sloane family in 1982, wants a court to lift the restriction on the property. Merestead includes a deteriorating 1906-built mansion, trails, a farmhouse and a barn. The county was gifted the estate to use for parkland, but wants to rehabilitate the mansion, sell off some of the items that currently furnish it and reinvest the proceeds into the park, according to a statement from the office of Westchester County Executive George Latimer. The county also wants other restrictions abolished, such as one barring the construction of new buildings on the property and another that keeps the barn from being used for “non-barn purposes.” [LoHud]