Grey Towers mansion opens on weekends

Visitors invited to see all three floors MILFORD — Special pre-season tours of all three floors of the mansion at Grey Towers National Historic Site, 151 Grey Towers Drive, in Milford will be offered on Saturdays and Sundays in May at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., beginning May 1 until Memorial Day weekend, when the site opens for the season seven days a week. The second and third floors of the mansion usually are not included in the regular tour because they are used for conferences and meetings, limiting visitor access. Regular fees apply for these special three-floor tours. The special three-floor tours are offered in direct response to growing community interest in seeing more than the first floor of the mansion. The US Forest Service is opening on weekends in May also in response to community interest for weekend programs before Memorial Day. Check the calendar at www.greytowers.org or call 570-296-9630 before visiting to get details about special programs and openings/closings. Beginning Memorial Day weekend, the 1886-French chateauesque mansion opens seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with tours given on the hour. Grey Towers, ancestral of home of conservationist and two-term Governor Gifford Pinchot, is located on Old Owego Turnpike (behind Apply Valley restaurant) in Milford. It is administered by the US Forest Service, the agency founded in 1905 by Pinchot and President Theodore Roosevelt. In addition to the guided house and garden tours, the Forest Service offers a number of public programs, including specialized tours, forestry programs, children’s programs, school outings and programs that focus on conservation and the arts.