The Hudson River Museum and its Gilded Age mansion sit right on the river in Yonkers

The Hudson River Museum sits above the river on Warburton Avenue, with the Palisades cliffs across the water. It started in 1919 with local artists and neighbors, and it is now a major museum for Westchester County.

The heart of the place is Glenview, a Gilded Age mansion built in 1877 for a Wall Street financier. The museum moved in back in 1924, and today you can walk through the restored period rooms to see how a wealthy family lived more than a century ago. The mansion is on the National Register of Historic Places. Around it, the galleries show American art that runs from old Hudson River School landscape paintings to brand-new work.

There is also a public planetarium under the same roof. Some star shows are live, with a presenter walking visitors through the night sky.

That is the Yonkers surprise: river views, a mansion, American art, and a planetarium in one stop at 511 Warburton Avenue. It gives the city a cultural front porch facing the Hudson, close enough for an after-school visit, a rainy Saturday, or a slow walk through the old rooms.