[2] Bolton Priory serves as a good reflection of both the lifestyle and tastes of a cultivated, influential family in mid-19th century rural Pelham as well as a great example of the romantic theories of architectural design emerging in America at that time.

The Priory was illustrated in the first edition of Andrew Jackson Downing's influential Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening published in 1841, in which he described it as a "highly unique residence in the old English style".

[4] [5] Born in the United States in 1778, Robert Bolton traveled as a young man to England where he received an education as a minister and married Ann Jay, daughter of an English clergyman.

Returning to America with his family of 13 children, Bolton in 1836 was given St. Paul's Parish in the Town of Eastchester, Westchester County, and settled on a farm on the site of the present village of Bronxville.

[8] Washington Irving gave yellow bricks from the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow to outline the construction date on the wall above the door.