He made many improvements to the Manor House, which was largely reconstructed and refitted from designs by British architect Richard Upjohn,[2] and moved to the home from his residence in New York City on June 3, 1840.

[1] His father's will directed him and his brothers to collect and apply the back rents (approximately US$400,000 (equivalent to $11,400,000 in 2023)) toward the payment of the patroon's debts.

Van Rensselaer refused to meet with a committee of anti-renters and turned down their written request for a reduction of rents or any other settlement.

His refusal infuriated the farmers and on July 4, 1839, a meeting was called at Berne for a declaration of independence from landlord rule.

While the tenants continued refusing to pay rent, the sheriff evicted some, but was unable to dispossess an entire township.

[9] Between 1846 and 1851, the anti-renters elected sheriffs and local officials who paralyzed the efforts of the landlords to collect rents and threw their weight to the candidates of either major party who would support their cause.

As a result, they had a small but determined bloc of anti-rent champions in the Assembly and the Senate who kept landlords uneasy by threatening to pass laws challenging land titles.

Governor Young promptly pardoned several anti-rent prisoners and called for an investigation of titles by the Attorney General.

[20] About 2,500 acres between the Troy and Shaker roads, north of the Manor House and in which he had a life estate, reverted to his half-brother, William Paterson Van Rensselaer.

[2] His granddaughter, Cornelia Van Rensselaer Thayer (1849–1903) married J. Hampden Robb (1846–1911), a New York State Senator, in 1868.