Walter William Law[nb 1] (November 13, 1837 – January 17, 1924) was a businessman and the founder of the 8,000-person village of Briarcliff Manor, New York.

He founded or assisted in establishing several schools, churches, and parks in the village, and rebuilt its train station in 1906.

[1][nb 2] Walter Law was born in Kidderminster, England, and was one of ten children of a carpet dealer.

After retiring to a house on Scarborough Road in the small community of Whitson's Corners, New York, he developed the surrounding farmland into a suburban village.

[3] He left England with letters of introduction written by his father, which were addressed to friends in the American carpet business; he also had enough money to last for about two weeks.

He continued until he discovered that his employer was misrepresenting domestic rugs as being imported and was also charging premium prices.

Walter Law increased the business of Sloane's wholesale department by securing their account; he eventually became a stockholder and member of the Yonkers company's board of directors.

Law and his wife moved to Hillcrest,[8] at 354 Palisade Avenue in Yonkers,[9] making it easier for him to service the Smith account.

At the farm's peak, Law had 500 workers caring for more than 1,000 cattle, 500 pigs, 4,000 chickens, Thoroughbred horses, pheasants, peacocks and sheep.

Law's greenhouse space grew to 75,000 square feet (7,000 m2), and his roses earned up to $100,000 each year.

[18] In 1902, Law built the Briarcliff Lodge on the highest point of his estate;[12] it was the first hotel in Westchester County.

He donated land for the Briarcliff Congregational Church (built in 1896) and for Liberty Park (later dedicated as the Walter W. Law Memorial Park);[6] in 1900, he established the School of Practical Agriculture on Pleasantville Road on 66 acres (27 ha) of land.

[10]: 39  His employees at Briarcliff Farms moved into the village in its early years, and Law held some of their mortgages.

At the time, New York State required a population density of at least 300 per square mile for incorporation as a village.

A proposition was presented to the supervisors of Mount Pleasant and Ossining on October 8, 1902; it requested that the area, which had 640 acres with a population of 381, be incorporated as the Village of Briarcliff Manor.

[12] Law largely developed his Briarcliff Manor property as a business corporation until 1907, when he purchased 3,249 acres (1,315 ha) for Briarcliff Farms in Pine Plains, New York; he then began developing his properties for houses, churches, and schools instead.

Law later built houses for Henry, Walter Jr., and Edith on the Briarcliff Lodge property on Scarborough Road.

His library was said to contain many works of classic literature and history; on a vacation to Europe, Law mostly spent time in Greece visiting historic sites.