The view of this countryside harks back to the oldest type of American landscape painting estate portraits. Wealthy colonists wanted views of their property or estates painted into the backgrounds of their own portraits. Later, painters found a demand for paintings for the estates alone. Archdale was the home of the artist's cousin William North Seymour, a Yonkers hardware store owner who lived much closer to downtown before moving to Archdale in the country near Saw Mill River Road, a few miles away.