Richard Dean Arden moved to the Highlands in 1819 to live at Ardenia, a house and parcel of land which was once part of the Beverly Farm. He was married to Jane dePeyster who was from a prominent New York family. Arden was a vestryman at St. Philip's Church in Garrison and when he died in 1865, he was buried in the St. Philip's Churchyard.
In 1866, Benson Lossing described his visit to "Ardenia" in his The Hudson From The Wilderness to The Sea".
"Following a winding road up the east bank of the river from this point (Garrison's Landing), we came to a mill, almost hidden among the trees at the head of a dark ravine, through which flows a clear mountain stream, called Kedron Brook, wherefore, I could not learn, for there was no resemblance to Jerusalem or the Valley of Jehoshaphat near. It is a portion of the beautiful estate of Ardenia, the property of Richard Arden, Esq. His son, Lieutenant Thomas Arden, a graduate of West Point Military Academy, owns and occupes Beverly, near by, the former residence of Colonel Beverly Robinson (an eminent American loyalist during the war of Independence), and the headquarters of General Benedict Arnold at the time of his treason."