Nestled in the woods at the highest point of the Crest neighborhood in Tarrytown is a small oasis that 360 private owners get to share every summer. For more than 50 years, the Tarry Crest Swim and Tennis Club has provided a place for family fun in the pool and on the tennis courts. The club is a seasonal, member-owned, non-profit swim and tennis club that was incorporated for the benefit of its members and their families.

It was an incredible journey that a small group of Crest residents went through in 1953 to create what is enjoyed by so many today. At a backyard barbecue on lower Crest Drive on a sweltering summer night, a copywriter, two salesmen, a lawyer and an architect sat and lamented how they wish they had some place to swim. In April of 1955, an organization representing Rockefeller interests responded to an inquiry from this ambitious group offering to sell them eight acres for $1,500 an acre. Tarry Crest was born.

The mission was an enormous one. These mavericks solicited 325 family memberships for $375 per family based on a vision for a club that would include a first class swimming pool and the many additional conveniences and facilities in the future including “snack bar, outdoor cooking facilities, picnic tables and perhaps even tennis courts.”

The pool was opened in the fall of 1956, three years after the notion. It was built by the E.L Wagner Company in return for the rights to use it in an advertising campaign targeting other clubs, organizations and individuals. The original vision was brilliant. The pool was built in a keystone shape, not the usual rectangle. It is 100 feet long; 35 feet wide at the deep end but 65 feet wide at the shallow end which is always the highest traffic area at a family pool. The five Har-Tru courts used for tennis were not added to the club until 1970 when the members contributed to a fund to buy more land.

The club is owned by its members and run by the Board of Governors, which is comprised of member volunteers.

Some of the original members are still at the club and the multi-generational stories are abundant. Kate Hofling, the club’s assistant director of tennis and a member of the Board of Governors reflected, “I swam in meets at Tarry Crest when I was a young girl on the Chappaqua Swim Team. When we moved to Tarrytown 17 years ago I knew we had to belong. My kids grew up enjoying the pool and tennis and now work summers here.”

The Swimming and Tennis Club now offers swim, tennis and diving teams and instruction. Family Fun Days, Movie Nights, Tennis Tournaments and other family events round out the calendar. The grounds also contain a large kiddie pool, a newly surfaced basketball court, club house, snack bar, ping pong tables, shuffle board and use of tables and chairs on the grounds.

“The grounds here make the club unique. Most pool clubs have members sitting on the hot concrete deck. Here you can sit in the sun or just move back a few feet and you are under the canopy of trees. With over eight acres, there is room for everyone to spread out,” said Mike Fortugno, current treasure of the Crest.

“It is interesting to watch the progression of the members as their kids grow,” said Ellen McGlynn, president of the Board of Governors. “Parents with infants set up near the kiddie pool. As the kids grow, they set up next to the big pool. Our empty nesters or grandparents sit past the deep end. And that is why we have a 15 minute adult swim every hour, so that there are accommodations for everyone no matter what their life stage.”