Terrapin Restaurant is located on US Route 9 in the heart of the renown village of Rhinebeck, NY. The historic village highlights wonderful restaurants, charming boutiques, and shops. It boasts eight miles of an area known as “The Sixteen Mile Historic District” which is composed of thirty contiguous riverfront estates associated with the landed aristocracy in the Hudson Valley dating from the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Building History:

Our restaurant is housed in a historic, renovated church building, formerly the First Baptist church of Rhinebeck, constructed circa 1825. The building’s soaring cathedral ceilings and windows offer a unique place for gathering in Rhinebeck.

In 1794, a man named Robert Scott, a cabinet maker and English Wesleyan, sailed to New York City from England. In 1795, persuaded by Margaret Beekman, he and his wife moved to Rhinebeck to open a school.  He soon became a Baptist and worship was held in various houses in Rhinebeck Flats, as it was then called.

In 1824, land was donated by Mrs. Janet Montgomery, widow of General Montgomery, to build the first Baptist Church of Rhinebeck.  The original church was finished in 1825, and now houses our formal dining room.  The two doors which lead into the kitchen were the original entrances, one for women and the other for men.  The Pulpit was where the large wooden arches still stand.  An addition was added on in 1905, from money donated by Senator William Kelly, which now houses our bistro.

Two restaurants occupied the building prior to Chef Kroner purchasing it in 2003, when he completely renovated the space and moved Terrapin from its original location in West Hurley, NY.