Built in 1860 by civil war soldiers waiting to go to war, this  20 room mansion over looks 5 states and the Hudson Valley.

The Hudson Valley  is an area known for its gorgeous light and atmospheric conditions. From the house one can experience the same grandeur that attracted the Hudson River School of painters:

The Hudson River School was a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters whose aesthetic vision was influenced by romanticism. The paintings for which the movement is named depict the Hudson River Valley and the surrounding area.

This area was also settled by the Irish and the Swedish because the green hills reminded them of home.
In fact, it was a Scandiavian family that first lived in the house and raised sheep.
Later it was turned into a boarding house for New Yorkers trying to escape the summer heat.

Being at an altitude of 1500 feet, it is always much cooler than the city and even the valley below. Often it has its own weather patterns and its not uncommon to be in a sunny blue sky day while the valley is bogged down with a thick cloud layer.

The gazebo in the front yard is from the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893, where it was used as a concession stand.

The house is known as the White House because it is a stand out in the area of mostly small farm houses and its position set far back from the road on a hill.

The hill is known as Prink hill.  In the 1800’s a “prink” was someone who thinks they are better than everyone else.

As a verb here is the definition:
prink  (prĭngk)
v.  prinked, prink·ing, prinks
v.tr.
To adorn (oneself) in a showy manner.
v.intr.
To dress or groom oneself with elaborate care or vanity; primp.

The road the house is located on is the Susquehanna Turnpike, famous as one of the first roads leading to the west when the United States was still a new country.

It was a private road and there were toll booths.

http://www.catskillmtn.org