Stephen F. Byrns, an architect and preservationist, climbed the Temple of Love overlooking the Hudson River here and imagined how it appeared in its heyday.
“It was just this rustic, rocky fantasy,” he said. “It was a romantic spot, where couples could have little trysts, and there were at least three waterfalls going down the sides.”
The temple has been dry for decades, its intricate filigree dome now rusty, a boulder at its base toppled over.
But that is about to change. The temple is the latest restoration project at Untermyer Gardens, part of a Gilded Age estate that once belonged to the spectacularly wealthy lawyer and philanthropist Samuel Untermyer.
In the past five years, however, the Untermyer Gardens Conservancy, which Mr. Byrns founded, has raised $2 million to revive the 43-acre garden.