Hyde Hall, built on the shores of Otsego Lake by George Clarke “The Builder” (1768-1835), was to be a showplace at the center of his agricultural empire that included 1,200 acres in New York and vast tracts of land in England. He commissioned Philip Hooker whose credits included the original New York State Capitol, Albany City Hall, and the facade of Hamilton College's chapel, to draw up plans for his grand house.

Clarke named his New York country estate after his childhood home, Hyde Hall, in Cheshire, England. Seasonal building campaigns took place from 1818 until Clarke's death in 1835. Hyde Hall was possibly the largest domestic structure built in the United States between the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.