William Van Duzer Lawrence (1842–1927) was an American millionaire real-estate and pharmaceutical mogul who is best known for having founded Sarah Lawrence College in 1926 and Lawrence Hospital in 1909. He played a critical role in the development of the community of Bronxville, New York, an affluent suburb of New York City defined by magnificent homes and charming garden apartments in a country-like setting. His name is attached to the Lawrence Park Historic District and real estate brokerage Houlihan Lawrence. Lawrence is buried at the Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.

Bronxville is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States, located approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of Midtown Manhattan. It is part of the town of Eastchester. The village comprises one square mile (2.5 km2) of land in its entirety, approximately 20% of the town of Eastchester. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Bronxville had a population of 6,656. In 2016, Bronxville was rated by CNBC as the most expensive suburb of any of the U.S. ten largest cities, with a median home value of $2.33 million. It was ranked eighth in Bloomberg's "America's 100 Richest Places" in 2017 and 2018 and ninth in 2019 and is the second-richest town in the state of New York behind Scarsdale.