Briarcliff Manor has been home to numerous influential figures, particularly during the Gilded Age.
* **Walter W. Law**: A retired executive of W. & J. Sloane and the principal founder and developer of Briarcliff Manor. * **Frank Vanderlip**: Prominent banker and former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury who developed much of the Scarborough neighborhood and founded the Scarborough School. * **Brooke Astor**: Noted American philanthropist and socialite who spent time residing at her family's Holly Hill estate. * **Alice Low**: Widely published children's book author and poet who resided in the village. * **John Cheever**: Pulitzer Prize-winning author whose children attended school in the village, heavily influenced by the surrounding suburban milieu.