Built for Herbert Lee Pratt Sr. in 1912 by James Brite, the house is currently the Webb Institute of Naval Architecture. Herbert was one of 6 sons of Charles Pratt of Standard Oil. All the Pratt children lived in Glen Cove, roughly along the same street. Herbert was at one time President and Chairman of the Board of Standard Oil Co. His original house once stood on the same site as the current (the original was also done by Brite c. 1901) Click HERE to see where The Braes is on google earth.
The exterior of the house was used as Bruce Wayne's manor in Batman Forever (1995).
The rear has a three level terrace. Pictured is the middle level, complete with statues and fountain. Originally the property had extensive gardens and a private beach that could be accessed by the rear terrace.
The view of Long Island Sound from the top level of the rear terrace.
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In their heyday, the gardens at the Braes were famous. The first terrace was apparently given over to a boxwood bordered flower garden and the middle terrace was almost entirely occupied by a "water garden"- apparently four basically rectangular water basins surrounding a central fountain. A contemporary article on the house describes the elaborate plumbing system and holding tanks that had been built to keep the water terrace functional. My sense is that when it was surrounded by these gardens,the house looked somewhat less ustere and forbidding than it does now. And, by the way, the driveway was covered in crushed brick- apparently lovely to look at, but utterly impractical: even the slightest breeze resulted in the front hall being covered in a light coat of red dust.
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