Thursday, May 15, 2008

Winfield Hall


Originally built for Dr. Alexander Crombie Humphreys by C.P.H. Gilbert in 1899 in Glen Cove. The Mediterranean villa style house was purchased by Emmet Queen in 1907, who would then go on to sell the house to Frank Winfield Woolworth in 1914. Woolworth, famous for his stores, gave the unnamed house the title of 'Winfield Hall', after his middle name. Some speculate he didn't particularly like the house, and after trying to buy land closer to the L.I. Sound near where Joseph DeLamar had his estate, 'Pembroke', a mysterious fire broke out which leveled the house c. 1915. The reason people believe the fire was purposely set was that immediately following the destruction, Woolworth began rebuilding with a new design by the original architect, C.P.H. Gilbert, suggesting the plans had been in the work for sometime. The new house was made of marble and is the last remaining marble mansion on the North Shore. Click HERE to see Winfield Hall on google earth.





Click below to see 'Winfield Hall' in a 1966 aerial shot.

www.historicaerials.com

23 comments:

Laura said...

Hello, When I was in middle school I spent about a year taking classes at Winfield Hall, as our school was under construction. I would like very much to visit the grounds again, but am wondering if they are gated off? Were you able to visit and enter the grounds?

Zach L. said...

No, it is still privately owned, however it is for sale.

marhjan said...

Hi - Back in the late '60's I attended Grace Downs Academy located at Winfield Hall. It was a turning point in my life. In late June '08 I made a pilgramage back to Long Island (raised there)& visited Winfield. A young lady there was kind enough to allow me access into 1st floor (no pix plz). When I attended business school there we were ten teenage girls to 1 bedroom w/ bunk beds & 1bathroom to share! The other building on the grounds was the school. The estate made quite an impression on me & I spent hours prowling the main house halls & outside grounds. The organ was FaBuLouS! Thank you again kind owner for letting me rekindle the memories of those days.....Jan

Anonymous said...

I would like to schedule a visit, does anyone know how I can do it?

Zach L. said...

You cannot as this is unfortunately a private residence.

Anonymous said...

Is Winfield Hall still for sale?

Me and my wife have planned on buying a european castle for our retirement, but with our kids in this country Winfield hall has captured my attention. The history of the man and the property have almost become obsessive with be over the past month. As a boy I grew up in one of the caretaker housed on the Livingston's Oak HIll Estate on the Hudson River (just south of Hudson, across the river from Catskill). I was so intrigued by the grand estates of the Hudson River that a studied Architecture and Landscape Arcitecture during my college years. Now as a passion I have found interest in NYS Castles and Mansion. Particularlly in Buffalo, the Thousand Islands, Hudson River, and Long Island (gold coast area only). While not my first thought for the property, I now see Winfield Hall as a private residence.

StuccoHouse said...

Back in the 1940's, my great uncle was a chauffeur for R. J Reynolds. I have a a series of photos taken of the exterior & interior of this house on 9/4/1947. I am in the process of scanning these old photos. I'd be happy to send you a copy of them for the purpose of posting on your blog, if you are interested.

Zach L. said...

StuccoHouse, it would be a privilege. Full credit to you of course. Email me at Oldlongisland@gmail.com.

StuccoHouse said...

Zach - I'll email you the photos. If you don't mind, I'll also be posting them on my old house website & will link back to your post with the great backstory. If you can provide us with any further info. about the photos, my family would love to hear it...

I talked to my dad and he corrected me. My uncle was chauffuer for Richard Reynolds...then during the war he worked in R&D for Reynolds Research at the same location. My dad remembers visiting the mansion in the late 40- early 50's and my uncle telling him about a particular bed being a "Napolean bed."

Anonymous said...

I grew up across the street from Winfield Hall at 82 Crescent Beach Road and always knew the mansion as the home of Gov. Carey's brother. The place always fascinated me and I spent many hours climbing on its iron fence and its marble entrance. I've just viewed some recent photos and its tragic to see how the place has fallen into such ill repair. Also surprised to see how creepy the place looks inside. For all that money, Woolworth didn't have much taste.

Anonymous said...

In the March 2009 issue of the fashion magazine "W," there is an advertising spread of several pages for Nieman Marcus that uses Winfield. It certainly looks like someone is moving in or out, and you can see much flaking and crumbling of walls and paneling.

Anonymous said...

As for anyone looking for updates on the sale of this mansion, yes it is still on the market. I have been helping in the works to repair the house to a livable condition and it is still a work in progress. As for those looking to tour the house, the land is private property so there are no tours. I suggest keeping an eye out for any open houses due to the fact that it is on the market for sale and is a very beautiful place with a very interesting history.

Anonymous said...

I am a 1966 graduate of Grace Downs School, and lived in the mansion during 1965-1966. Would love to see it again on a trip to New York this summer. Any info on this would be appreciated. There are many memories there.
Diane

Anonymous said...

Diane,
As a student at Grace Downs School, were you aware of the Webb Institute of Naval Architecture, and if so, did you and your classmates ever visit? I'm currently a student there now and was curious.

Ethan

Ootsie O said...

I was just at the gates of Winfield Hall a couple of weeks ago (Aug 2009). The place looks like it is crumbeling, much worse off than the last time I saw it about 5 years ago, when I think it had just been put on the market for 20 million. Now my sisters Father in Law (who lives near there) said the asking price has dropped to 14 million. I wonder why the owners (Pell Corp ?) do not do a better job of keeping the place up? I think I even saw broken windows.. Would someone please rescue this place!

Brian said...

I went to Winfield Hall on Sunday (Aug 23) and the gates were open so I drove onto the property up to the mansion where I could see they were doing a photo shoot. There were a couple big trucks and private cars. At the time they were shooting in the 2nd floor of the entrance hall. I couldn't go inside, but it was the first time in my life I had been able to get through the gate. The house is in better shape than it appears from the outside. Some of the interior looks almost new, but the landscaping hasn't been touched for a long time. The carriage house is in fair shape, but the perimeter cement and wrought iron fence around the whole property is mostly too destroyed to be saved. Pall Corp only leases the property from the Carey family, hence the ridiculous gold "CAREY" lettering now on the main gate. They're trying to get out of their 99 year lease. While a company with 2.5 billion in annual sales should have the money to clear the vines and overgrowth from the property, I do have to credit them for spending a couple million restoring several first floor rooms. As for the Carey's, if they had significant money, they wouldn't have leased the house in the first place. So they have probably been hurting for cash ever since they started leasing to Pall Corp. Thus, I doubt we'll see them (the real owners) do much to fix the house up. I hope a buyer comes forward soon and returns this estate to the grandeur it deserves.

Anonymous said...

On top of Winfield Hall, Carey is letting the outstanding example of a Delano & Aldrich design Bogheid rot to the ground.

Anonymous said...

i love looking at the pics of winfield hall i hope too that someone will buy it and restore it... its so sad to see a house this big just let go ... its like its screaming out please help me ......... would love to see the kitchen in some of the pics but there seems to be none..

Anonymous said...

martin carey hangs out there on sunday,reading the paper with his wife,and they go to a local church.his daughter denise was there with her boyfriend,a contractor.there had been an electrical fire in the basement,so there was some repair work going on.this was sep. 6th

Anonymous said...

Can anyone tell me who is the current realtor for Winfield Hall? I unable to find a listing anywhere.
Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I think it was taken off the market again.

Anonymous said...

could you send me those picutres i would love to see them i saw the barbra hutton story with farrah fawcett it was great but not too much of the robertleehw@gmail,com

Anonymous said...

When I was a kid we had an awesome overnight field trip at a mansion near the long island sound. It looks a lot like winfield but I am not sure, anyone know if they did this in the 80s?