The rear of 'Roslyn House'. Stanley Mortimer had James Brown Lord design him a Queen Anne style manor in the Wheatley Hills part of Old Westbury (in Mortimer's time this area was considered Roslyn) in 1891. In 1919 Francis P. Garvan purchased the estate and had the Olmsted Brothers do the landscaping between 1928 and 1929. In 1974 a developer bought the property with plans to subdivide the estate and tore down the main house. While 'Roslyn House' no longer stands, the estate's gardens continue to live on in a broken up state scattered throughout the current development. The manor house's grounds were retained by the current resident and remain very much as they did in Garvan's time. I would like to give an enormous thank you to my friend and her family for allowing me to photograph the grounds.
One of various entrance points to the original property. Notice the black diamond patterns in the pillars, as they are exactly like the ones to the formal entrance to the estate, seen HERE.
The face above is on the side of the wall that faces away from the house. The face below is on the side that faces toward the house.
The wall along the sunken garden.
Above are two of three absolutely massive copper beech trees planted by the Olmsted Brothers. The gazebo is original and has a twin across the lawn, both of which are currently being restored.
This garden feature sits off the main grounds, down the road a bit. Above is one of the stone arches that gave the current development its name.Click below to see 'Roslyn House' intact and still standing in a 1966 aerial shot.
2 comments:
LOVE all your pictures! awesome!
In the 1950s the Garvan family kept a kennel, known as Dungarvan Kennels, on the property, where they bred cocker spaniels. The Kennel master's name was Sterling Yoder. I still remember driving up to the estate, through a winding road banked with rhododendrons. It was a beautiful spring day, around 1954, and we'd been invited to 'adopt' one of their puppies, Dungarvan Powder Puff, and bring her home with us to help her overcome her shyness. The family must have appreciated our efforts, for later they sent us Red Brucie II, who remained with us for 15 years.
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