Friday, September 4, 2009

When 'Elm Court' Was For Sale

A brochure advertising 'Elm Court', the Edgar F. Luckenbach Sr. estate in Sands Point designed by Egerton Swartwout c. 1921 with landscaping by Jacques Greber. Luckenbach was the president of both the Luckenbach Steamship Co., Inc. and the Luckenbach Terminal Co. The house eventually became the Sands Point Day School and later the Maimonides School and was demolished in 1977 when the latter closed. Click HERE to see where 'Elm Court' stood on google earth.



Brochure courtesy of SPLIA.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I went to camp there in the early 70's. Sad to hear that it was demolished.

Anonymous said...

i went to sands point academy for gifted children 40 yrs ago, it was a beautiful estate-cant believe they demolished it, what a shame.

Unknown said...

I also went to camp there in the late 60's. It was absolutely idyllic. I have so many wonderful memories of this estate. I can remember the smell of the boxwood maze with the fountain at the center on the back side of the house, playing duck,duck goose on the gently sloping lawn outside the dining hall, horseback riding lessons round and round the riding ring, the arts and crafts house (the garage), learning how to do a cat's cradle while waiting for the buses to take us home in the afternoon. I still have the mosaic tiled trivet I made during art -- probably in 1968 or 69, so it's going on almost 50 years old, ha! almost as old as I am. (My father called it the $2,000 trivet.) I remember learning the songs "the itsy bitsy spider" and "I'm a little teapot" as a 5 year old, and being taught what poison ivy looks like and not to touch it. I went for 3 or 4 years, from 4 or 5 until I was 8. So many memories!!

But the memories are old and fuzzy. I sort of vaguely remember how the buses got there and what roads they went down from my home in Whitestone, refreshed somewhat in my late teens when I rode all over the north shore on my bicycle. I have long since moved away from New York, but in the 90's I had wanted to give the gift of summer camp there to a friend's daughter, and was so sad to learn that the camp and school had closed up, apparently without a trace, because nobody I spoke to in the town of Sands Point knew anything about it. So I'm very grateful for this article and the wonder that is (still) the internet for others to share the information and help me put some of those memories into sharper focus. Nice to see old pictures of the house and grounds now -- I remember it as a young child remembers it. There are enough key points that I say, yes, I remember that... sort of... vaguely. I'm sorry it's not still there to be able to go back and visit in person. Grateful for the next best thing. Thanks so much for sharing!

Unknown said...

I went to school there. I met some great people I'm still in touch with to this day.

Anonymous said...

Lauren, I went to summer camp there around the same time. Absolutely loved it. The house and grounds were amazing. I learned to swim in the pool there. So sad to read that the mansion was torn down.

Unknown said...

I attended Sands Point Country Day School. I do not remember the exact dates but I know I was there the day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated. November 22nd 1963. I was a student there. We had just come up from the beach where we were amazed by the myriad of horseshoe crabs on the beach that day. As we made it up the Hill and through the path we boarded the bus that would take us close to our homes. That's when I heard the news. I was 7 years old at the time. I enjoyed my time at Sands Point country day school. If anyone out there attended around the same time please don't hesitate to contact me .

Anonymous said...

We loved our sands point schooooool