
'
Greentree', the
Payne Whitney estate designed by
d'Hauteville & Cooper c. 1903 in
Manhasset with landscaping by
Guy Lowell. Whitney, born
William Payne Whitney, was the second son of
William Collins Whitney (and younger brother to
Harry Payne Whitney) but dropped William from his name after a falling out with his father after the elder's decision to remarry after his mother's death (Payne being his mother's maiden name). Following William C. Whitney's death in 1904 the bulk of his estate was given to eldest son Harry and only a small fraction (everything is relative) going to younger brother Payne. Payne was very close with his uncle
Oliver Hazard Payne who upon his death bequeathed him a large portion of his estate while leaving nothing to brother Harry. Payne Whitney was a very successful businessman associated with the Great Northern Paper Co., the First National Bank of New York, the Whitney Realty Co., and the Northern Finance Company. Along with his wife
Helen Hay Whitney he ran
Greentree Stable, an interest also taken up by their son
John (Jock) Hay Whitney and daughter
Joan Whitney Payson.

In May 1927 Whitney was playing tennis with a friend in the indoor court at '
Greentree' when he fell ill. Twenty-five minutes later he was dead of acute indigestion. The estate that was left by Payne Whitney was the largest ever recorded up to that time, roughly $180,000,000, which also produced the largest death tax ever recorded, $20,000,000. In 1924 Whitney had paid the third highest income tax in the country behind John D. Rockefeller Jr. and Henry Ford. He left $60,000,000 to charities, institutions and organizations. '
Greentree' continued to be owned by the Whitney family throughout the 20th century and now functions as the
Greentree Foundation, a conference center dedicated to international justice and human rights. Click
HERE to see 'Greentree' on google earth and
HERE on bing. Photos from
Town & Country, 1917.