'Sunshine'

'Sunshine', the Henry Bramhall Gilbert estate designed by Little & O'Connor c. 1900 in Kings Point.  Click HERE for more on 'Sunshine' which has since been demolished.

'Martin Hall'

'Martin Hall', the James E. Martin estate designed by Little & O'Connor c. 1900 in Great Neck.  Click HERE and HERE for more on 'Martin Hall' which has since been demolished.

'Udallia'

'Udallia', the Roswell Eldridge estate built c. 1910 in Saddle Rock (Great Neck) with landscaping by Beatrix Jones Farrand.  Eldridge was president of the Bank of Great Neck and founder and first mayor of the Village of Saddle Rock.  It appears 'Udallia' has since been demolished.

'Shadowlane' (I)

'Shadowlane' (I), the Charles Proctor residence built c. 1900 in Kings Point.  Proctor would go on to hire Little & Brown to substantially alter and enlarge the residence in 1914.  Click HERE to see 'Shadowlane' (II). The residence was demolished in the early 1960s.

The Edward J. Rickert Residence

The Edward J. Rickert residence designed by C.P.H. Gilbert c. 1908 in Kensington in Great Neck.  Rickert was half of the development partnership of the Rickert-Finlay Realty Company which developed Kensington.  Click HERE for more on the Rickert residence which was demolished c. 1960.

'Waldene' Stable

The stable complex to 'Waldene', the Walter G. Oakman estate designed by Grosvenor Atterbury c. 1900 in Roslyn.  Click HERE for more on 'Waldene'.  The building has since been demolished.

'Waldene'

'Waldene', the Walter G. Oakman estate designed by Grosvenor Atterbury c. 1900 in Roslyn.  Click HERE to see a brochure from when the estate was for sale and HERE for more.  'Waldene' has since been demolished.

'Kirby Hill'

'Kirby Hill' the Joseph Sampson Stevens estate designed by Warren & Wetmore c. 1900 in Muttontown.  Click HERE for more on 'Kirby Hill' and HERE to see the residence on bing.

'Ivy Hall'

'Ivy Hall', the Ralph J. Preston estate designed by Warren & Wetmore c. 1904 in Jericho and pictured here under subsequent owner James Blackstone Taylor.  Click HERE for more on 'Ivy Hall' which has since been demolished.

'Brightwaters'

'Brightwaters', the William C. Atwater estate designed by Henry Bacon c. 1904 in Westhampton.  Click HERE for more on 'Brightwaters' and HERE to see the residence on bing.

'Idlewilde'

'Idlewilde', the Alphonse Henry Alker estate built c. 1896 in Kings Point.  Alker was an attorney and co-founder and vice president of the Pennsylvania Cement Company (later the Pennsylvania-Dixie Cement Corp.).  Alker's son Carroll had numerous homes on the north shore, click HERE to see his c. 1930 residence.  'Idlewilde' was demolished c. 1950.

Some memories from E.D. Morgan III...

Some excerpts from Edwin D. Morgan III's memoir Recollections for my Family about his estate 'Wheatly' in Old Westbury designed by McKim, Mead & White between 1890-1900, published in 1938 (I had previously posted this in the comments last year)...

"As Newport was distinctly a summer home I felt the need of a permanent home which must be nearer New York, available for my city and business affairs."



"The more I thought about the locality the more I liked it, so I obtained an option on the hill (Wheatly Hill) and a number of farms totaling about 666 acres. It was the most easily recognized piece of land on Long Island, for the hill was bare for a while except for the two old cherry trees standing east and west from one another about sixty yards apart, and those we could see plainly from the transatlantic steamers."



"The final plans for the house were the result of many talks between Mrs. Morgan, Mr. McKim, and me, always advised by Mr. McKim and carried out by him. The result has been a most comfortable home, for which the family have great affection. All of the designing of the grounds was done by Mrs. Morgan and me, quite slowly and quite substantially; so it almost has been the work of a lifetime, which naturally makes it very dear to us, and it will be hard to leave it for good. I feel quite like Edgar A. Guest - "It takes a heap o' livin' in a house t' make it home."



"In November and December of 1890 we were much occupied in the finishing up of Wheatly, Mr. McKim having insisted on getting his commission only it its being lived in before the 1st of January, 1891. Much to my regret it was not finished, and Mr. McKim would allow no modifications on my part. As the work was progressing slowly we came to the conclusion that the only way to finish it was to move in, which we did on January 17. 1891, although it was quite incomplete."


"The first few months at Wheatly were very instructive in the way of house building. In the first place our plan had been to have only open fires in the house, but when we moved in, the large hall, dining room and living room fireplaces drew such drafts through the house that it seemed impossible to keep it warm. In despair I asked Mr. McKim to come down. We put him in front of the library fire and noticed what we expected. First he put his hand up to his head more or less, to keep down the locks of hair that were lifted by the breeze, and then he began putting his hand out at the back of the chair, and finally he got up and said, "Terrific draft here. This must be stopped." Much research developed the fact that it could not be stopped if we only had open fires, so we had to put in furnaces, hot air, steam, and hot water, to warm the draft. Thus from open fires we made the radical change to what is called central heating, and now we have oil burners. I was, however, prepared for the change, because at the time of Edwin's christening big wood fires were built in all the fireplaces, but the crackling of the old chestnut wood kept me in such a state of terror lest the house would burn up that I made up my mind then that those fireplaces must be changed to soft-coal-burning grates. We have them still, all made from a very attractive model I found in Newport."



"When we moved into the house there was only the main building, with two wings and their links. From there we built the room which is now called the playroom, or ballroom, the lodge, the chapel, and the buildings containing the squash court, reservoir, etc. The reservoir was a pool about seventy feet long, twelve feet deep, and fifteen feet wide, originally intended as a swimming pool, but the water, which was pumped from a depth of four hundred and thirty-five feet, was so cold it was impossible to use it. Once during a weekend part when all the young people had been playing tennis on a very hot morning, one young man said, "Mr. Morgan, wouldn't it be nice to have a swim?" I agreed with him, but said the water would be too cold. He answered, "But there is a thermometer here that says seventy-three on it", upon which I replied, "That means a bath for all the men." having obtained bathing clothes or substitutes for all, we lined up at the end of the pool and with a "One, two three," we all dove in. I don't know when I ever had such a shock. It seemed that the sun had warmed up only a few inches of the surface, for when I afterward took the temperature of the water deep down it was fifty degrees."



"During the building of Wheatly Mr. McKim made the remark, "I deplore the absence of trees here." This remark I never forgot, and began to repair that deficiency by moving some which seemed quite large. They proved to be the first large trees that Mr. Hicks moved and from which, with his education on the subject, he gained much skill and business. Having found them to be successful I went farther with Mr. Hicks and eventually moved all the trees that were needed on the immediate crest of the hill to rectify Mr. McKim's strong feeling about their absence. When they were all placed and in leaf I had a photograph taken and sent to Mr. McKim, but alas he had too nearly crossed the Great Divide to appreciate the photographs. Mr. McKim always showed much interest in Wheatly, at the time he was made a member of the Royal Society of Architects; the plans of Wheatly together with more important buildings were submitted as examples of his work."

'Jericho House'

'Jericho House', the George Edward Kent estate designed by William Welles Bosworth c. 1906 in Jericho.  Click HERE for more on 'Jericho House' which has since been demolished.

'Gracefield'

'Gracefield', the Mrs. William Russell Grace Sr. estate designed by James O'Connor c. 1909 in Great Neck.  Click HERE for more on 'Gracefield'.  Click HERE to see the residence (which has been substantially altered) on google earth and HERE on bing.

The T.J. Regan Residence

The Thomas J. Regan residence, financial administrator for the Whitney estate, built c. 1908 in Old Westbury.  Click HERE for more on the residence and HERE to see what it looks like today.  Click HERE to see the house on google earth.

'The Box'

'The Box', the William Curtis Gulliver estate designed by Grosvenor Atterbury c. 1900 in Southampton.  Gulliver was an attorney and partner at Alexander and Green.  'The Box' was demolished c. 1962 but sat on Squabble Lane.

Some memories from C.V. Whitney...

Below are some recollections by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney from his memoir High Peaks published in 1977.  The following takes place on the Whitney estate in Old Westbury between his birth in 1899 and when he was sent to boarding school in 1911...

"My boyhood home was a glorious country estate of some thousand acres near Old Westbury, Long Island.  It was a big red brick house situated on top of a hill, with rolling green pastures to the south and a wild forest to the north.  Dominating the estate was a brick tower that stood two hundred feet high with a windmill on top, supplying us with water from a well in the sands below.  We had a stable full of horses, a good-sized kennel, an outdoor tennis court and swimming pool, and an indoor gymnasium replete with bowling alley and squash court.  And those rolling green pastures to the south of the house were dotted with fruit trees, a huge vegetable garden, a herd of Jersey cows, and lots of chickens, pigs, and pigeons.  In those days there was always ample help to maintain an estate of that size."

"It was all very grand, I must say, except for my spartan quarters in the attic.  I, the middle child and only son, had a tiny bedroom with a cot, a small bathroom adjoining, and an empty storeroom beyond.  No one else lived in the attic, for which I was very grateful, for I prized my privacy.  My sisters, Flora and Barbara, and their French governess occupied sumptuous bedrooms with a large playroom on the second floor.  My sisters reveled in their surroundings every bit as much as I did mine.  In those days boys were never roomed within striking distance of girls."

"In a vacant room in our home in Old Westbury I kept a collection of birds' eggs, each identified and catalogued.  The family knew about my egg collection, but nothing about my collection of snakes.  That is why I prized my privacy up there in the attic.  My very special pet was a three-foot king snake for whom I trapped mice which I fed him regularly.  One Sunday when I must have been full of mischief, I coiled him around my neck and marched downstairs where luncheon was about to be served.  The huge dining room was filled with friends of my parents and to this day I can recall their open-mouthed shock at the sight of my snake and me.  My father promptly ordered me to my room where I spent the rest of the afternoon.  I sat on my cot staring down at the bread and water sent up for my lunch, mindful of the fact that downstairs my sisters were probably eating ice cream after a delicious turkey with cranberry sauce."