The Gardens of 'Red Maples'

The gardens of 'Red Maples', the Alfred William Hoyt estate designed by Hiss & Weekes c. 1908 in Southampton with landscaping by Ferruccio Vitale.  Click HERE and HERE for more on 'Red Maples'.  These photos were taken in 1915 by Frances Benjamin Johnston.

Photos from the Frances Benjamin Johnston Collection (Library of Congress).

'Red Maples'

'Red Maples', the Alfred William Hoyt estate designed by Hiss & Weekes c. 1908 in Southampton with landscaping by Ferruccio Vitale. Alfred Hoyt was a founder along with his father of A.M. Hoyt & Co., investment bankers. He died of typhoid in the middle of construction of 'Red Maples' and the house was completed by his mother and sister, both Rosina Hoyt. The estate was demolished in the 1940s. Click HERE and HERE for more on 'Red Maples'.

Photos from Architecture, 1918.

'Westbrook Farm' / 'Knollwood'

'Westbrook Farm' (aka 'Knollwood'), the Charles Hudson estate designed between 1906 and 1920 by Hiss & Weekes in Muttontown with landscaping by Ferruccio Vitale. Click HERE to see the brochure from when the estate was for sale and HERE to see what the ruins look like today. Click HERE to see the estate on google earth.

Photos from Architecture, 1911.

'Westbrook Farm' / 'Knollwood'

An advertisement for 'Westbrook Farm' / 'Knollwood', originally the Charles Hudson estate designed by Hiss & Weekes between 1906 and 1920 in Muttontown. Click HERE to see the brochure from when 'Westbrook Farm' / 'Knollwood' was for sale.

'Knollwood' Aerial

An aerial of 'Knollwood', the Charles Hudson estate designed by Hiss & Weekes between 1906 and 1920. Click HERE to see the brochure from when 'Knollwood' was for sale and click HERE to see the ruins of 'Knollwood' as they look today.

'Red Maples'

A colorized postcard of 'Red Maples', the A.W. Hoyt estate designed by Hiss & Weekes c. 1908 in Southampton. Click HERE for more on 'Red Maples'.

'Red Maples'

'Red Maples', the estate of Alfred William Hoyt designed by Hiss & Weekes c. 1908 in Southampton with landscaping by Ferruccio Vitale. Alfred and his father were members of the banking firm A.M. Hoyt & Company. In the middle of construction A.W. Hoyt died and his mother and sister (both named Rosina) completed the house. The Hoyts occupied the estate until the elder Rosina's death in 1922 and the house was eventually rented to Marjorie Merriweather Post and her husband at the time E.F. Hutton. From there it went through a number of subsequent owners including one who gave it an Art Deco renovation. The house was demolished in the late 1940s (but stood at Halsey Neck Lane and Ox Pasture Road). Click below to see where 'Red Maples' stood in a 1954 aerial shot before the surrounding area was developed.

The Mrs. Frederick Baker Residence

The Mrs. Frederick Baker residence designed by Hiss & Weekes c. 1915 in Southampton. The house was destroyed in a fire some fifty years ago.

When 'Knollwood' Was For Sale

A brochure advertising 'Knollwood' ('Westbrook Farm'), the Charles Hudson estate designed by Hiss & Weekes between 1906 and 1920 in Muttontown, with landscaping by Ferrucio Vitale. After passing through a succession of owners the house was purchased by Lansdell Christie who lived across the street at 'Muttontown Meadows' and was razed in the early 1960's. The ruins of the estate now make up the Muttontown Preserve and can be seen HERE.

Brochure courtesy of the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities.

'Westbrook Farm' / 'Knollwood' Ruins

'Knollwood' was built for Charles Hudson by the firm of Hiss & Weekes between 1906 and 1920 in what is now Muttontown. Besides the palatial house, the estate had a working farm with over a hundred Jersey cattle. The house sat deep in the property and had quite extensive landscaping by Ferrucio Vitale. After the Hudsons sold the house, it passed through a handful of owners before Lansdell Christie purchased the estate. It had been so badly vandalized by the time he acquired it that he razed the house, however there are still many remnants buried in the woods in what is today the Muttontown Preserve. Above is the large terrace wall and double staircase that led one down to the formal gardens. Click HERE to see 'Knollwood' on google earth.

The statue that sits between the two staircases has surely seen better days.

It was here that a large marble planter sat in the rear of the house, and today it sits next door at 'Muttontown Meadows / Nassau Hall', Lansdell Christie's house at the time he purchased 'Knollwood'. Click HERE to see a Then & Now of the rear of the house with the planter in place.

There are three levels of what were gardens, above being the second. At the end of the first level are two columned structures, seen above in the corners and below.

Looking out towards the second terrace level.

The third level has a strange bunker looking structure that looked like it perhaps had a gazebo or something similar on top.

Further away from the house is the large walled vegetable garden.

Click below to see 'Knollwood' intact and still standing in a 1966 aerial shot.

Westbrook Farm / Knollwood Gate Then & Now

Built for Charles I. Hudson, Sr. in 1907 by the firm of Hiss and Weekes in Muttontown. The property now makes up the majority of the Muttontown Preserve, but the main house was torn down in 1959 so all that is left are ruins scattered over a few hundred acres. These gates sit at the corner of Muttontown Road and Route 106, and amazingly still have their urns atop them. Notice the weather marks on the ruined gates the the light fixtures used to sit.