'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.

Mill Neck Club Entrance

Buried in the woods off of Oyster Bay Road is what I believe to be the entrance to the Mill Neck Club, which sat on what is today 'Frost Mill Lodge', the Irving Brokaw estate in Mill Neck.  The ponds in this area were heavily used for ice skating in the winter months (Brokaw was a very serious ice skater, most likely why he bought this property) though the Mill Neck Club was used for shooting and or hunting (and probably skating in the winter).  

Courtesy of An Aesthete's Lament:  "On 3 May 1916, The New York Times ran an article stating that the Mill Neck Club's club house was the property of Irving Brokaw. However, the building was then being physically moved from Oyster Bay to Glen Cove. An earlier article about Brokaw's purchase of the building and its land (27 September 1914) called it the Mill Neck Gun Club, "one of the oldest organizations at Oyster Bay"—so it was a shooting club rather than a skating organization, though arguably that could have happened there too. The property was stated as being 105 acres in size, and that Arthur D Weekes was the president of the club." 

You can still make out what looks like the driveway running along the pond when you look at it from google earth.  Above is the view looking into the property, below is the view looking out towards Oyster Bay Road.

  

Lower Francis Pond, which is now a nature preserve.  

Update: Arthur Delano Weeks, the president of the Mill Neck Gun Club, lived just east of Lower Francis Pond at the intersection of Beaver Brook and Oyster Bay Glen Cove Roads.  He was an attorney and mayor of the Village of Oyster Bay.

Munnysunk / Baily Arboretum

Frank Bailey purchased an early 19th Century farm house in Lattingtown and had Severance & Shumm design alterations to it in 1912.  Instead of making it a palatial country estate like so many other houses in the neighborhood, Bailey wanted a house that could grow with him, along with numerous specimen trees and plants on the exterior.  Today the property is run as an arboretum and is open to the public.  Click HERE to see 'Munnysunk' on google earth.

The rear.

The stables.

Welwyn Garden Then & Now

What was once one of the formal gardens at 'Welwyn', this particular one fell into ruin following the death of Mrs. Harold Pratt, but was recently brought back to life when the Nassau County Holocaust Museum moved in.

Welwyn Tennis Court Then & Now

The tennis court at Harold Pratt's 'Welwyn'.  Today the court has been totally reclaimed by nature, but the fencing that enclosed it is still partly visible from the back of the house.

Chelsea

Built for Benjamin Moore and his family in what was then Syosset by Delano & Aldrich in 1924. The estate was named Chelsea after Moore's extensive land holdings in the Chelsea area of New York City. After the death of Moore's widow, the house was deeded to Nassau County and is now part of the Muttontown Preserve. Umberto Innocenti of Innocenti and Webel did the landscaping, and Ferrucio Vitale designed the pond garden.

The rear of the house faces two sides, this one towards the pond. Notice the moat that runs around the back of the house.

The rear of the house faces gardens and then an open field.

The pond.

At the end of the field in the rear of the house is this rusted wrought iron gate. There is a half moon of trees that culminate in these gates, and it appears they lead into the woods.

Click below to see 'Chelsea' with it's gardens intact in a 1966 aerial shot.

Welwyn in Spring

Welwyn as it looks in the middle of May.  Click HERE to see more on Welwyn.

Looking out of the garden as towards the Sound, into the preserve.

The front lawn.

Click below to see 'Welwyn' with it's gardens intact in a 1966 aerial shot.

Welwyn

Built for Harold Irving Pratt Sr. in 1906, first by Babb, Cook and Willard with later alterations by Delano and Aldrich and Olmsted landscaping.  The house is currently the Nassau County Holocaust Museum.  Harold Pratt was the youngest of the sons of Charles Pratt of Standard Oil.  The property is also a nature preserve, with lots of walking trails, streams, gardens and beach front.  Click HERE to see where Welwyn is on google earth.

The side of the house, which originally had a smaller garden now has a brick and stone garden with a large reflecting pool in the center. 

The rear of the house faces a very large open field that trails off into the woods.  During the estates prime, one would have been able to see the Long Island Sound from the rear.

The front of the indoor tennis court.

The indoor tennis court as it looks today.  The movie was supposed to pay for the repairs of the tennis court, but that never happened, and Mrs. Pratt, the only remaining inhabitant of the estate died shortly afterwards.  The court continues to fall apart to this day.