Long Island Mansions Guide

Up until about the mid to late 90's, like most Long Islanders,  I had no idea that there were mansions and grand estates in our own backyard. It all started one Saturday when a friend came by and asked if I wanted to take a ride to Old Westbury Gardens. He had some extra pictures in his camera that he wanted to use up. Yes, we were still using film in those days. My reaction was: "Are you crazy? The Yankee game is on. Why would I want to look at some flowers and trees?" Anyway, I decided to go and boy was I surprised. Where was I? It couldn't be Long Island. There's nothing like this around here. I was blown away with this huge mansion that looked like it should be in England somewhere with acres and acres of gardens. I never knew gardens could look like that. There were lakes and ponds on the property...and walled gardens. I never knew what a walled garden was. Blew my mind.

Around the same time, I stumbled across a series on A&E called America's Castles. Those old houses were amazing. I was hooked. I discovered that there were more places like Old Westbury on the island. At one time about a thousand. I began researching and reading anything I could find about them. I gathered up my camera and info and tried to find these country houses. Sometimes with family, sometimes with friends, sometimes by myself and most times getting lost on the winding north shore roads. Some of these places are open to the public, some still in private hands (got kicked off a few while trying to take pics), some have found different uses, but most are gone. Some are just remains of their former glory. That double row of trees in the center median of Southern State Parkway by Belmont State Park were the former main drive to the now extinct August Belmont residence.

OK...this is my brief history of Long Island country houses. Most were built between the late 1800's and 1940's along the north shore. Thus the term the Gold Coast. There were many others scattered across the island. They were built as country retreats mostly for summer use by the likes of Vanderbilts, Morgans, Phipps's, Pratts. Most estates consisted of the main house, formal and informal gardens, gatehouses, greenhouses, boathouses, polo fields and any other luxury that money and imagination could build. The architecture is amazing and so are the interiors which usually consist of antique furnishings from Europe including some fireplaces and complete rooms taken directly from European palaces. They also were stocked with collections of great art. This period was known as The Gilded Age. It was an age of such opulence and bomabastic castle building that will never happen again. It's fascinating to get a glimpse into how the ultra-wealthy lived. Palatial estates with acres of gardens and land for polo, hunts, private docks for yachts and grand parties were part of everyday life.

There are several really great books on the subject. These are a few of my favorites: The Mansions Of Long Island's Gold Coast by Monica Randall, North Shore Long Island by Paul J. Mateyunas, and Long Island Country Houses and Their Architects by Robert B. Mackay, Anthony Baker and Carol A. Traynor. They can all be found on Amazon.

So join me on my unofficial tour of Long Island mansions and then get out and see them for yourselves.  You won't be disappointed. Believe me...it's better than going to the mall.

Hey ho! Let's go!

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