The problem is very few people (with the means to pay for it) actually want to live like this today. The new super rich have more modern and (dare I say it) very bourgeois tastes today. When this house was built, the trend among wealthy Americans was to create residences that were imitations of historic European castles and chateaus in an effort to live like European aristocrats of a previous era. Can you seriously imagine a house like that would fit the lifestyle and tastes of Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Bill Gates or most other newly rich Americans today?
@@modfus In europe no one actually lives in castles and chateaus but they are being preserved for further generations to admire. That is called national heritage. America could also have one already but chose to demolish it and build small ugly houses instead.
It's a shame taxes and labor wages are so high making it financial suicide on such a building. But it's what people voted for, higher taxes and demolition. You can barely maintain generational wealth because of taxes, without that the heirs can't afford to maintain these homes. Vote accordingly.
@@siruspan In Italy, people still live in those opulent, sometimes 500+ year-old palazzos and castles, and a lot of them are relatively poor compared to the dynasties that lived in them; you’ll find that they’ve been largely turned into subdivided apartments, and local municipalities offer fat tax incentives for those that live in them and take-up the costs of maintaining historic buildings. Puglia in Italy has a program that they rebate 75-100% of restoration costs if you manage to create a business or actionable real-estate.
These houses are monumental, and finished out to perfection. For the artisans, as much for the owners ego’s , the builders , landscaping crews , and my group, one of the masses , the loss is even more monumental.
Well-stated. To create a place like this, many artisans are employed & can proudly say, "I worked on that." There are servants, groundskeepers, etc, also employed by the homeowners, and some live there. The taxes are hell to pay, sure, but a wise couple will add that in to the full financial picture before choosing to build.
Here in the UK we have a Trust which finances and keeps our ancient mansions, castles and buildings alive. If you buy a house which in Trust, you cannot make certain alterations to it in perpetuity, so as to keep its original form. Money is raised for the larger mansions/castles etc., by charging viewers, holding concerts or weddings etc., Also our government invests in keeping old buildings alive. Its a crying shame that the US, who doesnt have that many historical buildings, have been so swift to just demolish them. History is important and should be kept alive for future generations.
@MaGuffintop Huh? what are you talking about? no historical value? Thank god you aren't on any preservation or historical board otherwise nothing in this country would be preserved and there would be no historical districts of fine preserved architecture. These homes were built by hundreds of skilled craftsman, artisans, architects, landscape designers, etc who created irreplaceable interiors and monumental structures that can't be duplicated today at any price. Also you say these houses were built by industrialists whose industries no longer exist? He made his fortune from silver and gold mining and founding International Telegraph and Telephone, you know ITT, the same ITT still exists after over 100 years and is listed on the NYSE.
@@walteranthony6435 how about ITT is made to maintain this mansion built of profits stolen from the craftsmen ,etc… It should not be maintained by our taxes.
There is a fund for preservation but someone has to apply for. Sad that building is gone but, the fact is that it was sold by someone that had the right.
@MaGuffintop if we actually had thought to do the same thing long ago, we would have far more historical homes that were at least a few hundred years old- it’s not a thousand years old like in the UK, but still, it matters. We’re a young country- we have to start somewhere. That’s a very naive way to look at the situation. Just because we’re a young country, we shouldn’t be saving our grand old houses because they’re not as old as the ones in the UK, and they’re not from familial lines? That’s ridiculous. And there are countless that do it in the US. I live in SLC, UT.. and I’ve lived in multiple residences that were historically dedicated and earmarked, as well as when I lived in Houston & CT- same situation. That’s like saying we shouldn’t save any of our more modem art either.. because well.. it was only made in the last century.
Thank you for the reply Jennifer, I wish the USA had the same sense of perseveration for these irreplaceable buildings, now gone forever. I love this channel but fear the final 2 minutes as so often I am left with a pit in my stomach. Too many beautiful buildings constructed only to last 20-50 years.
I was raised right across the street from this estate and along with my brothers and all of our friends, we would play all day on the estate. I could tell you many wonderful stories about the place and our times there. I left Roslyn in 1966 to go off to college in Hawaii, but I still go back to Roslyn to visit, although most of my visits are now done virtually, thanks to Google Maps Street View. This video is the best I have seen of the actual opulence of the mansion itself. Fabulous work. Thank you.
The sheer waste and destruction of such treasures is unforgivable. The house could have been saved. McKim Meade and White built buildings to last centuries.
I agree!! We might not think he treated his workers well but properties like these were treasures and should have been saved!!! It’s not about the people that built/paid for them it’s about the places!!
There's a wild story about a church that needed a staircase and they prayed for help. A priest showed up and crafted an amazing spiral staircase that is stunning in both the way it looks and the way it was designed. Then the guy left. It's a great true story.
@@lorimiller4301 yes the Loretto chapel in Santa Fe NM. The staircase has no middle support so basically it’s “floating” 1 man with nothing but a bag of tools and wood that wasn’t native to the land and the condition of him working on the staircase is that no one watch him or enter the church during his work. Then vanished. With out pay.
@@lorimiller4301 even with modern tools and electric power tools will still be a complex task. But the fact that one man and with hand tools in 1800’s built this is astonishing and really sad if you think about it. We can’t build anything of quality to match this nowadays, if you do it’s very rare and expensive
Destruction of all these great homes is tragic. Even today wealthy people are building mansions larger and larger; that succeeding generations will not be able to maintain. Sadly the cycle continues.
Except that today's mansions a lot of them are ugly square concrete soulless boxes .... doubtful 150 years from now people will mourn the loss of those cold concrete boxes
@@gardensofthegods Which sounds good! All this crying in the pretzels because some grand building from the past has been demolished! It's so silly; it was just an ostentatious wooden house. Not like the Alexandria Lighthouse. Anyway, when newer grand homes are demolished, at least noone will have to care.
Yes and they can't compare to these beautiful homes. They don't have the elegance the grace or the craftsmanship. They are just big rooms without character or warmth
I grew up on Long Island and when I was older my friends and I would look for these gold coast mansions. Thankfully some of them are still standing either privately owned or turned into museums, One was abandoned in which we explored but thankfully someone bought and restored. One , on its own island was demolished in the 1980s which was sad. Thanks for this video, it brought back memories of "house hunting".
I grew up on LI also, and during the '70s a group of us would travel around and when we spotted "a row of trees" we knew at the end of it would be a mansion. We were usually not disappointed. Visited many abandoned estates during that time. Ballroom arquet floors warped, silk drapes rotting, beautiful stables in ruins and most interesting, were the family possessions left behind. I've got some momentos of those adventurous days. So sad it's all gone.
Where this Mansion once stood and was developed into 400 houses .... do you know the name of that neighborhood now ? Is it called Lloyd Harbor ? I wanted to see what the neighborhood looks like now or what was built there after the Mansion was torn down but when I look up harborhill it just shows the mansion . Any ideas how I can find out what replaced it or what it looks like now in that area ?
@@ultraviolettas I walked through the mansion where they filmed the original Sabrina scenes when the owner died and was having an estate sale. I wished I could travel back to the time these mansions were at their height.
Breaks me every time a structure or edifice, rich in history and architectural magnificence, is torn down. Such exquisite craftsmanship is practically nonexistent today...
Demolishing buildings like this just makes me sad I understand the financial burden these large estates carry but buildings aren't made the same anymore not only did this place have artisan's work and skilled craftsmanship but even if someone took on the task and rebuilt it there is no way to make it the same the materials can't be sourced from the same places and I doubt the original plans would be up to our modern building codes but if the place was still standing the code issues could be addressed appropriately and I guarantee it would have landmark status overall it's just sad
Not to nitpick, but as a lifelong Long Islander, I must point out that, although F. Scott Fitzgerald did draw inspiration from the parties here, the actual inspiration for Jay Gatsby’s house was Beacon Towers in Sands Point (Sands Point & Kings Point were East Egg & West Egg, respectively). Beacon Towers was built by Alva Vanderbilt, later purchased by William Randolph Hearst, and Daisy Buchanan’s house was Kidd’s Rock/Lands End - recently torn down for another McMansion development. Mackay chose the highest natural point on Long Island to built his house; not to be outdone, Otto Kahn spent two years building up the hill that Oheka Castle would eventually be built upon.
I don't regret all demolition of old mansions, but you would think a house connected with such a famous American novel like the Kidd's Rock/Lands End that you mention could have been saved. Maybe as a museum of life in that extraordinary era .An era we all know, but never actually experienced.
I grew up on Long Island, and believe your dialogue 100%. The layout closely follows Fitzgerald's 'Great Gatsby'. Also, it's location, the book's 'Egg Harbor' doesn't exist, but Great Neck sure does. LI had many such mansions during the 1920's, taking credit for Great Gatsby, but yours makes sense. Mostly torn down, you may be interested to know most were grand but not well built. Closed down during winter, their glitzy interiors fell apart, being moulded plaster, not cement. But their land worth a fortune!
I was totally shocked and deeply saddened to hear the house was left in ruins and later was destroyed using dynamites. I wonder why New York government didn't even care to intervene to save it.
I don’t feel bad this wealthy family lost the house as large profits is money taken from the workers who were not paid well…but I could see ITT maintaining it ,not tax dollars.
Yeah spend taxpayer money on a house other billionaires passed up on. Sounds like political suicide & a waste of taxpayer money …blowing it up was the right thing to do
You have to wonder if any of the houses wood paneling was removed and sold on for other houses or libraries. Attended a fund raiser in Pasadena, CA and the houses carved walnut paneling came from a French chateau over 150 years old
Loved that movie and that house was grand! Just like the house Mr. Warbucks had in the movie Annie...that too was a grand treasure. The house that inspired The great Gatsby would have made a wonderful resort!
An old church in Seattle was converted into three unique condos, so it is possible the Gilded Age mansions could have too. If they only hung on a bit longer.
@Lydia Gaebe, I love comments like this. What a cool way to use a structure that is already there, and gives everyone who either lives there or drives past variety. It's better than cookie-cutter everything.
In England they converted old mansions into condos. In England they had so so many that were torn down too. People couldn’t afford to inherit these vast homes PLUS PAY ALLTHE TAXES.
I grew up on Long Island. A bunch of grand estates survived into the 1970s and 1980s. Now, they are an extremely rare commodity, either completely gone or vastly shrunken in size.
The story of this property brings a sense of sadness especially the sale of such magnificence to a developer that is captured in the plot of “The Great Gatsby”. The same winsome nature of Gatsby’s life...
There is a home in Virginia City known as The Mackay Mansion. John Mackay owned the house and conducted business there. It's a very popular place for paranormal investigations. I've investigated there several times.
I really appreciate the time & effort that has gone into creating these videos. Always well researched, script is written well & delivered perfectly, and colonizing the photos [makes the details really pop!]. Thank you for this _entire_ series.. I love the old, grand homes of the Gilded Age.
The fountain in the picture at @ 3:52 was disassembled and sold to JC Nichols of Kansas City and was installed on the Country Club Plaza in the mid 1940s and has been there ever since, it's always taken care of and a focal point of the high end shopping district
@@klaudiaknows5908 I know right!!! IDK if you are from Kansas City but there are alot historic gems like this all around! I like historic things like that....
@@CARTER.J yea I’m from KC I worked at the Nelson for a little while and love history so much. KC has a lot of secrets I’d love to know more! How do we become friends?
Actually, common knowledge has it that "Beacon Towers", a literal castle in Sands Point, was the inspiration of "The Great Gadsby". The situation is simple to understand. Land on the north shore of Long Island was cheap in the teens and '20's, so once the 59th street bridge was built, the rich bought up acres and acres of land and made ridiculously huge summer homes on them. Combine that with no income tax and it was a free-for-all for these people. By around the time of WWII, things drastically changed and even the extremely rich could not maintain their summer castles. Most went down. It's amazing that a number of them still stand with the huge property taxes and upkeep.
Yup, and the less-posh "West Egg" referred to Great Neck (specifically, Kings Point at the northern tip), similarly jutting out across the sea from its wealthier neighbor. Although "less posh" is all relative... Kings Point has been home to numerous celebrities in its heyday and still contains massively wealthy residents and lovely mansions w/views of NYC beyond the L.I. Sound. (Fitzgerald himself lived in Great Neck, I believe in the Russell Gardens section--which, while less tony than Kings Point, is still for the wealthy. Upper-upper middle class, maybe.)
@@kiwilerner I agree. Yes, it all started close to the NYC line and then worked it's way further east pretty quickly.These areas are still wholly for the very wealthy and still consist of new and old mansions. It's just that the acreage has been greatly diminished. I love the history of Long Islands "Gold Coast" and have hiked and biked the area many times. Stil beautiful.
All the beauty and grandeur of those years...gone within minutes. So sad. Thank you for your videos, you bring back all the splendor that we will never know in this generation.
My late Aunt and Uncle lived many decades across from John Mackay III's "Happy House", in the Nob Hill development in East Hills. This historic house has been repeatedly threatened with demolition.
Having been raised on Salem Rd. and Harbor Hill Rd. from 1948 to 1966, I know the area you are talking about very well. What a privilege to be raised there.
Thank you for this video. The family name was actually pronounced as if it were Italian: Macchi (Maa-key). Clarence's daughter Ellin was the wife of Irving Berlin. The Keck Museum at the Univ. of Nevada has the major part of the enormous silver service that Tiffany made for Clarence's mother from Comstock silver.
It’s truly so sad that some of these are such landmarks and just wiped out. But it is pretty amazing to know that you have a home built on a parcel that has so much history!
The mansion that Robert Redford lived in ,in the Gatsby movie was actually "The Breakers" in Newport, R.I. The property taxes you would have to pay on those mansions on Long Island's "Gold Coast" were SO high that even people who were rich enough to buy them would not want to pay the tax. The majority of them were knocked down to make room for smaller houses.
Breakers error aside, another major reason people got rid of these huge mansions was that they could no longer get (or afford) the large staffs needed to maintain them. People were looking for other, better paying jobs.
I've recently discovered your channel and find it fascinating. As an English woman I never realised how many interesting old houses there were - and are- in the U.S. This appealed to me especially as I love the Great Gatsby, it's one of my favourite American novels.
I grew up in the development that had been Harbor Hill in the late 1950s. We always pronounced the former owner’s name as “Mack key” not “Ma kay. Don’t know which pronunciation is correct. The gate house shown in the video became the entrance to the neighborhood pool club at the intersection of Harbor Hill and Roslyn roads. There were still other derelict robber baron mansions in the area back in my day that my buddies and I used to ride our bikes to.
I spent a lot of time sneaking into the Country Estates pool at night after all the homes were built. It was technically on Mimosa Drive because the Gate House which led to the Pool House hadn't been open for many years after the Estate was sold and developed for Country Estates homes. I'm sure you all know what became of the two "Horse Tamer" statues----------- One wound up at 55 Peach Drive and the other graced the circle at Roslyn High School. Later, the one on Peach Drive was relocated to The Duck Pond (Sorry, Dr. Gerry, but for us Roslynites, it will ALWAYS be The Duck Pond)
Ken, I always enjoy making cultural and historic coparisons between 100 year segments of time. Perhaps a comparative to when it comes to mansions may be interesing. Thanks.
I was stationed at Roslyn ANG station for 6 years back in the 1980’s. I knew there once was a mansion there but never knew the history of it. Thanks for filling in the blanks.
Your tours of the Gilded Era mansions makes me so sad. If they could have hung on a bit longer they could have been made into luxury condos, resorts, or conference centers/schools. So sad.
The rich during the guilded age definitely flaunted their money, but I wish a lot of the mansions would have been preserved as museums or some other usage. One thing I really wish was preserved, Is Chicago's Columbian Exposition architecture
The 1974 film adaptation was filmed in two of the Mansion in Newport RI. You can still tour them. It is amazing how opulent these houses are. The two used for the 1974 film were Rosecliff and Marble house. Marble House was built for some of the Vanderbilt’s. If you do go visit them make sure to stop at The Breakers (not related to the film but one of the best mansions there). For some odd reason, the 2013 version was filmed in Australia.
I’ve watched several of these “Mansion” videos. I find them depressing. So much money poured into building these works of art just to be demolished 50 or so years later. What a waste! And we think we live in a disposable world!
They should never have been built to start with. That's where the real waste of money occurred. Who needs to live like this? Even his wife left him cause it's all emptiness. Empty egos. Gross waste of money by the owners. Inevitable that the unsustainable monstrosity would be torn down.
@@MelvinJ64 I think the staff that used to feed their families by working there may disagree. Being envious because you can not live that lifestyle is no way to go through life. Ambition to live a better life for your children and yourself and able to support others families through gainful employment even the lavish parties which were used to break ice on business dealings to generate more employment and more production.
@@patricksutfin9374 I agree that it is a gross waste of money. No one needs to live this way. No one needs such a huge mansion to have a lavish party either. That is a ridiculous statement. It's a cold place to live and far bigger than anyone could possibly need. On the other hand it is a shame to have it torn down.
@@patricksutfin9374 It is not about being envious, it is about the waste, total misaloccation of resources and complete unsustainability. To need a 100 people to maintain a single family home is ludicrous. The proof of this unsustainability is evident in the bankruptcy of the owner and the fact that no one wanted It.
@@patricksutfin9374 what you typed up is pure garbage. Having maids and grass cutters is not justification for that monstrosity. It's funny you think I'm the type of person that hates on rich people because i ain't rich myself. That's false. You don't know me. You don't know how i grew up. I grew up with maids and chaffeurs on hand mind you. I know billionaires and millionaires help create wealth for others through investment in businesses, not through stupendous spending on unsustainable luxury items. The proof is in the pudding. The house got abandoned because it was always ridiculous to start with.
Wonderful video. Just a note, the Prince of Wales went by his fourth name David until he became king in January 1936 and then used his given first name Edward as his regnal name. After his abdication 11 months later, he went back to going by David. His brother did the opposite, always going by his given first name of Albert (Bertie) and taking his fourth name, George, as his regnal name.
You noted that this was the 8th largest house, it would be wonderful if you could do a show listing them all in order ? Love your videos! Thank you so much.
I grew up on Long Island and feel a deep sense of loss when the destruction of the fabulous estates are mentioned.I wish more of them would have been saved,but all good things must come to an end and at least we have a few that survived along with gardens and photos.
Fortunately, many of the grand houses in Newport, Rhode Island are still standing. They used Rosecliff and Marble House for the 1974 film version of Gatsby.
Amen! Please see my entire post. In my home town, we are going through a tough time of money talking, subsequently we have lost so much 😢. Currently, a sentimental local favorite restaurant and other adjacent structures are about to be replaced by four story apartments and a multi level parking garage at one of the busiest intersections in town because the right people have the right connections to local government! As the song 🎵 says, PAVE PARADISE TO PUT UP A PARKING LOT!
Exactly. People like to bemoan the greed of the homeowners, but construction involves the employ of people of all disciplines and is therefore a sort of monument the likes of which is not seen these days. Opulent houses exist today, sure, but not with the artistry of yesterday. As far as greed goes, demolition will just fill the greed of the next person getting rich from more ugly buildings that seem to be duplicated like a virus all over this country. Anymore, to see beautiful buildings with any history to them we gotta travel to Europe. I have only been able to make such a trip once in my 56 years.
This is like watching a train wreck 😢Why were these people so wasteful... I love your channel new subscriber and just love the history!!!!! Thank you for sharing and all your hard work!!!!
I love all that beautiful woodwork, created from the bounty of old growth forests. The word 'demolished' sounds so awful. It's sad to see beautiful homes stripped of their finery, but at least the materials could have been reused. I hope. Employment for workers at the beginning, and at the end, and the staff in between. I reread The Great Gatsby recently, and it's an odd tale about the frailties of humanity, and the consequences of great wealth.
Another great post! As others have said it is sad that so many magnificent historic buildings have been sacrificed to greed! So many were built on mining fortunes, such as FILOLI, the Bournes estate ( probably best known as seen on DYNASTY) from wealth of EMPIRE gold strike. Fortunately, through some rough times, it is now a National Trust property. Was fortunate enough to visit some years ago. If you do posts on property still surviving , would suggest FILOLI, Mar A Lago, and Lyndhurst. Have you done Winfield Hall or any other Woolworth or Barbara Hutton property? I understand that at one time in not too distant past a branch of the Woolworth family had substantial holdings in Maine. Believe there were multiple homes on property and perhaps a working farm.
You have to remember income tax rose to eventually be up to 90% for high income earners! There were lots of deductions but what was taxed was at 90 %. Taxes are lower now and more can be put into big houses again . The price of fuel to heat these houses also went up dramatically. I worked in the basement of a Stanford White House built for his daughter in Rumson, NJ doing a repair. They were well built!
i love how these houses all share identical stories, built in the 20s an a ridiculous scale only for its owners to by wiped out by the crash and rendering the houses unsellable
I wanna say I hate watching your videos because they inevitably end with some scumbag with a bag full of money buying these works of art/historical landmarks and bulldozing them. Drives me nuts how shortsighted those people were back in the day. But I keep watching because I love these houses! I’m one of the lucky few that grew up on Long Island only a mile away from Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay. Thankfully Teddy Roosevelt’s house isn’t going anywhere!
Love that the black and white photos (which didn’t do justice) are brighten and colourful (had to mention again). Sad ending of people and buildings. However, they did have fun for awhile, thank you Ken.
I enjoy these presentations , as I continue to study and learn American social and financial history at the dawn of my elder years. Thank you much for your video documentary report. I am slightly enlightened.
This was very interesting. I grew up on the North Shore of Long Island and people always speculated about which house was the "Gatsby mansion". Now I know. There was another house called, Land's End (Sands Point), and legend had it that Fitzgerald wrote some of the "Great Gatsby" while he stayed there. This mansion was supposed to be razed about 10 years ago to make way for smaller plots. William Randolph Hearst also had a mansion at the very tip of Sands Point which also was eventually torn down. Supposedly, Orson Welles had him in mind when he filmed "Citizen Kane". It would be great to hear the story of that mansion.
That destruction, and for similar reasons, continues to this day. Here in Knoxville, Villa Collina, the largest single-family mansion in Tennessee (40,250 square feet, 86 rooms) was built of the finest materials available as recently as the late 1990s. Sited on 8 acres overlooking the Tennessee River and with scenic views of the Great Smoky Mountains, it was demolished -- following two auctions to dispose of interior furnishings and then interior and exterior architectural features -- last month (April 2022). The new owners plan to subdivide the site into three separate lots for three new private homes.
From Tennessee and did not know this. We went out by Dixon springs and saw whole farms for sell, huge beautifully maintained farmhouse for sell and we believe they’ll be town town and built lots like this. It’s happening around us in cross plains. Tn. Sad they hold so much history
