Travel Back to an Era Bygone with Long Island’s Gold Coast: Journey to a world filled with elegance and opulence, where architectural style defined the extravagance of the Gilded Age through the Roaring Twenties. The North Shore of Long Island is home to America’s historic Gold Coast, where grand estates once frequented by society’s whose who are now open to visitors who wish to relive history.

Personified in the classic novel, The Great Gatsby, the early twentieth century mansions have a history as lavish as their interiors. The following estates are currently still open to the public for tours and events: Old Westbury Gardens, OHEKA CASTLE, Eagle’s Nest, Mill Neck Manor and Sands Point Preserve.


Gold Coast Spotlight: OHEKA CASTLE
Resting majestically on the highest point of Long Island emanates the elegant refinement of a chateau in France coupled with world-class service and a rich history that is distinctly American.

Financier and philanthropist, Otto Hermann Kahn built OHEKA CASTLE close to a century ago on the highest point on Long Island in Cold Spring Harbor. During the Gilded Age of the 1920s, Kahn used the 109,000-square-foot estate as a summer home where he hosted lavish parties and regularly entertained royalty, heads of state, and Hollywood stars.

Today following a $30 million-dollar restoration, the largest in American history, OHEKA CASTLE has earned a reputation as one of the most recognized prestigious wedding venues around the world and has been the backdrop of many famous music, television, film, and photo productions, from the making of the classic film, Citizen Kane, to the more recent TV series, Royal Pains and setting of Taylor Swift’s Blank Space music video.


Gold Coast Spotlight: OLD WESTBURY GARDENS
One of the most magnificent of the Gold Coast Mansions, Old Westbury Gardens features a lavish English-style house, as well as 200-acres of formal gardens. The palette of what is in bloom changes with the seasons and every week at the Gardens. Be transported to a different age while exploring the landscaped grounds and woodlands along with the ponds and lakes to experience the truly grand, Old Westbury Gardens.

Completed by an English designer in 1906, Old Westbury Gardens was the home of John S. Phipps, heir to the steel fortune, along with his wife and children. The mansion was created as an American representation of Phipps, fiancé, Margarita’s, old family estate in Battle Abbey.

Today, Old Westbury Gardens welcomes visitors of all ages for guided tours of the House and Gardens. Old Westbury Gardens has been recognized in various publications for its beautiful architectural and floral garden design. The mansion and gardens have been featured during the filming of Hitch, American Gangster and Cruel Intentions and have also appeared in TV shows such as, Royal Pains and Gossip Girl.


Gold Coast Spotlight: SANDS POINT PRESERVE
Sands Point Preserve rests on the original Guggenheim Estate which embodies the elegance and opulence definitive of the Gold Coast during the early 20th century. Sands Point was the famed “East Egg” of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby.
The Sands Point name dates back to 1379 from the historic Sands family when Robert de Sandys was born in the Rottenby Castle in England.

Four different mansions occupy the Guggenheim Estate, each with unique style. The different castles include the Hempstead House, Castle Gould, Falaise, and Mille Fleur. The Hempstead House illustrates the extraordinary lifestyle of the roaring 1920s and 1930s where the family hosted grand parties, performances and exhibitions by world-class artists, and gatherings of the powerful elite of the time. Castle Gould was the first of the mansions on the estate and modeled after Ireland’s Kilkenny Castle. Falaise embodies the Medieval and Renaissance era with antiques from the 16th and 17th century.

Sands Point Preserve can be seen on the big screen in feature films such as Malcolm X and Great Expectations and during television series’ including The Blacklist, Gotham and Boardwalk Empire. Today, the beautiful 216-acre park and preserve, along with the 4 mansions on the estate are welcome to visitors for exploration into a time rich in culture, history and distinct architecture.

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