Greentree is a estate in

Manhasset, New York Manhasset is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island, in New York (state), New York. It is considered the anchor communi ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. The estate was constructed for businessman

Payne Whitney William Payne Whitney (March 20, 1876 – May 25, 1927) was an American businessman and member of the influential Whitney family. He inherited a fortune and enlarged it through business dealings, then devoted much of his money and efforts to ...

in 1904 and was owned by members of the

Whitney family The Whitney family is an American family notable for their business enterprises, social prominence, wealth and philanthropy, founded by John Whitney (1592–1673), who came from London, England to Watertown, Massachusetts in 1635. The historic fa ...

for much of the 20th century. It is currently owned by the Greentree Foundation, a philanthropic nonprofit organization.

History

purchased the estate for his bride, Helen Julia Hay, in 1904. As with other

Gold Coast Mansions Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

, the original estate was pieced together. The five family farms that were purchased to make up the new estate were the Mitchell, Ketchum, Brinkerhoff, Skidmore, and Schenck farms. Later,

John Hay Whitney John Hay Whitney (August 17, 1904 – February 8, 1982) was U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the ''New York Herald Tribune'', and president of the Museum of Modern Art. He was a member of the Whitney family. Early life Whit ...

and his second wife, Betsey, occupied the main house, where Mrs. Whitney remained in residence there until her death in 1998. Radio and TV talk show pioneers John Reagan "Tex" McCrary, and his wife, model and movie star

Jinx Falkenburg Eugenia Lincoln "Jinx" Falkenburg (January 21, 1919 – August 27, 2003) was an American actress and model. She married journalist and publicist Tex McCrary in 1945.Autobiography: Jinx, Jinx Falkenburg, Duell, Sloan and Pearce (1951) Known as " ...

, intermittently lived on the Jock Whitney estate with their sons from 1947 to 1977. The estate was later divided, with gifts of land being made to several organizations. * The North Shore

Unitarian Universalist Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to: Christian and Christian-derived theologies A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism: * Unitarianism (1565–present) ...

Society, now known as the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock
UUCSR
, received a portion adjacent to Shelter Rock Road and has built a large Worship Hall on the site of the former Apple Orchard. The old clay

real tennis Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United Sta ...

court was removed at that time. * North Shore Manhasset Hospital also received a donation of property adjacent to Community Drive. John Hay Whitney was an honorary member of the Manhasset Lakeville Fire Department, and donated the land along Community Drive East to be the site of the M.L.FD. Company Two fire house, and Nassau County Police Departments 6th Precinct. The remaining 408 acres, including the family home, are run by the Greentree Foundation, as a conference center dedicated to international justice and human rights issues. The Greentree Foundation was founded in 1982 by

Betsey Cushing Roosevelt Whitney Betsey Maria Cushing Whitney (May 18, 1908 – March 25, 1998) was an American philanthropist, a former daughter-in-law of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and later wife of U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St James's, John Hay Whitney. Early li ...

, and has owned the property since 2000. In 2004 the Greentree Foundation auctioned impressionist and modern artworks from the Whitney collection at Sothebys. The estate has hosted the

Manhasset negotiations The Manhasset negotiations (also known as Manhasset I, II, III and IV) were a series of talks that took place in four rounds in 2007–2008 at Manhasset, New York between the Moroccan government and the representatives of the Saharawi liberatio ...

, a round of talks between

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

and the Polisario Front, August 10–12, 2007, as part of a set of UN-led meetings centering on the future of

Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the r ...

, among others.

References

{{Coord, 40, 47, 23, N, 73, 41, 32, W, region:US-NY_type:landmark, display=title Defunct real tennis venues Manhasset, New York Mansions of Gold Coast, Long Island Whitney family residences

History

See also

References