__NOTOC__ Old Westbury Gardens is the former estate of businessman John Shaffer Phipps (1874–1958), an heir to the

Phipps family The Phipps family of the United States is a prominent American family that descends from Henry Phipps Jr. (1839–1930), a businessman and philanthropist. His father was an English shoemaker who immigrated in the early part of the 19th century t ...

fortune, in

Nassau County, New York Nassau County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New York. At the 2020 U.S. census, Nassau County's population is 1,395,774. The county seat is Mineola and the largest town is Hempstead. Nassau County is situated on western Long Island ...

. Located at 71 Old Westbury Road in

Old Westbury Old Westbury is a village in the Towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 4,671 at the 2010 census. The Incorporated Village of Old Westbury i ...

, the property was converted into a museum home in 1959. It is open for tours from April through October.

History

Work on the estate began in 1903, when John Shaffer Phipps promised his fiancée, Margarita Grace (a daughter of businessman

Michael P. Grace Michael Paul Grace (1842 – September 20, 1920) was an Irish-American businessman who was a shareholder and chairman of the board of directors of W. R. Grace and Company shipping company of New York City and of Grace Brothers & Co. Ltd. of London ...

), that he would build her a home in the United States that resembled her family's British residence at

Battle Abbey Battle Abbey is a partially ruined Benedictine abbey in Battle, East Sussex, England. The abbey was built on the site of the Battle of Hastings and dedicated to St Martin of Tours. It is a Scheduled Monument. The Grade I listed site is now op ...

Battle, East Sussex Battle is a small town and civil parish in the local government district of Rother in East Sussex, England. It lies south-east of London, east of Brighton and east of Lewes. Hastings is to the south-east and Bexhill-on-Sea to the south. Batt ...

, England. The house was ready in 1906 for Phipps, his wife and their young children. ''Note:'' This includes an
''Accompanying photographs''
an
''Accompanying photographs''
/ref> Westbury House, the Carolean Revival ( Charles II style) mansion designed by British designer

George A. Crawley George Abraham Crawley (1864–1926) was a British artist, designer and purveyor of English taste. His best known works include Crowhurst Place and Old Surrey Hall, both in Surrey, England, and the design of Westbury House (built 1904–10 ...

with assistance from American architect

Grosvenor Atterbury Grosvenor Atterbury (July 7, 1869 in Detroit, MI – October 18, 1956 in Southampton, NY) was an American architect, urban planner and writer. He studied at Yale University, where he was an editor of campus humor magazine ''The Yale Record'' After ...

, contains 23 rooms. The grounds cover . The painting of ''Mrs. Henry Phipps and Her Grandson Winston'' (1906–07) by

John Singer Sargent John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more ...

hangs in the dining room. Winston Guest was the child, and his godfather was

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...

. File:Old Westbury Gardens 3.JPG, Front of the mansion File:Old Westbury Gardens combined.jpg, View from the back File:Old Westbury Gardens 28 stitched.jpg, The pool area File:Old Westbury Gardens 18.JPG, Part of the gardens File:Old Westbury Gardens Gate, Old Westbury NY.png, Entrance gates File:Mrs Henry Phipps and Her Grandson Winston John Singer Sargent 1907.jpeg, ''Mrs. Henry Phipps and Her Grandson Winston'', by

In media

Scenes of the driveway and some of the ground floor interiors were used in the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

film '' Love Story'' to depict the family home of Oliver Barrett IV, played by

Ryan O'Neal Ryan O'Neal (born April 20, 1941) is an American actor and former boxer. He trained as an amateur boxer before beginning his career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime soap opera '' Peyton Place ...

. Old Westbury Gardens is a popular wedding venue. Other movies filmed on the grounds include ''

North by Northwest ''North by Northwest'' is a 1959 American spy thriller film, produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason. The screenplay was by Ernest Lehman, who wanted to write "the Hitchcock picture to ...

'', ''

The Age of Innocence ''The Age of Innocence'' is a 1920 novel by American author Edith Wharton. It was her twelfth novel, and was initially serialized in 1920 in four parts, in the magazine ''Pictorial Review''. Later that year, it was released as a book by D. Apple ...

'', ''

Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

'', ''

To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar ''To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar'' is a 1995 American road comedy film directed by Beeban Kidron and starring Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, and John Leguizamo as three New York City drag queens who embark on a road trip. Its t ...

'', ''

Cruel Intentions ''Cruel Intentions'' is a 1999 American teen romantic drama film written and directed by Roger Kumble and starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, and Selma Blair. The film is a modern retelling of Pierre Choderlos d ...

'', '' 8MM'', ''

The Manchurian Candidate ''The Manchurian Candidate'' is a novel by Richard Condon, first published in 1959. It is a political thriller about the son of a prominent U.S. political family who is brainwashed into being an unwitting assassin for a Communist conspiracy. The ...

'' (2004), '' Hitch'', ''

Bernard and Doris ''Bernard and Doris'' is a 2006 film directed by Bob Balaban. The teleplay by Hugh Costello is a semi- fictionalized account of the relationship that developed between socialite heiress and philanthropist Doris Duke and her self-destructive Ir ...

'' and '' American Gangster''. Scenes from the television series ''

Pushing Daisies ''Pushing Daisies'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Bryan Fuller that aired on ABC from October 3, 2007, to June 13, 2009. The series stars Lee Pace as Ned, a pie-maker with the ability to bring dead things back to life ...

'', ''

Gossip Girl ''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series, developed for television by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, ran on The CW network for six sea ...

'' and ''

Royal Pains ''Royal Pains'' (stylized ℞oyalPains) is an American comedy-drama television series that ran on the USA Network from 2009 to 2016. The series was based in part on actual concierge medicine practices of independent doctors and companies. The ca ...

'' also used the location in filming. It served as the inspiration for the Buchanan Estate featured in

Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962), known professionally as Baz Luhrmann, is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor. With projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music and recording industries, he is re ...

's 2013 film adaption of ''

The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts First-person narrative, first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious mil ...

'' by his wife and production designer Catherine Martin.

References

External links

Official website

Pictures of 'Westbury House' and Old Westbury Gardens

Dobrin, Lyn. (2001, March). ''Old Westbury Gardens – Long Island, New York''. Flower & Garden Magazine.
{{Authority control Mansions of Gold Coast, Long Island Museums in Nassau County, New York Historic house museums in New York (state) Gardens in New York (state) Castles in the United States Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) National Register of Historic Places in North Hempstead (town), New York Houses in Nassau County, New York Landscape design history of the United States Gilded Age mansions