Sunset Hill (also known as the D'Oench Estate) was a former Gold Coast estate located in Flower Hill and

Plandome Plandome is a village in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is one of the three villages which comprise the area of Cow Neck known as the Plandomes, and it is also co ...

, on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

History

The mansion

Architect Albert F. D'Oench and his wife, Alice Grace D'Oench (the daughter of

William R. Grace William Russell Grace (May 10, 1832 – March 21, 1904) was an American politician, the first Roman Catholic mayor of New York City, and the founder of W. R. Grace and Company. Early life Grace was born in Ireland in Riverstown near the Cove of ...

) purchased this land in 1905; they purchased the land from the O'Connor estate, which included a farm (also called Sunset Hill). They erected a mansion shortly after, which Albert designed. The estate was called Sunset Hill, due to its high elevation atop a hill and how its location provided for excellent views of the

sunset Sunset (or sundown) is the disappearance of the Sun at the end of the Sun path, below the horizon of the Earth (or any other astronomical object in the Solar System) due to its Earth's rotation, rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth, it ...

during the

summer Summer or summertime is the hottest and brightest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, daylight hours are the longest and darkness hours are the shortest, with day ...

and

autumn Autumn, also known as fall (especially in US & Canada), is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southern Hemisphe ...

months; furthermore, the mansion faced the west. The hill on which the mansion was located reaches elevations high enough for the skyline of New York City to be seen. When built, the mansion was regarded as one of the

Manhasset Manhasset is an affluent hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is considered the anchor community of the Greater Manhasset area. The population was 8,176 ...

area's most spacious. In 1918, Abert D'Oench died at Sunset Hill after suffering from an illness. Alice D'Oench would continue to live at Sunset Hill until her death in 1935 (which also occurred at the home after she fell ill).

Development after the mansion

Following the death of Alice Grace D'Oench, the land was sold, and much of the estate was ultimately developed. The house was demolished, and residential subdivisions took its place. These residential subdivisions are the D'Oench Estate subdivision, which was developed by the Mott Brothers starting in 1938, and the Sunset Hills subdivision, which was started in 1935 and built over parts of the D'Oench and Mason estates. When building the D'Oench Estate residential subdivision, Harold Mott noted that it was the most important development project the firm had undertaken at the time, citing its location.

References

{{coord missing, New York (state) Flower Hill, New York Plandome (village), New York Manhasset, New York Mansions of Gold Coast, Long Island Houses in Nassau County, New York Demolished buildings and structures in New York (state)

History

The mansion

Development after the mansion

See also

References