Monday, April 28, 2025
Aerial Photos of Gilded Age Estates
Aerial View of the John S. Phipps estate, "Old Westbury Gardens". Follow the link HERE for many more originally created by Aiglon Photographs from the Olmsted Archives.
Saturday, March 29, 2025
Gilded Age Maps & Atlases
Old maps & atlases are very important to research a Gilded Age Estate & Mansion. I will be adding more for many areas that were popular Gilded Age locations. Please look for them below and click on the years for the various locations. NOTE: It takes patience to navigate all the pages and time to look for the area you may want, but always go to the index page to find the map number you want to see.
Rhode Island, Newport
New York, Long Island's Gold Coast
1914 Please wait for the correct map to load.
New York, NYC
NYPL Old New York City
New York, Westchester County
1910 Volume 1
1911 Volume 2
Rhode Island, Newport
1921 You will need to scroll through the pages with the arrows or bar. Also for best resolution and to zoom in please use the Mirador Viewer listed under views.
Friday, March 28, 2025
Mansions of the Gilded Age 35mm Slide Digitation Project
Remember 35mm Slides & Projectors? I have 100’s of Gilded Age mansion slides from almost 50 yrs ago. I am making it a project to get them scanned & have created a Go Fund Me for those that would like to assist with associated costs. Please visit the link HERE.
Saturday, March 22, 2025
Pembroke, The Captain Joseph Raphael De Lamar Estate, Glen Cove, Long Island, New York PART 2
We will now explore one of the most fantastical winter gardens ever built for a private estate on Long Island at Pembroke. Make sure to also see PT 1 for the beginning of the Pembroke story. More is being added to PT 2
For Reference here below is the full floor plan of the Pembroke mansion & attached winter garden.
Entering the winter garden at Pembroke one would be overwhelmed with all the abundance & flora money could buy. Looking more like a public botanical garden, the winter garden was one man’s private paradise.
In the previous posts I mentioned the long corridor from the Pembroke mansion into the winter garden. Here is a view looking up the long flight of stairs that one descended from the house.
The Winter Garden at Pembroke had many wings and sections. In the center was this space devoted to a mosaic lined pool. The pool also had a gazebo structure accessed by a iron bridge & glass roof with vines cascading down from a second floor balcony. Then the pool was surrounded by lamp posts and probably colored lighting to create the drama of an exotic painting such as Alphonse Mucha or Maxfield Parrish.
When Pembroke was built it was hailed as one of the most splendid & spectacular estates of the era. From the front gates, artwork, Tiffany glass, Aeolian Organs and the incredible winter garden, many architectural journals/society magazines & newspapers covered Pembroke. This close up view of the pool & gazebo was proudly featured for its mosaic work.
At the northern end of the winter garden at Pembroke there was a basement floor devoted to other activities. A movie theater & tennis/squash courts & other spaces to keep guests entertained. Notice in the view the height and even larger footprint from the winter garden above.
Saturday, March 8, 2025
Pembroke, The Captain Joseph Raphael De Lamar Estate, Glen Cove, Long Island, New York PART 1
Pembroke, The Captain Joseph Raphael De Lamar Estate, Glen Cove, Long Island, NY. One of Long Island's Illustrious Gold Coast Estates & Mansions.
The story of Pembroke starts at the magnificent entrance gates. The Pembroke estate was one of the jewels on Long Island's Gold Coast & when later owned by the Loew's movie theater founder Marcus Loew, the scene of dazzling parties that made the 1920's roar. Broadway & Silent films Gloria Swanson, Rudolph Valentino, Ziegfeld chorus girls & old money society mixed creating a cocktail party that F. Scott Fitzgerald immortalized in his great American novel, "The Great Gatsby".
The mansion at Pembroke. Designed circa 1916 by architect C.P.H. Gilbert for Captain Joseph Raphael De Lamar it was the fantastical dream of a poor boy who made a massive fortune. The towering French Neoclassical edifice also included a pastiche of other styles & elements, typical of many American mansions of the Gilded Age.
Many estates of the Gilded Age always liked to give an illusion that you were traveling a greater distance than needed to approach the mansion. At Pembroke a long winding drive from the entrance gates lined with manicured shrubbery, huge potted trees & colorful hydrangeas gave a hint of the magnificent splendor to be revealed.
The Pembroke estate was an exotic paradise with numerous buildings scattered around the property. When one looked east from the main house pass a colorful fragrant gardens a path led to a pavilion. The pavilion with curved trellises appendances overlooked a fountain with statuary spouting glistening sprays of water. In the center a red tiled roof tea house provided a tranquil retreat.
Sitting in the tea house as mentioned in the previous thread, this would have been the view looking back at the mansion through the colorful garden. The following passage from the novel, “The Great Gatsby” could have be inspired by this garden at Pembroke. “In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars."
-The Great Gatsby
-The Great Gatsby
Pembroke was entered through a columned entrance. Notice that main facade of the stone mansion is three stories high, but then topped with a roof pergola structure so that guests could enjoy views of the water and catch cooling breezes. Many times these rooftop pavilions frustrated the architects that felt they ruined the purity of their designs, but the wishes of the clients prevailed.
Passing through bronze doors, to the grand hall is the first hint of the sumptuous interiors within the great mansion. Velvet portieres with gold embroidered motifs, a wrap around marble staircase with a pipe organ on the mezzanine level in front of a Tiffany glass window and latticework covering the organ pipes. Potted palms, a gilded chandelier & antique hand made rugs all contributed to the awe of entering a rich man’s home.
As we continue the tour of Pembroke, this first floor plan will be helpful. In the previous two posts we looked at the front entrance & main hall which the red arrow here highlights.
View of the main hall looking back towards to the front door. The front door led to a small vestibule then passing under the portieres the grand staircase wound its way up to the second floor. Personally for such a grand house I might expect a more impressive space.
Directly in front of the entrance hall was the Living Room. The floor plan two posts back shows it to be a very large space. Classical in design, but furnished eclectically. Other rooms are off of it as also seen on the plan. What makes this room so special is the wall out of view would have been windows & doors that led to a terrace where one could sit and enjoy the view of the estate & the Long Island Sound.
The Dining Room at Pembroke was decorated in the Chippendale style. You can see the Living Room beyond the draped doorway.

In the previous photo of the west side at Pembroke I mentioned the view of the estate & how the mansion overlooked the Long Island Sound as this view clearly shows. In the distance is the edge of the winter garden which will be explored next.
Not a view of the Pembroke mansion under demolition which it would face 50 years later than this early construction view of the house. Some say it reminds them of another famous Gilded Age mansion that many visit. What mansion is that?
Pembroke completed. Please see previous post for construction view from similar angle & other previous posts going back to the entry gates for the complete story up to here.

Thursday, October 31, 2024
Newport Villas: The Revival Styles 1885-1915 by Michael Kathrens
One of the best newer books about the splendid mansions of Newport, Rhode Island. The book also has a chapter on Seaview Terrace, aka Collinwood. Buy at Amazon "As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases", More Gilded Age related books, HERE
Houses of Los Angeles: Volume II by Sam Waters
A two volume look at the great mansions of LA, some gone, some still existing. Volume II has a good chapter on the Greystone mansion at Beverly Hills. Buy at Amazon "As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases", More Gilded Age related books, HERE NOTE: The link is only for Volume II, but there is link below that if you are interested in Volume I also.
Ghosts of Greystone Beverly Hills by Clete Keith
A in-depth look at the tragic events that took place at Greystone, shortly after it was built and the ghostly sightings & odd occurrences that linger on. Buy at Amazon "As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases", More Gilded Age related books, HERE
Dark Shadows: Return to Collinwood by Kathryn Leigh Scott & Jim Pierson
A favorite book about the "Dark Shadows" co- authored by Kathryn Leigh Scott who played the roles of Maggie Evans & Josette Collins. Buy at Amazon "As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases", More Gilded Age related books, HERE
Friday, August 2, 2024
Buy at Amazon "As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases", More Gilded Age related books, HERE
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