Old Westbury Gardens

Old Westbury Gardens
Nearest city Westbury, New York
Coordinates 40°46′26″N 73°35′47″W / 40.77389°N 73.59639°W / 40.77389; -73.59639Coordinates: 40°46′26″N 73°35′47″W / 40.77389°N 73.59639°W / 40.77389; -73.59639
Area 100 acres (40 ha)
Built 1906
Architect George A. Crawley
Architectural style "English manorial"
NRHP Reference # 76001234[1]
Added to NRHP November 08, 1976

Old Westbury Gardens is the former estate of John Shaffer Phipps (1874–1958), heir to a U.S. Steel fortune, in Nassau County, New York. Located at 71 Old Westbury Road in Old Westbury, the property was converted into a museum home in 1959 and is open for tours April through October for a fee.

History

Mrs. Henry Phipps and Her Grandson Winston by John Singer Sargent (1906/07)

Work on the estate began in 1903, when John Shaffer Phipps promised his British fiancée Margarita he would build her a home in the United States that resembled her family estate in Battle Abbey. The estate was ready for Phipps, his wife and their children in 1906.[2]

Westbury House, the Charles II-style mansion designed by George A. Crawley, contains 23 rooms. The grounds cover 160 acres (0.65 km2).

The painting Mrs. Henry Phipps and Her Grandson Winston by John Singer Sargent hangs in the dining room. Winston Churchill was the child's godfather.

Visiting hours

It has been open to the public for tours since 1959. It is open to the public daily except Tuesdays from late April through October. An entrance fee is charged.

In media

Gardens of Old Westbury

Scenes of the driveway and some of the ground floor interiors were used in the 1970 film Love Story to depict the family home of Oliver Barrett IV, played by Ryan O'Neal.

Other movies filmed on the grounds include North by Northwest, The Age of Innocence, The Manchurian Candidate (2004), Wolf, Hitch, Cruel Intentions, 8MM, Bernard and Doris, American Gangster, and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar.[3] Scenes from the television series Royal Pains and Gossip Girl also used the location in filming.

It served as the inspiration for the Buchanan Estate featured in Baz Luhrmann's 2013 film adaption of The Great Gatsby by his wife and production designer Catherine Martin.

References

Media related to Old Westbury Gardens at Wikimedia Commons

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