I was born in Huntington in 1949. My best friend's daughter was married at Oheka Castle and I was a guest. I spent the night in a huge room with the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in. A wonderful experience.
Thank you, Amazing story. I was raised on 320 acres in Colorado. There wasn't any Mansion. Oh, but what freedom I had to roam any direction with my dog. Never see a human, find amazing plants, see Wildlife, and gaze at the Rockies. I loved that feeling... Freedom!
imagine the freedom the Natives lived on the land where you enjoyed your youth without the worry that the army or Government was going to kill you for that land only to use it for the money gotten for its sale and eturnel taxation.
I had a blessed childhood living next door to the Vanderbilt Eagle's Nest estate. The whole area there was magical. I used to love walking down Little Neck Road in the winter in the snow, which sparkled like diamonds in the lights. One of our favorite summertime activities was driving around Eaton's Neck to Sand City and being mischievous teenagers at the beach and boating. Our neighbors had horses. I loved them! There are too many fantastic stories to tell here. My aunt still lives there nearby our old home.
I was born on Staten Island, moved to Levittown, North Babylon, Fort Salonga, near Northport, then married and we went to England with USAF. NOW Colorado!😊. It took awhile to get used to being landlocked 😊My Dad was on the Long Island State Police Force and his office was at Belmont Lake State Park. So long ago😊❤
I really enjoyed watching this historical program. I love gardens & architecture & the history of how they came to be. I had no idea just how many glorious estates & gardens were once located on Long Island.
Thank you for POSTING REALLY ENJOYED IT. NEVER HAD SEEN A GREAT DOCUMENTARY LOVE LOVE IT. WHAT A LOST TO HISTORY THAT SOME WERE TORN DOWN. MONEY AND GREED CAN OVER COME ANYTHING😢😢😢😢😢😢😮
Growing up on North Shore of Long Island in the 60s and being able to visit those wonderful homes is something one can never forget. Still living on Long Island makes it possible to still see the Gardens and these truly magnificent homes.
I have fond memories of the Phipps estate as a child. My mother was good friend was married to the gardner. We spent many Thanksgiving and Christmas with Aunt Jessie and Uncle Ewan. Skating on the pond by the stables.
If you want to know a great story. Approximately 10 years ago I went to an auction here in Pennsylvania where an auction company got a hold of the contents of a demolished mansion on Long Island from years ago. Sitting on the table was a massive turn of the century Nippon Palace urn made of porcelain and hand-painted, very elaborate. It had damage to the base. Nobody knew what it was but I knew what it was since I'm a porcelain expert. I got it for my starting bid of a mere $300 because of the damage. I put it on the internet and a millionaire from Japan was bidding against a millionaire Palm Beach Florida both were Nippon collectors for only the best of Nippon. They both purchased off of me in the past. Even though it was damaged it's still fetched $7000. That was my best Nippon story but not my best antique porcelain story. ❤
i grew up in Centerport, on the Long Island Sound, and our house was less than a mile's walk from the Vanderbilt summer home called Eagle's Nest. It had long been a museum when we lived in Centerport in the 50s and 60s, and we never tired of visiting it. Truly gorgeous and unique. How lucky we were to grow up there!
As an amateur history buff, I am fascinated at this bygone era of unimaginable wealth and status, the total isolation on Long Island that is now cluttered with suburbia. It is indeed a bygone era, never to be seen again.
Thank you for watching! This is part of the series Treasures of New York. If you'd like to see more, here's a selection of the series in a playlist: ruclips.net/p/PLZRf9OqttPLM2C_UhWSmHNj_Dc8BbWuli
Thank you for your Outstanding presentation about these Glorious Mansions. It breaks my heart to know that so many were destroyed. New York State should help to preserve our Long Island heritage and not allow such losses. Thank you to those who work so hard to preserve our Long Island heritage ❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉❤
I was born & raised on the north shore of Long Island. We used to fish and dig for clams where several of these estates are. Every now and then someone would come out and watch us, we would hold up fish or a handful of clams, they would usually smile and give a thumbs up. Don't think they realized what was in their backyard. FLY NAVY!!!
Unfortunately Manhasset was not able to save Inisfada. I had the privilege to work there 13 years. Sold to developers in 2013 and they demolished this incredible mansion. Truly, unbelievable. It was a magnificient Elizabethan Tudor mansions in North Hills of Manhasset on the Gold Coast, the Brady mansion, built in 1921, I still remember such beauty of architecture and the grounds, amazing. Even though it is gone, wish you would include in this segment. So important part of Long Island history.
That broke my heart. The house had a beautiful chapel inside. The craftsmanship was unbelievable. Shame on Nassau County for not finding a way to save it. These Jewels MUST be saved.
Thank you for sharing this history here. For anywhere wondering at the name of the mansion - Inisfada - it is Gaelic for Long Island! Inisfada and its fate is covered here, by @ThisHouse: ruclips.net/video/wIlva2bK5fE/видео.htmlfeature=shared
@@serenitypeaceandcomfort3669 Thank you for addressing preservation. Fordham University received Inisfada's disassembled Saint Genevieve’s Chapel and in January 2024, commented on what might come next in the Fordham Ram: fordhamram.com/2013/09/19/fordham-receives-chapel-from-closing-jesuit-retreat-house/
*The Gold Coast Mansions* -- i.e. *the* " *Before federal income tax homes!* " All joking aside, those that remain are gorgeous! [The 16th Amendment to the US Constitution (ratified 1913) brought the federal income tax and the I.R.S. into existence] I am glad that Oheka was restored. Coe Hall and the Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park (Oyster Bay, L.I., NY) are fabulous! Old Westbury Museum and Gardens are amazing! As Long Island became more popular as a place for well-to-do NYC city residents to have a summer and (at times used as) weekend homes more and more of the original, local, fishing villages along the shore and the farming villages inland became enclaves servicing the elite. To this day in places like the Hamptons, individual families still let out rooms to tourists from NYC. After WW2, Levittown, Hicksville and other developments became places for the middle class to leave the city.
I loved this documentary! I have visited a few of these homes but old westbury gardens property remains my favorite, the entrance, the gardens and the location all come together and become greater than the sum of their parts. I loved learning about these homes and the unique history of it all.
There is so much money in this country! I’d rather live in one of these than the junk they are building now. Come on people, it’s class and built the way things should be built.
What a fantastic video! I am very glad, that at least some of those mansions have survived and became open to the public as part of universities, museums, national parks and hotels.
I've always loved the documentaries on PBS, and I've always loved beautiful architecture. Kudos to Gary Melius for saving the beautiful Oheka mansion and grounds! If I'm ever in New York, I'd love to come visit the mansion.
I used to live on the Gold Coast and these mansions are wonderful parks! I just returned from a visit to Coe Hall over the holidays, and walked through the Italian garden behind the main house one cold winter morning. You literally forget you are in New York, it’s so quiet and peaceful. After being away for almost 8 years I am so happy to return to visit. Thank goodness the few that are standing today are still well maintained, they really are a part of US history.
I love finding treasures mostly vintage jewelry and vintage decor. Especially rare treasures! What a blessing and beauty to be to share my treasures with the world. These videos give me inspiration for my passion to keep selling here on RUclips, TY! Such beauty.🌎 👑🧚🏻♂️
Long Island has some of the most beautiful homes in this world! I'm not just being a biased NYer. We are really blessed to have such beautiful landscape and homes. ❤
I’m blessed to have visited some of this beautiful and historical mansions of the past and imagine how they used to be and how they have been preserved today. I hope to see more! Thank you for this documentary.
Hello again!! I was very pleased to see this video because when I went to school in Motorola and spent the summer, we did not get to that island. Instead we did Pátzcuaro, Irapuato, Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta. I know that’s a busy place during the Day of the Dead celebrations! As you were showing going up to Morelos, it reminded me of some areas in Taxco, the silver city in the state of Guerrero. Mexico has so many beautiful places to visit. I’m so glad to have been able to visit them in the early 2000’s, before they were all redone for tourism. They’re still beautiful and probably even more accessible, but the quaintness is largely stifled.
I use to go to Planting Fields in my youth circa 1970’s it had so many fantastic plants & trees.I love the area behind the pool where the paths are lined with roses and the footpath has a violet color. Absolutely beautiful
You're welcome! Thanks for watching. You can visit the Fifth Avenue mansion of Andrew Carnegie (born in Dunfermline, Scotland, in 1835) if you come to NYC. It is now home to the @cooperhewitt - the Smithsonian Design Museum.
Both of my Grandfathers worked at mansions. Lot's of great memories as a kid rooming around these estates. Oh. Did a NYC resident write this? It's "on Long Island". Not "in".
I grew up on the North Shore of Long Island. It was an absolutely bucolic setting. I could not have asked for a more stunning environment in which to live.
I also grew up on the north shore of Long Island. It is a truly magical and magnificently beautiful place to enjoy nature at it's finest. I feel extremely honored to live in such a beautiful and historic landscape surrounded by serene beauty and nature. I cherish every moment that I am allowed to live in such a breathtaking and truly magical part of Long Island. I would never want to live without the nature and serenity of this beautiful part of Long Island. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to have lived and raised my children in such a beautiful place.
I have always felt that Old Westbury Gardens is one of the most beautiful homes that I have been lucky enough to tour. The North Shore of Boston is also called "the Gold Coast" for the same reason, as it was where the wealthy of Boston (and others like Henry Clay Frick: Eagle Rock and Edward C. Swift: Swiftmoore) built their summer "cottages."
These are fantastic, magnificent works of art. Mr. Melissa did a great thing by bringing back Oheka. Seeing it in decay was heartbreaking, and he could have done many other things with that money. Instead he gave us all something beautiful to appreciate. I can just hear the gratitude Oheka is feeling! 😊
@@ThirteenWNET It was originally covered on America's Castle's. I have the entire DVD collection so I'll check to see if they say. I communicated with the narrator for a while many years ago... I'm not sure if he's still alive. He lived on the Hudson River. ❤️🙏
Thank you for this wonderful documentary it is my favorite genre. I love the narrator is voice so sad to see those pictures of the crumbling castle but so happy that this man bought it and we built it!
Loved the video. Thank you. Excellent narration and background information. History is very important. I grew up on long island south shore. Went to grad. School in stony brook. Had the chance to go to port Jefferson. Montauk. Greenport. Take the ferry to shelter island. And visit roslyn great neck etc. Beautiful and affluent. Good job on the video. Thanks. 😊😊😊
I made a video about Port Hefferson. I used to take riding lessons on the north shore, went to Stony Brook for college. Still have an part interest in the family place in Montauk and friends in East Hampton and Wainscott. Took the ferry to Shelter Island when a friend lived there. A different world.
Wow!. Such a great mini documentary!. Loved the whirlwind tour!. Yea, and these all stand as testament to 2 facts - man's pride!. And, ya cant take it with ya!. Wonder what they said to God when they met Him. Hmmmmm......
You are very welcome! You might also enjoy our Treasures of New York film on the Gilded Age architect Stanford White: ruclips.net/video/yv25Kx0dKBU/видео.htmlfeature=shared
I didn't realize the staggering number! WOW! I know that lots of babies died in infancy, and many, many kids didn't go to.school. They actually worked to support their families. Many young boys who were on their own became newsboys and some actually slept on the floor of the newspaper office. Times were more than tough. Only the strong survived. Then came the Civil War and five more after that. Now we have tons of young men dying of gunshot wounds on home soil. We gotta do much better than that.
it is the wealthy (and successful) that built and enhanced the infrastructure throughout cities around the US. In 2021, the latest year with available data, the top 1 percent of income earners earned 26 percent of all income and paid 46 percent of all federal income taxes - more than the bottom 95 percent combined (33 percent). Those that sacrificed and worked themselves to the top are the people that provide the jobs. They created and should be given credited for the industrial revolution than benefited all of us. My thoughts are it took decades for MANY of the wealthy to realize (get a conscious) and begin to share some their wealth. Peoples consciousness changed and matures with time. As of 2020, there are more philanthropists than ever before. Each year they give tens of billions to charitable causes. The US is a young country, but has flourished and grown faster in character as well as innovation and civilly and success, more than an other country before it. This is a complex subject but it is not fair to EXPECT or DEMAND the rich share their wealth with those less fortunate.
At the turn of the century, the Comstock laws prevented abortions and birth control. Both were illegal. Margaret Sanger a nurse to the New York City poor, delivered babies and cared for mothers who were experiencing poverty and constant pregnancy. She introduced birth control by challenging the law and she changed the law. Margaret Sanger was acclaimed by grateful women. The numbers of children and their mothers began a reduction of homeless. 21:17
Terrific video. I had the great pleasure of living in a Thomas Hastings home in Old Westbury called Stone Arches Estate. It has quite the storied past. Hastings is accredited to the NY public library, Arlington Cemetery's Tomb of the Unknown, Manhattan Bridge, many estates not mentioned here except in the beginning. SAE was sorta saved by Pierre in 1977(?), but didn't undergo a full restoration until the 2000s. There's quite a lot of ghost stories regarding this beautiful property. The ghosts were a tad aggressive so I moved out...👻
I think of Cora's mom who said she has a "cottage" there. Then I remembered the people we know and love from Downton Abbey aren't real. Lol they did such a great job on that show we can easily forget they weren't real people.
I grew up near Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia and have lived in Florida for decades. This brought me back to the much-missed rolling hills and lush greenery of another place and time that was so much part of my childhood. Even the lovely brick walls and stone floors are a reminder of the grace and beauty of the North. Florida has none of this history and nature.
I do have to laugh at how Americans fought to be independent from England but spent so much time and money to still live like the 'royalty' they tried so hard to get away from. But these houses are beautiful in their architecture and gorgeous gardens. Tho in the long run, I'd rather live a less 'luxurious life. 😅
Otto Kahn's daughter, NIN RYAN LOVED MY ARTWORK. SHE HAD ONE OF MY PIECES. SHE WAS VERY SUPPORTIVE OF ME. SHE LIVED IN SUTTON PLACE WHEN I MET HER. I SUPPOSE HER GRANDSON, BEAU RYAN HAS IT IN HIS POSSESSSION NOW.❤
I grew up in Boyds Maryland, please see General Wedemyer Estate,my childhood home, i never thought we were wealthy,hundreds of acres to ride our ponies on,i was blessed!
God bless the right person came thru and brought it back to its old glory ❤ all these buildings are sooo beautiful built during a time people cared and had pride ❤ unfortunately that lifestyle no longer exist, but it’s cool to see the beautiful buildings that they left behind
"to create their own privileged society" -- to which I say, good for them! They made a lot of money and what a beautiful thing to create such lovely homes and culture!
loved the sacred geometry, the grotto and Angel fireplace, the acorns the house reminds me of the vatican ceilings. Love the albaster and stones and the history in tunnels and basement so intersting. Where did they live if it was a summer home?
Although our #HuntingtonFamily had many estates up and down both coasts, oddly enough, we did not have one on Long Island. Huntington, NY was named after our family, along with Huntington WV, Huntington TX, Huntington IN, Huntington Beach CA etc. etc. … Oheka Castle really is a treasure.
Very well done documentary! Interestingly, the exact same "fate" happend to the Danish equivalent - an area called "Beach Way"on the coast north of Copenhagen: many grand mansions knocked down or are now used for other purposes than residential and many of their lush garden parks now filled with 1960´s middle class housing developements or smaller one story houses. In fact, an entire row of mansions were knocked down - some dating from the early 19th century - on one stretch of the shorefront in order to create a peoples park in stead!
As somebody who's from Long Island or from Nassau county there is a lot of history for the ride on the island Suffolk county my aunt lives in sayville her house is actually absolutely gorgeous
I grew up in oyster bay/bayville/Locust valley area and it’s always so cool to see how these homes have been repurposed. Lillian Sefton Dodge was a makeup Moguel and when she’s passed her estate was turned into a school for the deaf!
My first time at OHEKA it was still being restored-birds and squirrels were inside. Not Long after Gary would hold "gatherings," with everyone from politicians to artist (me) for lunch and conversation-sort of like what Lorenzo The Magnificent used to do in Italy. The most incredible home I've ever seen/had the pleasure of being a guest in...then some fool shot Gary :(
I was born in Huntington in 1949. My best friend's daughter was married at Oheka Castle and I was a guest. I spent the night in a huge room with the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in. A wonderful experience.
Hi from a Minnesotan but former New Yorker who lived in Huntingto too
Get over they're lives they're all dead try to get some satisfaction in Your lives make it better looking forward to better yourselves
You should tell HBO
I love it when someone buys an old run down house and restores it to its former glory instead of demolishing it!!!! Thank you
So do I! If I had the money, that's exactly what I would do.
@@DiannaGrable-fm8jd So would I, along with so many other things that were positive or good.
Thank you, Amazing story. I was raised on 320 acres in Colorado. There wasn't any Mansion. Oh, but what freedom I had to roam any direction with my dog. Never see a human, find amazing plants, see Wildlife, and gaze at the Rockies. I loved that feeling... Freedom!
I hope that acreage still remains in your family.
FREEDOM all the way! 🇨🇦❤️🇨🇦🇺🇸💙🇺🇸🌹
imagine the freedom the Natives lived on the land where you enjoyed your youth without the worry that the army or Government was going to kill you for that land only to use it for the money gotten for its sale and eturnel taxation.
@@DS-nv8bi Please. You're a privileged first-world oppressor like the rest of us.
I hope you still have it.
How wonderful that these beautiful old houses were preserved.
I had a blessed childhood living next door to the Vanderbilt Eagle's Nest estate. The whole area there was magical. I used to love walking down Little Neck Road in the winter in the snow, which sparkled like diamonds in the lights. One of our favorite summertime activities was driving around Eaton's Neck to Sand City and being mischievous teenagers at the beach and boating. Our neighbors had horses. I loved them! There are too many fantastic stories to tell here. My aunt still lives there nearby our old home.
Not wanting to ask a person's age, when were you growing up there.
@@panam7472 In the 60's and 70's. Then I got married and moved to Boca Raton, Florida.
Wow what did your family do? I live on the north shore but out in Suffolk county , nice area but worlds apart lol
I was born on Staten Island, moved to Levittown, North Babylon, Fort Salonga, near Northport, then married and we went to England with USAF. NOW Colorado!😊. It took awhile to get used to being landlocked 😊My Dad was on the Long Island State Police Force and his office was at Belmont Lake State Park. So long ago😊❤
@@HotSeat17 You must have amazing stories! Thank you for sharing ❤
I really enjoyed watching this historical program. I love gardens & architecture & the history of how they came to be. I had no idea just how many glorious estates & gardens were once located on Long Island.
Good for you Mr. Melissa for buying Oheka and restoring it to its former glory. Now many will be able to appreciate it
The man who bought Oheka, is Gary Melius.
This is one of the better documentations I've seen. Good narration, good interviews, well documented, and beautifully photographed. Thank you.
Thank you for POSTING REALLY ENJOYED IT. NEVER HAD SEEN A GREAT DOCUMENTARY LOVE LOVE IT. WHAT A LOST TO HISTORY THAT SOME WERE TORN DOWN. MONEY AND GREED CAN OVER COME ANYTHING😢😢😢😢😢😢😮
Any of the PBS ones are good
Growing up on North Shore of Long Island in the 60s and being able to visit those wonderful homes is something one can never forget. Still living on Long Island makes it possible to still see the Gardens and these truly magnificent homes.
I have fond memories of the Phipps estate as a child. My mother was good friend was married to the gardner. We spent many Thanksgiving and Christmas with Aunt Jessie and Uncle Ewan. Skating on the pond by the stables.
I love that. Grew up in NJ skating on private ponds. It hasn’t been the same living in PA. My poor son never got the chance.
If you want to know a great story. Approximately 10 years ago I went to an auction here in Pennsylvania where an auction company got a hold of the contents of a demolished mansion on Long Island from years ago. Sitting on the table was a massive turn of the century Nippon Palace urn made of porcelain and hand-painted, very elaborate. It had damage to the base. Nobody knew what it was but I knew what it was since I'm a porcelain expert. I got it for my starting bid of a mere $300 because of the damage. I put it on the internet and a millionaire from Japan was bidding against a millionaire Palm Beach Florida both were Nippon collectors for only the best of Nippon. They both purchased off of me in the past. Even though it was damaged it's still fetched $7000. That was my best Nippon story but not my best antique porcelain story. ❤
Hurray for you, THATS AWESOME!!!
Wow. Tell us your other story.
Great story! Talk about using your expertise. 😊
@@DDBb993 You mean my very best story?
@@voyaristika5673 Thank you. I have many great stories. Pays to have many many years of experience.
Blessing to those who put so much effort in preserving these works of art
And to the craftsmanship and skills rarely seem today...
i grew up in Centerport, on the Long Island Sound, and our house was less than a mile's walk from the Vanderbilt summer home called Eagle's Nest. It had long been a museum when we lived in Centerport in the 50s and 60s, and we never tired of visiting it. Truly gorgeous and unique. How lucky we were to grow up there!
As an amateur history buff, I am fascinated at this bygone era of unimaginable wealth and status, the total isolation on Long Island that is now cluttered with suburbia. It is indeed a bygone era, never to be seen again.
The unity is just wonderful! Beautiful landmarks, interior and exterior designs. Loved the documentary, thanks for your hardwork!
Wonderful story with vivid history of a bygone era. Thank you.
I love this black and white retro footage. Evokes thoughts of "The House of Mirth" and "The Great Gatsby" 💗💗💗
I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVEEEEEEE THIS GENRE OF DOCUMENTARY. Brilliantly researched and presented. Thank you ❤️🕊️
Thank you for watching! This is part of the series Treasures of New York. If you'd like to see more, here's a selection of the series in a playlist: ruclips.net/p/PLZRf9OqttPLM2C_UhWSmHNj_Dc8BbWuli
@@ThirteenWNET oh thank you .. I'll check them out xx 🕊️❤️
Thank you for your Outstanding presentation about these Glorious Mansions. It breaks my heart to know that so many were destroyed. New York State should help to preserve our Long Island heritage and not allow such losses.
Thank you to those who work so hard to preserve our Long Island heritage ❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉❤
INSTEAD OF ILLEGALS
I was born & raised on the north shore of Long Island. We used to fish and dig for clams where several of these estates are. Every now and then someone would come out and watch us, we would hold up fish or a handful of clams, they would usually smile and give a thumbs up. Don't think they realized what was in their backyard. FLY NAVY!!!
😍😍🥰
Unfortunately Manhasset was not able to save Inisfada. I had the privilege to work there 13 years. Sold to developers in 2013 and they demolished this incredible mansion. Truly, unbelievable. It was a magnificient Elizabethan Tudor mansions in North Hills of Manhasset on the Gold Coast, the Brady mansion, built in 1921, I still remember such beauty of architecture and the grounds, amazing. Even though it is gone, wish you would include in this segment. So important part of Long Island history.
That broke my heart. The house had a beautiful chapel inside. The craftsmanship was unbelievable. Shame on Nassau County for not finding a way to save it. These Jewels MUST be saved.
Thank you for sharing that. What a loss.
Thank you for sharing this history here. For anywhere wondering at the name of the mansion - Inisfada - it is Gaelic for Long Island! Inisfada and its fate is covered here, by @ThisHouse: ruclips.net/video/wIlva2bK5fE/видео.htmlfeature=shared
@@serenitypeaceandcomfort3669 Thank you for addressing preservation. Fordham University received Inisfada's disassembled Saint Genevieve’s Chapel and in January 2024, commented on what might come next in the Fordham Ram: fordhamram.com/2013/09/19/fordham-receives-chapel-from-closing-jesuit-retreat-house/
It is a crying shame that these mansions are bring torn down to be replaced by crap.
*The Gold Coast Mansions* -- i.e. *the* " *Before federal income tax homes!* " All joking aside, those that remain are gorgeous!
[The 16th Amendment to the US Constitution (ratified 1913) brought the federal income tax and the I.R.S. into existence]
I am glad that Oheka was restored. Coe Hall and the Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park (Oyster Bay, L.I., NY) are fabulous!
Old Westbury Museum and Gardens are amazing!
As Long Island became more popular as a place for well-to-do NYC city residents to have a summer and (at times used as) weekend
homes more and more of the original, local, fishing villages along the shore and the farming villages inland became enclaves servicing
the elite. To this day in places like the Hamptons, individual families still let out rooms to tourists from NYC.
After WW2, Levittown, Hicksville and other developments became places for the middle class to leave the city.
Stunning homes. Thank you!
Thanks for watching. These families must have had some well pampered pets, too.
This is a fascinating program! As I get older, 70, I appreciate history more and more.
I loved this documentary! I have visited a few of these homes but old westbury gardens property remains my favorite, the entrance, the gardens and the location all come together and become greater than the sum of their parts. I loved learning about these homes and the unique history of it all.
There is so much money in this country! I’d rather live in one of these than the junk they are building now. Come on people, it’s class and built the way things should be built.
What a fantastic video! I am very glad, that at least some of those mansions have survived and became open to the public as part of universities, museums, national parks and hotels.
These wonderful mansions show us that being very rich can get you a fine estate but it does not guarantee happiness or good health.
I've always loved the documentaries on PBS, and I've always loved beautiful architecture. Kudos to Gary Melius for saving the beautiful Oheka mansion and grounds! If I'm ever in New York, I'd love to come visit the mansion.
I used to live on the Gold Coast and these mansions are wonderful parks! I just returned from a visit to Coe Hall over the holidays, and walked through the Italian garden behind the main house one cold winter morning. You literally forget you are in New York, it’s so quiet and peaceful. After being away for almost 8 years I am so happy to return to visit. Thank goodness the few that are standing today are still well maintained, they really are a part of US history.
These homes are stunning. I hope you will do a series on each one with more in-depth history and tours.
I agree, that would be fun.
❤
Are tours available for most homes?
I love finding treasures mostly vintage jewelry and vintage decor. Especially rare treasures! What a blessing and beauty to be to share my treasures with the world. These videos give me inspiration for my passion to keep selling here on RUclips, TY! Such beauty.🌎 👑🧚🏻♂️
Long Island has some of the most beautiful homes in this world! I'm not just being a biased NYer. We are really blessed to have such beautiful landscape and homes. ❤
Wow! The Great Gatsby setting! I been waiting for you! Thank you PBS.
It's great to have you along for the tour!
I’m so blown away by the architects who designed these stunning mansions. Who were these geniuses? Love this video. Thank You!
Wow, the stained glass windows imported from Hever Castle now that is very impressive!
I’m blessed to have visited some of this beautiful and historical mansions of the past and imagine how they used to be and how they have been preserved today. I hope to see more! Thank you for this documentary.
Hello again!! I was very pleased to see this video because when I went to school in Motorola and spent the summer, we did not get to that island. Instead we did Pátzcuaro, Irapuato, Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta. I know that’s a busy place during the Day of the Dead celebrations! As you were showing going up to Morelos, it reminded me of some areas in Taxco, the silver city in the state of Guerrero. Mexico has so many beautiful places to visit. I’m so glad to have been able to visit them in the early 2000’s, before they were all redone for tourism. They’re still beautiful and probably even more accessible, but the quaintness is largely stifled.
I'm so happy that magnificent home was restored❤
I use to go to Planting Fields in my youth circa 1970’s it had so many fantastic plants & trees.I love the area behind the pool where the paths are lined with roses and the footpath has a violet color. Absolutely beautiful
Thank you from Scotland
You're welcome! Thanks for watching. You can visit the Fifth Avenue mansion of Andrew Carnegie (born in Dunfermline, Scotland, in 1835) if you come to NYC. It is now home to the @cooperhewitt - the Smithsonian Design Museum.
Both of my Grandfathers worked at mansions. Lot's of great memories as a kid rooming around these estates.
Oh. Did a NYC resident write this? It's "on Long Island". Not "in".
I'm not into riches however, This is real Beauty! So glad they've been restored & enjoyed by all! It's a part of our History! 😁💕
I grew up on the North Shore of Long Island. It was an absolutely bucolic setting. I could not have asked for a more stunning environment in which to live.
I also grew up on the north shore of Long Island. It is a truly magical and magnificently beautiful place to enjoy nature at it's finest.
I feel extremely honored to live in such a beautiful and historic landscape surrounded by serene beauty and nature.
I cherish every moment that I am allowed to live in such a breathtaking and truly magical part of Long Island.
I would never want to live without the nature and serenity of this beautiful part of Long Island.
I feel privileged to have the opportunity to have lived and raised my children in such a beautiful place.
I have always felt that Old Westbury Gardens is one of the most beautiful homes that I have been lucky enough to tour. The North Shore of Boston is also called "the Gold Coast" for the same reason, as it was where the wealthy of Boston (and others like Henry Clay Frick: Eagle Rock and Edward C. Swift: Swiftmoore) built their summer "cottages."
These are fantastic, magnificent works of art. Mr. Melissa did a great thing by bringing back Oheka. Seeing it in decay was heartbreaking, and he could have done many other things with that money. Instead he gave us all something beautiful to appreciate. I can just hear the gratitude Oheka is feeling! 😊
Oheka Castle's original owner Otto Kahn had easter egg hunts where children found eggs containing $1000.00 bills! ❤️🙏
That’s a surprise! Do you know what families would typically be invited?
@@ThirteenWNET It was originally covered on America's Castle's. I have the entire DVD collection so I'll check to see if they say. I communicated with the narrator for a while many years ago... I'm not sure if he's still alive. He lived on the Hudson River. ❤️🙏
Otto Herman Kahn
@@BluesBoy-ij2rb Merci beaucoup! I combined him with Albert Vanderbilt. ❤️🙏
Excellent documentary
Thank you for the upload!
Thank you for this wonderful documentary it is my favorite genre. I love the narrator is voice so sad to see those pictures of the crumbling castle but so happy that this man bought it and we built it!
Loved the video. Thank you. Excellent narration and background information. History is very important. I grew up on long island south shore. Went to grad. School in stony brook. Had the chance to go to port Jefferson. Montauk. Greenport. Take the ferry to shelter island. And visit roslyn great neck etc. Beautiful and affluent. Good job on the video. Thanks. 😊😊😊
I made a video about Port Hefferson. I used to take riding lessons on the north shore, went to Stony Brook for college. Still have an part interest in the family place in Montauk and friends in East Hampton and Wainscott. Took the ferry to Shelter Island when a friend lived there.
A different world.
My aunt graduated from Stony Brook college I grew up in Nassau county I grew up in Baldwin
We were neighbors. Grew up in north bellmore. Left in 1974 to go to college 🎓. Lived in 5 states. Now in the sunshine ☀ state.
The Power Broker, great book about this.
And a pleasure to see my favorite author, Nelson DeMille, in this.
Very interesting! I had no idea these homes existed on Long Island. You only hear about The Hamptons.
the Hamptons are located in Long Island.
The music is driving me crazy.
Wonderful! Thank you. Loved this
I visited all these mansions, and it was great to hear all these details and historic backgrounds 😊
Planting Fields is stunning!..lets keep the World a "green & pleasant Land" for ourselves and all the other creatures we share the Earth with 🇬🇧 🇺🇲
Loved this fascinating documentary 😊
Wow!. Such a great mini documentary!. Loved the whirlwind tour!.
Yea, and these all stand as testament to 2 facts - man's pride!. And, ya cant take it with ya!. Wonder what they said to God when they met Him. Hmmmmm......
Life was wonderful before income taxes
Thank the j e w s for tax!
Awesome narrator. I love PBS. Thank you ❤❤❤
Thank you for sharing American influential, historical architecture ,❤
You are very welcome! You might also enjoy our Treasures of New York film on the Gilded Age architect Stanford White: ruclips.net/video/yv25Kx0dKBU/видео.htmlfeature=shared
Eternity turns everything upside down
Meanwhile 250,000 children were on the streets at the turn of the 20th Century NYC! 😮😮😮 True statistical fact
I didn't realize the staggering number! WOW! I know that lots of babies died in infancy, and many, many kids didn't go to.school. They actually worked to support their families. Many young boys who were on their own became newsboys and some actually slept on the floor of the newspaper office. Times were more than tough. Only the strong survived. Then came the Civil War and five more after that. Now we have tons of young men dying of gunshot wounds on home soil. We gotta do much better than that.
it is the wealthy (and successful) that built and enhanced the infrastructure throughout cities around the US. In 2021, the latest year with available data, the top 1 percent of income earners earned 26 percent of all income and paid 46 percent of all federal income taxes - more than the bottom 95 percent combined (33 percent). Those that sacrificed and worked themselves to the top are the people that provide the jobs. They created and should be given credited for the industrial revolution than benefited all of us. My thoughts are it took decades for MANY of the wealthy to realize (get a conscious) and begin to share some their wealth. Peoples consciousness changed and matures with time. As of 2020, there are more philanthropists than ever before. Each year they give tens of billions to charitable causes. The US is a young country, but has flourished and grown faster in character as well as innovation and civilly and success, more than an other country before it. This is a complex subject but it is not fair to EXPECT or DEMAND the rich share their wealth with those less fortunate.
At the turn of the century, the Comstock laws prevented abortions and birth control. Both were illegal. Margaret Sanger a nurse to the New York City poor, delivered babies and cared for mothers who were experiencing poverty and constant pregnancy. She introduced birth control by challenging the law and she changed the law. Margaret Sanger was acclaimed by grateful women. The numbers of children and their mothers began a reduction of homeless. 21:17
Life is hard, snowflake.
I believe those riots are still yet to come
Terrific video. I had the great pleasure of living in a Thomas Hastings home in Old Westbury called Stone Arches Estate. It has quite the storied past. Hastings is accredited to the NY public library, Arlington Cemetery's Tomb of the Unknown, Manhattan Bridge, many estates not mentioned here except in the beginning. SAE was sorta saved by Pierre in 1977(?), but didn't undergo a full restoration until the 2000s. There's quite a lot of ghost stories regarding this beautiful property. The ghosts were a tad aggressive so I moved out...👻
Amazing mansions all beauiful
I think of Cora's mom who said she has a "cottage" there. Then I remembered the people we know and love from Downton Abbey aren't real. Lol they did such a great job on that show we can easily forget they weren't real people.
I grew up near Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia and have lived in Florida for decades. This brought me back to the much-missed rolling hills and lush greenery of another place and time that was so much part of my childhood. Even the lovely brick walls and stone floors are a reminder of the grace and beauty of the North. Florida has none of this history and nature.
This was great! ❤
I do have to laugh at how Americans fought to be independent from England but spent so much time and money to still live like the 'royalty' they tried so hard to get away from. But these houses are beautiful in their architecture and gorgeous gardens. Tho in the long run, I'd rather live a less 'luxurious life. 😅
Kind of like “Animal Farm”.
That's not what we were trying to get away from lol
But We don’t have CHARLES! WE WIN😂
The freedom to choose and not have monarchs was the point
Isn’t it nice to live in the land of the free so you can live how you want.
Yes blessing to all those who has presered this wonderful works.. that we can always rediscover this..
Really interesting!!!
Thanks.
Otto Kahn's daughter, NIN RYAN LOVED MY ARTWORK. SHE HAD ONE OF MY PIECES. SHE WAS VERY SUPPORTIVE OF ME. SHE LIVED IN SUTTON PLACE WHEN I MET HER. I SUPPOSE HER GRANDSON, BEAU RYAN HAS IT IN HIS POSSESSSION NOW.❤
BRAVO GARY!! Thank you for Saving such a Beautiful old lady you are a TRUE GENTLEMAN.
I grew up in Boyds Maryland, please see General Wedemyer Estate,my childhood home, i never thought we were wealthy,hundreds of acres to ride our ponies on,i was blessed!
Beautiful to look at, but horrifying to think of how all that wealth was concentrated on a selected few while others suffer.
"Was?"
@lindastill isc6919
God bless the right person came thru and brought it back to its old glory ❤ all these buildings are sooo beautiful built during a time people cared and had pride ❤ unfortunately that lifestyle no longer exist, but it’s cool to see the beautiful buildings that they left behind
"to create their own privileged society" -- to which I say, good for them! They made a lot of money and what a beautiful thing to create such lovely homes and culture!
loved the sacred geometry, the grotto and Angel fireplace, the acorns the house reminds me of the vatican ceilings. Love the albaster and stones and the history in tunnels and basement so intersting. Where did they live if it was a summer home?
We're glad you spotted all those details! Many of these families kept their main residence in New York City.
Wealth it can be useful, when creat ,and build art,and beauty. I am glad they have so much money to spend so lavishly !
How sad that we can't maintain or afford to save these mansions.
Mr Cohn built himself his own Manhattan, all the bits that were worth having ❤
Although our #HuntingtonFamily had many estates up and down both coasts, oddly enough, we did not have one on Long Island. Huntington, NY was named after our family, along with Huntington WV, Huntington TX, Huntington IN, Huntington Beach CA etc. etc. … Oheka Castle really is a treasure.
Go away
i visited old westbury gardens and it was so so pretty
Nice that the home was restored
Fabulous
W to guy who restored the house, its a hard and a dream to all of us
Very well done documentary! Interestingly, the exact same "fate" happend to the Danish equivalent - an area called "Beach Way"on the coast north of Copenhagen: many grand mansions knocked down or are now used for other purposes than residential and many of their lush garden parks now filled with 1960´s middle class housing developements or smaller one story houses. In fact, an entire row of mansions were knocked down - some dating from the early 19th century - on one stretch of the shorefront in order to create a peoples park in stead!
HISTORY MUST BE PRESERVED!!!!!! SO FUTURE GENERATIONS CAN LEARN FROM IT!!!! JUST LIKE CASTLES IN EUROPE!!!! THEY ARE NATIONAL TREASURES!!!!!
What is a mophie?
As somebody who's from Long Island or from Nassau county there is a lot of history for the ride on the island Suffolk county my aunt lives in sayville her house is actually absolutely gorgeous
Excellent 👍
There are so many more which could be talked about. I have even been into several of them.
I grew up in oyster bay/bayville/Locust valley area and it’s always so cool to see how these homes have been repurposed. Lillian Sefton Dodge was a makeup Moguel and when she’s passed her estate was turned into a school for the deaf!
In America, we tend to destroy historical things, Europe, on the ither hand, tends to preserve it.
Planting mansion just lovely
Love history good, bad, truth, and untruths. We are not perfect but we need to cherish our history so some of it is not repeated. 🇺🇸
Beautiful
My first time at OHEKA it was still being restored-birds and squirrels were inside. Not Long after Gary would hold "gatherings," with everyone from politicians to artist (me) for lunch and conversation-sort of like what Lorenzo The Magnificent used to do in Italy. The most incredible home I've ever seen/had the pleasure of being a guest in...then some fool shot Gary :(
I grew up here, Great Neck, Manhasset.
Wonderful show. Background music is so annoying though.