Knollwood Estate

Knollwood Estate was originally built for Charles I. Hudson between 1906 and 1920, The 60-room mansion had elements of Greek Revival, Italian Renaissance and Spanish styling with towering Ionic front columns with terraced garden and a dairy farm to satisfy his passion for raising Jersey cattle. The landscape architect was Ferrucio Vitale. The 150-acre estate devoted a large part of its land to commercial farming and pasturing. A stuccoed combination stable and garage building included space for 12 cars and apartments for chauffeurs, grooms, and gardeners. A poultry building and a hog house were also located on the estate, as well as an additional stable that housed farm horses, wagons, and implements. Accommodations included a boarding house for farm laborers, a cottage for the farm superintendent, and an additional cottage for agricultural workers. 

 Following Hudson’s death in 1921, Knollwood was sold to Gustavia Senff, widow of Charles H. Senff, director of the American Sugar Refining Company (later Domino Sugar). Charles Senff McVeigh, an attorney, inherited Knollwood as trustee following the death of his aunt in 1927. McVeigh sold Knollwood to King Gustav S. Zog of Albania in 1951 for approximately $102.800. 

 King Zog, born Ahmet Muhtar Bej Zogolli, ruled Albania from 1925 to 1939, first as president and later as king, before he was forced to flee Albania with his family following invasion by Italian forces. Zog had planned on turning Knollwood into his own personal micro-kingdom, complete with Albanian subjects, but somehow these plans never materialized. He was particularly taken with Knollwood’s extensive dairy and capacity to house a thousand chickens. But Zog’s hopes ran higher than poultry: owning an American residence meant that Zog and his family would have an easier time immigrating to the United States, which was an implicit component of his understanding with the government. If he could not be king in Albania, Zog planned to live like an aristocratic landowner in America. 

Once the paperwork on Knollwood was signed, he began looking into the possibility of bringing over whole families of servants with him to America to serve as the foundation for a court of over 100 people. Worried that being accepted as a “refugee” or an official “emigrant” might damage his claim to the Albanian throne, Zog refused to accept anything less than an official invitation and sponsorship. On September 22, 1953, after a direct petition from CIA Director Allan Dulles, the U.S. State Department finally instructed their Alexandrian consulate that Zog and his entourage were to be allowed into the United States without visas. Sadly for him, the king didn't leave the country in time. Four days later, the king’s villa was raided by Egyptian authorities, Zog was arrested, and a large sum of his gold reserves were seized. By 1955, the property had fallen to disrepair and was sold to Lansdell Christie who had most of it demolished in 1959. Today curious hikers can explore what remains of King Zog’s would-be palace on what is now part of Nassau County’s 550-acre Muttontown Preserve. 

 Sources: 

 “Knollwood: The Estate and Its Owners.” Long Island Past and Present, 1 Mar. 2019, longislandpastandpresent.com/2019/03/01/knollwood-the-estate-and-its-owners

 “Ruins of King Zog's Estate.” Atlas Obscura, Atlas Obscura, 10 July 2013, www.atlasobscura.com/places/ruins-of-king-zog-s-estate 

 “The Secret Cold War History of a Ruined Long Island Estate.” Mental Floss, 13 June 2017, www.mentalfloss.com/article/501395/secret-cold-war-history-ruined-long-island-estate