Brookwood Hall, a grand Georgian Revival house built in 1903, is now home to Islip town offices, the Islip Art Museum, and the Islip Arts Council, but was once a private home and then an orphanage. The orphanage, part of the Orphan Asylum Society of the City of Brooklyn, moved to East Islip in 1942. It closed in 1965 when foster homes became prevalent.
Brookwood Hall was built next to a lake in 1903 as a summer home for the affluent Knapp family. It was designed by the renowned New York architectural firm Delano & Aldrich. The 41-room mansion’s site was over 80 acres.
During the second owner’s residency starting in 1929, the Thorne family threw grand parties with live music in the ballroom. The town purchased it in 1967 to prevent its being torn down and developed. The 41-room Georgian Revival house fell into disrepair, with peeling paint and deteriorating structures. It was restored in 2019.
In the early ’70s, the Islip Art Museum was initially the Islip Art Gallery. Founded by Elizabeth Vaughn, an art patron from Islip, the original institution was located in a crumbling gatehouse at the entrance of Brookwood Hall. The gallery featured changing exhibits of contemporary art by Long Island artists. After the gatehouse burned, the gallery moved to the south wing of the Brookwood Hall mansion where it is still housed today.
The Town of Islip placed a historical marker at the site in 2001.
Sources:
“Brookwood Hall.” Angie Carpenter, 19 Oct. 2019, angiecarpenter.com/brookwood-hall-a-ballroom-comes-back-to-life
“Islip Art Museum.” About IAM, www.islipartmuseum.org/about.html. Accessed 11 July 2023
Jacobson, Aileen. “Grand House, Home to Many, Reveals Itself.” The New York Times, 23 Oct. 2010, www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/nyregion/24artsli.html
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