Hempstead House

 Hempstead House is one of four mansions on the grounds of the Guggenheim Estate, which also includes Castle Gould, Falaise and Mille Fleur. The Tudor-style castle served as a summer residence for the family.

It was designed by architects Hunt & Hunt in 1912. This 50,000-square-foot three-story mansion is 225 feet long and 135 feet wide. It has 40 rooms, including a 60-foot-tall entry foyer. Inside the foyer, the imposing vaulted ceiling illustrates the extraordinary lifestyle of the roaring 1920s and 1930s. The foyer’s magnificent Wurlitzer Opus 445 Theatre Organ is fully restored. 

The library was copied from the palace of King James I and portraits of literary figures still decorate its ceiling. The Billiard Room originally featured a gold leaf ceiling, hand-tooled leather wall coverings, and carved oak woodwork from a 17th-Century Spanish palace.

The sunken Palm Court once contained 150 species of rare orchids, plants and potted trees. An aviary housed exotic birds in ornate cages among the flowers. On the mezzanine level is the Breakfast Room with leaded windows on three sides overlooking the park grounds. All of the rooms on the second floor have carved fireplaces and are detailed with plaster trim on the walls and ceilings, each in a unique style.

After Daniel Guggenheim’s death in 1930, his wife Florence closed Hempstead House and built the fourth mansion on the property, Mille Fleur, a smaller waterside home for herself. Hempstead House’s furnishings were sold in 1940, and Florence opened the mansion to children evacuated from the war in Europe until foster homes could be found for them. In 1942, she donated 162 acres of the estate to the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences. The U.S. Navy purchased the property in 1946 for a Naval Training Device Center, and, in 1971, the property was acquired by Nassau County.

Today, Hempstead House is used for concerts, lectures, and private events, such as weddings.

Source:

“Hempstead House.” Sands Point Preserve, sandspointpreserveconservancy.org/about/hempstead-house/. Accessed 23 June 2023