Luxury Property Tour with Maria Babaev; Lands End, Locust Valley

LOCUST VALLEY_LANDS END MANOR. Introducing the extraordinary Lands End Manor, a thirty-two-acre Gold Coast waterfront estate in Locust Valley that has been home to only two families since 1929. During the Roaring Twenties, a farm and farmhouse built circa 1850 was transformed by Walker & Gillette, the most renowned architectural firm of the 20th century, into the grand Georgian Colonial mansion that stands today. Offering incomparable serenity and seclusion, the majestic property encompasses exquisite and historic gardens designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, lush woodlands, bucolic horse pastures, and a working farm framed by beautiful and expansive views of the Long Island Sound. A five-stall stable, six-bedroom guest house, caretaker cottages, greenhouse, pool and Georgian pool house complete this rare and magnificent estate located less than one hour from New York City. Nearby, rich entertainment and recreational resources abound in this North Shore enclave deemed the New Hamptons by those in the know, including golf courses, yacht clubs, beaches, museum mansions, charming village boutiques, upscale designer shops and fine dining. THE PROPERTY: The thirty-two-acre estate encompasses an array of beautiful settings. Guests are welcomed through stately iron gates, along a winding driveway with Old-English-style streetlights, to the large front courtyard of this impressive Georgian manor house. To the north, a long sloping lawn leads to a sparkling gunite swimming pool, spa, and pool house with dressing rooms, baths, party room, kitchen, laundry, and pump house all recently renovated - and continues down to a historic, award-winning gazebo overlooking the nature preserve and waterfront. A breathtaking English garden off the living room adorned with a myriad of flowers is awash with color and overlooks the distant waters of the Long Island Sound beyond century-old specimen trees and the same expansive lawns. A wine-grape arbor, accented with roses, begins a meandering pathway leading to the magnificent walled rose garden, complete with statuary and a fountain. Both gardens are on the Historic Gardens Registry at the Smithsonian Institute. About 250-feet away, the property takes on a serene bucolic ambiance with a pebble stoned pathway leading to a generous vegetable garden, herb and spice garden, and a cutting garden to provide fresh flowers for the mansion. In addition, there are various fruit trees and grape vines, from which the owners produce Lands End wine. Here, a driveway leading to the rear entrance, passes by split-rail-fenced pastures and winds around the garden to a large working greenhouse with adjoining office, bathroom, and basement. Beyond the greenhouse, the drive reaches the stables featuring a comfortable paneled lounge/tack room with bathroom, an exquisite and meticulously maintained five-stall stable area fit for thoroughbreds, plus an attached four-car garage, a one-bedroom and bath groomsman cottage and a two-bedroom, two-bath caretaker cottage all under one roof. A short stroll away, a charming two-story guest cottage, built in the 1930s, offers ample and comfortable space for guests with six bedrooms, five baths, a library, playroom, dining room, living room, kitchen, basement, and flagstone patio. The northern expanse of the property is covered with groves of trees obscuring various outbuildings including a barn and several garages. One will delight in taking pleasant walks or horseback rides through orchards, past specimen trees (one of which won an award at the 1936 Worlds Fair), sweeping lawns, and through wooded areas where one may perhaps catch a glimpse of golfers on the neighboring Creek Club course or yachts passing on the Sound. For a quieter moment, the Japanese Reflection Garden offers an ideal escape to ponder and muse. Whatever your mood, Lands End is sure to please. HISTORY: Originally the Cravath farm with farmhouse, built circa 1885, was bought by George Galt Bourne, son of Frederich G. Bourne, president of Singer Manufacturing Company, in the early Twentieth Century for a summer getaway and a place for his new wife, Massachusetts socialite, Helen Whitney, to raise her horses. An avid equestrian, she later married, Harvey Dow Gibson, a very wealthy and well-known businessman, who at 34, was the youngest man to be a New York bank president when he became the President of Manufacturers Hanover Trust, the precursor of todays Citibank. Gibson served as the President of the Red Cross in France during World War I, receiving the countrys highest honor, the Order National de la Lgion DHonneur, and in England during World War II earning many more honors.