To allow this home to be razed is an open wound on our culture. Buildings like this can no longer be constructed because of the material costs and the loss of fine skilled craftsman. This obscene destruction was permitted in the name of greed. How many old-style American mansions are left? It seems every time a historical building is torn down we lose a part of our history, the very fabric of our nation. We need to preserve this magnificent architecture so it can be cherished and studied and passed along to future generations. I'm very pleased that good folks like Ken spend their time and resources to document our countries great historical buildings to share with us. Thank you Ken-you are clearly passionate about classical architecture and your hard work is greatly appreciated.
Apparently there wasn’t a supply of cocaine available for these people to snort. I suppose that a ridiculously huge mansion for them and no kids was required. I wonder how many millions they donated to Catholic charities? Did the church support any charities they way Jesus would want?
I pass by that property daily and to see the mundane and soulless homes being built there is pathetic. It’s like salt being poured into the wound left by the demolished greatness of the former manse.
Never give anything valuable to a Church unless you want it gone for good. They have...let's say different values, different goals and most importantly nobody to doubt their motivations or question their ways. They'll sell your grandma and say they couldn't afford upkeep while pocketing every penny they made. That's how religion do. They're all the same cults you see today but with centuries worth of wrath and fervor so you end up killed over something everybody agrees with as soon as it's not about someone's faith anymore. Quite the puzzle
@@IntriguedLioness You must be a developer. It's only impractical if you lack imagination. Many old manor houses and castles are repurposed and reused in Europe, where they respect their old architecture.
@@noellem3417 I agree with you 100% And I'm no fan of opulence. I do abhor the waste & destruction of anything well crafted. I'd much rather see historical buildings, refurbished & saved whenever possible. Profit is unfortunately valued above all else.
Whenever I see lots of black and white images, I know where this is heading......for demolition!!! So wonderful we still have exterior and interior photos. Thanks so much for sharing.
Would have been a perfect special event and wedding venue with lodging. What a travesty to tear it down. I can’t imagine being one of the people who had to do that. 😢
In the sixties, almost nobody got married in “a venue.” Those wanting a non-church, non-country club, non-hotel (the usual places people gathered for significant events like weddings back then) would have been mystified by the idea. But I get it. It’s too bad it wasn’t turned into something….
So what does the tear down of all these beautiful houses tell you about America? That money always goes before beauty or culture, or anything else. Sad, but very true
You are right Klaus. A nation that considered ruthless and greedy millionaires as role models could not act otherwise. "If you want to know the end, look at the beginning". Having said that, it was very much the same in my country, Argentina, where the ultra-wealthy landowners (we did not have an entrepreneurial upper class) build enormous and beautiful mansions between 1880 and 1914. Almost 90% of them were demolished between 1950 and 1980, regardless of their beauty (our architects followed the French Beaux-Arts school)
Beautiful? Maybe. But it must have been amazingly uncomfortable - sitting near a fireplace during the winter, and no air conditioning in the summer. Much better to have been torn down and livable homes built there.
@@Patrick462those huge estately mansions demand too many people to maintain and are too impractical. They might look nice but are in fact an abomination of inequality
Just took a streetview of the site (as close as you could get anyways) and the developer built the ugliest "Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes made of ticky tacky, Little boxes on the hillside, Little boxes all the same!"🎶🎶
37 unique artisian chimneys! There was so much vision in earning the wealth, then building and furnishing this mansion. Ultimately no one could walk in his footsteps and even maintain this wonderful mansion. I wish the church had at least purchased this as an investment. The investment would have paid off in time.
I can't believe that some morbidly rich Wall Street fund manager didn't buy this house and save it to feed his ego. If you're going to be paid obscene amounts of money, at least do something constructive with it and preserve a piece of architectural history.
1937 was still during the depression. Given the cost of maintaining that large an estate, I’m not really surprised it was demolished. It’s sad, but understandable given the times.
@@MinnieTricksI think he means in 2013 before it got demolition. At the time, I think most people assumed that with amounts of money finance guys happily drop in the Hamptons one of them would scoop this place up. But unfortunately, it didn't happen like that.
Thank you Ken, I love the pace of your narration, the info given in well thought out sentences and the photos which are shown for a good length of time 😊
These giant old houses often met the wrecking ball because of maintenance costs. Everyone dreams of a house like that but in reality few could afford to restore and maintain a house like that.
Wow!! Thank you Ken for showing this magnificent mansion and the story behind it. Mr Brady and his wife passed at a young age. They didn’t enjoy this beauty of a mansion for too long. Too bad it was demolished.
My favourite is it's entrance staircase, so sad to see this beauty gone to dust ,all the very best @this house for the work your are doing ,from your sincere subscriber 😀
The wood Tudor-revival staircase at Frank Augustus Seiberling's "Stan Hyet" mansion in Akron, OH is similar and is a museum. (He was the founder of Goodyear Rubber Co.). I think there is an episode on the house on this webchannel.
@@pavelow235 she's absolutely right. The land is what was important. They do this all the time with historic churches they buy them for millions of dollars just to knock them down and make a football stadium.
I live just down the road from where this house was. The entrance to the road were these beautiful stone railings. They flattened everything except on of the large trees and have started erecting these cookie cutter new builds. Our town has lost so many historical buildings since I have lived here it is such a shame.
Blame the foolish mayor of North Hills and the entire village board, they refused to grant preservation protections and village lost its architectural showplace. The village residents didn't do their part either to save this treasure. Ignorance and greedy developers work hand in hand and the low grade crap that is being built here now is horrible and cheap.
Excellent video. The landscaping was laid out by the noted designer Samuel Bowne Parsons Jr. (1844-1923) not Frederick Law Olmsted... Olmsted passed away in 1903.
Wow before your dialog I assumed I was looking at Meadowbrook Hall in Michigan (North of Detroit). I wouldn't be surprised if this house has the same architect. Anna Dodge replicated a house from Newport (Miramar) which stood on the Detroit River (Rose Terrace II). I am lucky to have some furniture from this house which was taken down in 1978.
Ha, I thought the same as you at first glance! Then, after a closer look, I realized that there are some differences. I believe that (Dodge) house was designed by William Kapp of the firm Smith, Hinchman, Grylls, some years after this house. In any case, this Long Island mansion was taken down as recently as 2013?!?!..very scary!
@@MrFullService It is CRIMINAL to hear that an architectural masterpiece like this was taken down as recently as 2013! You'd think by now we in North America would've learned a thing or two about preserving the past & architectural masterpieces! Anna Dodge built a French styled mansion along the Detroit River called "Rose Terrace Two" and this house was demolished in 1976. This house was a carbon copy of a mansion over in Newport RH called "Miramar" which was built for Mrs Widener after she lost her husband & son during the 1912 sinking of the Titanic. Rose Terrace Two was slightly larger than Miramar (by two window lengths) but, the two homes were almost identical in both the exterior & interiors. Take a moment to google image both houses and you will laugh that the architect basically used the same plans twice! When Anna Dodge passed away in 1970, the contents of the house were sold at auction and relatives of mine purchased various items from the property. Literally two days ago I moved a cabinet from the mansion down to my basement (felt sacrilegious to do so) because it "overwhelmed" the living room. Then I moved a desk into the living room (which I knew was old) but, moving it saw that it was also from the 1971 auction (Lot 135) and was purchased for $490.00. I also have an entire French bedroom set commissioned by Anna Dodge for Rose Terrace II and some of it is in storage because the furniture is too large for my guestroom LOL. Are you from Michigan that you also first thought that this property was Meadowbrook Hall?
When one walked around the home one would find stone reliefs of animals and nursery rhymes. I heard that the Brady’s built it for their children, but sadly they never had any. The Cardinal who visited was Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli. The future Pope Pius XII. The retreat center had a picture of the Cardinal and Mrs. Brady in the drawing room. They also displayed some of his vestments. I am happy to hear that the chapel is in storage. It was one of most beautiful rooms in the house. The house is missed by many Catholics on Long Island.
It has been done . Thousands upon thousands have been torn down in Europe . The reason being huge inheritance taxes being owed when deaths occurred. All sad tales lead back to government.
I made a retreat at Inisfada years ago when the Catholic church had it as a retreat house, the house was breathtaking. There was a pipe organ built in the grand hall and the pool house was still there but had been sold off in the first phase of land sell off. I pass there often and it just broke my heart to see it torn down, you can't believe how grand it was.
You state the house was torn down on December 5th of the same year it was sold. What year was home torn down? Your only other clue is it happened "decades" after the sale of the furnishings. Aside from this odd tease, I love your content.
_(I subscribe to this channel for both a history lesson and as an appreciation of architecture and decor.)_ *However* , I have to laugh as the comments are always "why did they tear it down" or "what a waste". These opulent displays of wealth and power had no place when the rest of the country was struggling and not even the Catholic Church, paying no taxes no less, could see fit to keep this monstrosity going. Is it beautiful? Yes. Are they practical in this world of smaller families? Absolutely not. I grew up in a multi generational manor house in Britain and at least it lasted hundreds of years before the land was sold off in chunks. If not for museums, tourist shops, and events such as weddings we wouldn't have any of our British manor house houses left. After WWII hundreds were raised. Equally, the ostentatious modern build such as the LA spelling mansion and all of the hideous 20+ room mcmansions will go in time and the land parceled off to build smaller and more practical housing.
Im so glad you made this comment. Although this mansion was beautiful, as are many others in Newport etc., they are grossly ostentatious. Many mansions were built around the Great Depression simply to show off wealth to other wealthy people. Museums, charities, religious orders and other non profit organizations who were gifted these places need more and more money just to maintain them.
Disagree.....the big homes are built in the popular areas of the world's wealthy.....which Long Island is not the popular areas of the big homes anymore. Rich people are building extravagant homes at the same clip they were in the Gilded Age. You just need to look worldwide.
@@pavelow235 While I agree with the concept you put forward, I must remind you that back in the day we had artisans who spent months or even years crafting moldings, furniture, reliefs, ceilings, ironwork, and anything you can think of that a home would need. Everything you need for a "mansion" now is mass produced and dare I say, "affordable". Being from the NYC area, I see this every day.
@@kathycasey9153 I was actually astounded by one of the aerial views. It was bigger than my boarding school in Britain. I’m not joking! If you count the support buildings, it was bigger than a boarding school for 300 girls!!!
When people and organizations are given "things"; too often, the recipients have no respect for the gifts' "value". The end-story of this mansion is a prime example of how ungrateful the recipients were.
Something of this size would always be beyond the abilities (and sensibilities) of a religious order to maintain. My guess is that Genevieve Brady hoped it would house a school or even nascent college. It was too big even for a seminary. It might have survived if donated to the City of New York or a NYC museum. I got a degree in historic preservation in the 1980s and even small treasures (Frank Lloyd Wright houses, Tiffany mosaics, etc) were very difficult to maintain via private funding. If there’s not an almost immediate secondary use for a building like this, only a “vanity purchaser” can save it. People with that kind of money are rare. Even the original owners usually find they cannot afford to maintain the property they’ve paid to have built. This is something that architectural enthusiasts are usually unaware of. It made working in preservation a very depressing experience. That’s why I eventually went into design and engineering instead.
@@rosezingleman5007 thank you for being a voice of reason in these comments. I just left a comment as to my family background in a very large Manor House in Britain. Many were sold off and razed after WWII and tax laws just as in the case in the US. Museums, tourist attractions, gardens, and even hosting events such as wedding is the only way that we have any of these large houses left in Britain. However I do not shed too many tears as in the US these houses rarely lasted one or two generations as tax laws had changed and no descendants wanted to take on the burden. The same will happen to the ugly mcmansions that oligarchs and the nouveau riche now build in LA and other emerging economies.
Thank you for your reply. When I was growing up my mom allowed me to see a rather adult movie based on a Noel Coward play (I think) called “The Grass is Greener,” starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr as a landed gentry couple who, coincidental to the plot, open their home weekly to tours. I was maybe 10 years old and it opened my eyes to the reality of ownership of someone else’s dream house. Years later I would encounter this up close when I was a volunteer in the first restoration of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Jacobs I house in Madison Wisconsin. It had been rumored for years that Wright had raided the Johnson Wax corporate building project in Racine Wisconsin for basic building materials in order to bring the newspaperman’s “modest house” in on budget-a highly publicized $5000. At the time that was still a bit rich for most people. I have, to this day, two bricks from the original Jacobs house and they are curved, which confirmed that they were, in fact, from the other project. Herb Jacobs sold the house. *All architect designed structures are “vanity projects” for both signers of the contract.* That is a hard truth in rough economic times.
I wish people like Bill Gates that have plenty of money to waste on ridiculous unwanted projects would use their money to save these magnificent structures. Intifada should have never been destroyed. In this day and age there should be plenty of creative methods and resources to save our heritage.
In Europe the iconoclastic religious movements destroyed an estimated 500,000 priceless works of art. Generations of Europeans raided old structures to build new structures. There’s precious little of the actual built history of any civilization still standing. Look at how fast the French were to suggest turning Notre Dame de Paris into a “multicultural center” by removing most traces of the original ornamentation from the interior. There’s always a mania for newness. People like us who value the antique are the rare ones.
I hail from Britain and hundreds manor houses were razed after the two World Wars as they are impractical and nowadays no one has multi-generational large families, especially the wealthy. The few that are left had 95% of the lands they lorded over sold off to developers and the main houses have survived only to become museums and event facilities.
@@IntriguedLioness The large tracks of land had to be sold due to incredibly high taxes in most cases, the same thing happened in the US, but turning those grand mansions into museums is better off than tearing them down. Here in the US, we tear down not only mansions, but architecturally worthy/significant buildings in cities all over the country, but in most places in Europe, especially in Spain, they can't tear them down, they can be updated/refurbished/add floors to it, but the facade most stay standing.
@@steveschramko2386uite true. Also in the wake of Luther. All social upheaval leads to destruction of some kind, as we have witnessed in very recent times.
I'm not much a Connoisseur or something but gahddamn, 2:07 is magnificent!!! That ceiling is worth getting stared at if you want to avoid eye contact, lay down flat with a hangover...i don't know what successful, good people did with it but that's why I want one
Right on! Whether it is hammerbeam, queen truss, king truss, I want that ceiling too! I think the homeowners and family would just sat back with a nice snifter of cognac in their recliners and stared at the truss beams for hours of entertainment on weekend nights.
What I always wonder seeing these open fireplaces: why on earth would somebody have an open fireplace that wastes all the wood and fire-heat and not use a masonry stove that traps the heat and remains warm with less wood-waste, and does not even leave a trace of smoke in the room, if you heat it from a service-room? One should think if people are rich they would go for clean air.
They also bought the New York City Chamber of Commerce Building in Manhattan as an industrial bank. Its interiors were the setting of the fictional "Heritage Club" in "Trading Places" with Dan Ackroyd and Eddie Murphy. I bet they dismantled that nice mahogany-paneled Assembly room and sold all the paintings of the capitalists.
The Hong Kong Based Developers that demolished this flawless home, should have been arrested and incercerated for 30 years each, with no chance for parole ‼‼‼‼‼‼‼‼😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡‼‼‼‼‼‼‼‼‼‼
Every one of these mansions in the US has the exact same story Some wealthy man builds it for his wife, he dies soon after, she lives in it for a few more years, claims it to be too much to handle, and auctions off all interior furniture and structures like paneling, fireplaces, stairs etc, then sells it to some strange group or nonprofit that holds onto it for some years before selling or demolishing it.... All of the ggreat homes mansions, large impressive structure have met their demise the exact same way
Built in the same time period, some only take two years to build, this one was four. It's very odd. Just like the World's Fairs. The one in New York had a Crystal Palace just like the one in England. They make no sense. Actually, this one did take only two years to build.
They need to save the Widener's mansion outside Philly before the roof collapses more. The family had died out by the 1940s (and the father and son (Harry Elkins Widener, Harvard '07) drowned on the sinking of the Titanic in 1912) and was sold to some church group then they left after some legal squabbles and it went derelict. Hollywood actor Hopwood DePree is trying to restore his ancestral 14th Century manor outside Manchester (Hopwood Hall) and has dedicated his life since discovering it in 2017. He wrote a book about the ongoing restoration "Downton Shabby". He is doing a pretty good job with it using various national preservation societies and craftsmen. He is also hilarious on his videos. The 2 sons of the last owner had been both killed in WWI and the sorrowful father passed away around 1940. The Hall then became a religious order teacher's college and in the 70-80s the students even built a nightclub inside that featured many of the British New Wave acts and even Ozzy Osbourne. Then it closed in the 1990s to the point of near collapse from roof leaks and vandalism. Chopin had played there in the 1800s. Bryon had slept there as well. It will be amazing when the restoration is done.
These stories blow my mind and in a way illustrate our impermanence and addiction to wealth and celebrity. American entrepreneur oligarch makes unfathomable amounts of money, he and his wife build unfathomably large and priceless manson to display said wealth, (I always wonder how their relationship is at this point in the marriage), they move in and enjoy the house a while before they die, kids sometime get house and don't want it, house donated but too big and expensive, real estate developer purchases - museum- demolishes and creates tenant housing. I guess the whole story is part of the -not so popular- part of the narrative of the American dream, the birth and death cycle that can happen in a single generation.
There does not seem to be any construction photograph's to document the construction. Many of these mansions were "founded" and not built in the years, nor construction times cited by the mainstream story.
LOVE the content here ! CONSTRUCTIVE POSITIVE CRITICISM !! It sound like you are working on voice inflection. Please listen carefully to yourself, then others to hear the peaks and valleys in your structure. I am not a professional but it definitely sounds like you want to be. All is meant in peace with honest opinion.
What should they have done? The point is, with all its furnishings, it wasn’t an appropriate place for a holy order. They wanted a stripped down house. Sure - it’s extravagant but she wanted them to use it. Yea, they sold it and it went to other causes. I guess this is where you bring up mistreating kids.
@@badxradxandy it doesn’t require they live in poverty. By the way, never end a sentence with “to”. It really shows ignorance. Guess you were not educated by the Jesuits.
Not sure about the reason the Jesuits turned down Inisfada. They already owned the second largest house in America, Shadowbrook. That was a different province, but there was precedence.
Interesting. I had to look this up. It was given to them. 'Andrew Carnegie's widow gave Shadow Brook to the Jesuit Society of Jesus in 1922. In March of 1956, the castle burned, but was rebuilt. The new building does not approach the quality of the old one.' But this is another mansion that was built in just two years, the original one. SMH
The mayor of North Hills at the time, a really ignorant person, didn't believe in landmark protections nor preservation so his legacy is that under his watch, the village of North Hills long island lost this architectural masterpiece and gained a tacky cluster of developer grade mcmansions. Nice going mayor! Your title as the dumbest mayor ever is secured.
The house sold to the "Hong Kong based development group, Mesabi Group" is so troubling. Seriously, how do Americans not see the issue with foreign Communist parties buying up American land and American landmarks?
Incredible that this was destroyed in as recently as 2013. I wouldn't have thought that something this nice would be allowed to be destroyed.
To allow this home to be razed is an open wound on our culture. Buildings like this can no longer be constructed because of the material costs and the loss of fine skilled craftsman. This obscene destruction was permitted in the name of greed. How many old-style American mansions are left? It seems every time a historical building is torn down we lose a part of our history, the very fabric of our nation. We need to preserve this magnificent architecture so it can be cherished and studied and passed along to future generations. I'm very pleased that good folks like Ken spend their time and resources to document our countries great historical buildings to share with us. Thank you Ken-you are clearly passionate about classical architecture and your hard work is greatly appreciated.
It’s so sad that this magnificent architectural masterpiece is no longer !😢
Apparently there wasn’t a supply of cocaine available for these people to snort. I suppose that a ridiculously huge mansion for them and no kids was required. I wonder how many millions they donated to Catholic charities? Did the church support any charities they way Jesus would want?
I pass by that property daily and to see the mundane and soulless homes being built there is pathetic. It’s like salt being poured into the wound left by the demolished greatness of the former manse.
Such a tragedy to wipe out such magnificence.
Never give anything valuable to a Church unless you want it gone for good. They have...let's say different values, different goals and most importantly nobody to doubt their motivations or question their ways. They'll sell your grandma and say they couldn't afford upkeep while pocketing every penny they made. That's how religion do. They're all the same cults you see today but with centuries worth of wrath and fervor so you end up killed over something everybody agrees with as soon as it's not about someone's faith anymore. Quite the puzzle
Yet such opulence is Impractical and all that goes up must come down.
@@IntriguedLioness You must be a developer. It's only impractical if you lack imagination. Many old manor houses and castles are repurposed and reused in Europe, where they respect their old architecture.
I agree SuperB719. So much history and architectural magnificence.
@@noellem3417 I agree with you 100%
And I'm no fan of opulence. I do abhor the waste & destruction of anything well crafted. I'd much rather see historical buildings, refurbished & saved whenever possible. Profit is unfortunately valued above all else.
Whenever I see lots of black and white images, I know where this is heading......for demolition!!! So wonderful we still have exterior and interior photos. Thanks so much for sharing.
Breaks my heart that anyone would tear down something so beautiful!
Would have been a perfect special event and wedding venue with lodging. What a travesty to tear it down. I can’t imagine being one of the people who had to do that. 😢
In the sixties, almost nobody got married in “a venue.” Those wanting a non-church, non-country club, non-hotel (the usual places people gathered for significant events like weddings back then) would have been mystified by the idea.
But I get it. It’s too bad it wasn’t turned into something….
So what does the tear down of all these beautiful houses tell you about America? That money always goes before beauty or culture, or anything else. Sad, but very true
Creeping Philistinism....
You are right Klaus. A nation that considered ruthless and greedy millionaires as role models could not act otherwise. "If you want to know the end, look at the beginning". Having said that, it was very much the same in my country, Argentina, where the ultra-wealthy landowners (we did not have an entrepreneurial upper class) build enormous and beautiful mansions between 1880 and 1914. Almost 90% of them were demolished between 1950 and 1980, regardless of their beauty (our architects followed the French Beaux-Arts school)
Beautiful? Maybe. But it must have been amazingly uncomfortable - sitting near a fireplace during the winter, and no air conditioning in the summer. Much better to have been torn down and livable homes built there.
@@Patrick462those huge estately mansions demand too many people to maintain and are too impractical. They might look nice but are in fact an abomination of inequality
I wonder where all the antique European paneling and furniture came from?
Maintenance nightmare the bane of all large houses.
Colleges need to start a new Major in "Nice Home Restoration and Engineering". Better than Sociology , Criminology, or "Media".
Just took a streetview of the site (as close as you could get anyways) and the developer built the ugliest "Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky tacky,
Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes all the same!"🎶🎶
37 unique artisian chimneys! There was so much vision in earning the wealth, then building and furnishing this mansion. Ultimately no one could walk in his footsteps and even maintain this wonderful mansion. I wish the church had at least purchased this as an investment. The investment would have paid off in time.
For those like me who were wondering what year it was torn down....2013
Also wondering what years for building?
JIM
Thank you .
Loved the hammer beam trusses in the great room they had to be my favourite.
I can't believe that some morbidly rich Wall Street fund manager didn't buy this house and save it to feed his ego. If you're going to be paid obscene amounts of money, at least do something constructive with it and preserve a piece of architectural history.
1937 was still during the depression. Given the cost of maintaining that large an estate, I’m not really surprised it was demolished. It’s sad, but understandable given the times.
@@MinnieTricksI think he means in 2013 before it got demolition. At the time, I think most people assumed that with amounts of money finance guys happily drop in the Hamptons one of them would scoop this place up. But unfortunately, it didn't happen like that.
Thank you Ken, I love the pace of your narration, the info given in well thought out sentences and the photos which are shown for a good length of time 😊
Insane something this huge could be built and then torn down
These giant old houses often met the wrecking ball because of maintenance costs. Everyone dreams of a house like that but in reality few could afford to restore and maintain a house like that.
Sad sad story. It was repeated on millionaire’s row in New York and on many country homes in England.
In Buffalo, New York also.
Wow!! Thank you Ken for showing this magnificent mansion and the story behind it. Mr Brady and his wife passed at a young age. They didn’t enjoy this beauty of a mansion for too long. Too bad it was demolished.
Thank goodness for cameras and your tireless efforts to catalog these houses.
A treatment worthy of the subject. Thank you!
Reminds me of Meadowbrook Hall in Rochester Michigan. It still stands as a museum!
You r videos on these old homes are totally entertaining. Thanks.
Glad you are enjoying them! Cheers!
My favourite is it's entrance staircase, so sad to see this beauty gone to dust ,all the very best @this house for the work your are doing ,from your sincere subscriber 😀
The wood Tudor-revival staircase at Frank Augustus Seiberling's "Stan Hyet" mansion in Akron, OH is similar and is a museum. (He was the founder of Goodyear Rubber Co.). I think there is an episode on the house on this webchannel.
It just goes to show you, that no matter how incredible and valuable something is, it can hold no value to someone else.
hmmm the developer paid 38 million for the "no value" of the house environs.
@@pavelow235 The 38 million was for the land, not for the house, because the house held no value to the developer.
@@pavelow235 she's absolutely right. The land is what was important. They do this all the time with historic churches they buy them for millions of dollars just to knock them down and make a football stadium.
One person's treasure is a morlock's trash.
Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust! Nothing escapes!
That Fireplace within a Fireplace setup is just amazing!
Also insert Xzibit meme here
It is an "inglenook".
WOW NOW that is a house. Philadelphia USA 🇺🇲
I live just down the road from where this house was. The entrance to the road were these beautiful stone railings. They flattened everything except on of the large trees and have started erecting these cookie cutter new builds. Our town has lost so many historical buildings since I have lived here it is such a shame.
Blame the foolish mayor of North Hills and the entire village board, they refused to grant preservation protections and village lost its architectural showplace. The village residents didn't do their part either to save this treasure. Ignorance and greedy developers work hand in hand and the low grade crap that is being built here now is horrible and cheap.
Excellent video.
The landscaping was laid out by the noted designer Samuel Bowne Parsons Jr. (1844-1923) not Frederick Law Olmsted... Olmsted passed away in 1903.
A tragic end, but so common.
BTW the pronunciation is Jac-o-be-an.
Another term to describe house of this style here in England is Tudorbethan.
Either pronunciation is acceptable.
Wow before your dialog I assumed I was looking at Meadowbrook Hall in Michigan (North of Detroit). I wouldn't be surprised if this house has the same architect.
Anna Dodge replicated a house from Newport (Miramar) which stood on the Detroit River (Rose Terrace II).
I am lucky to have some furniture from this house which was taken down in 1978.
Ha, I thought the same as you at first glance! Then, after a closer look, I realized that there are some differences. I believe that (Dodge) house was designed by William Kapp of the firm Smith, Hinchman, Grylls, some years after this house. In any case, this Long Island mansion was taken down as recently as 2013?!?!..very scary!
@@MrFullService It is CRIMINAL to hear that an architectural masterpiece like this was taken down as recently as 2013! You'd think by now we in North America would've learned a thing or two about preserving the past & architectural masterpieces!
Anna Dodge built a French styled mansion along the Detroit River called "Rose Terrace Two" and this house was demolished in 1976. This house was a carbon copy of a mansion over in Newport RH called "Miramar" which was built for Mrs Widener after she lost her husband & son during the 1912 sinking of the Titanic.
Rose Terrace Two was slightly larger than Miramar (by two window lengths) but, the two homes were almost identical in both the exterior & interiors. Take a moment to google image both houses and you will laugh that the architect basically used the same plans twice!
When Anna Dodge passed away in 1970, the contents of the house were sold at auction and relatives of mine purchased various items from the property. Literally two days ago I moved a cabinet from the mansion down to my basement (felt sacrilegious to do so) because it "overwhelmed" the living room. Then I moved a desk into the living room (which I knew was old) but, moving it saw that it was also from the 1971 auction (Lot 135) and was purchased for $490.00.
I also have an entire French bedroom set commissioned by Anna Dodge for Rose Terrace II and some of it is in storage because the furniture is too large for my guestroom LOL.
Are you from Michigan that you also first thought that this property was Meadowbrook Hall?
What a lovely opulent mansion!!! It's a shame that it was demolished!! 😬
Yeah I'd pay good money to tour the place.
I was so hopeful but hated to hear the ending. So very sad.
When one walked around the home one would find stone reliefs of animals and nursery rhymes. I heard that the Brady’s built it for their children, but sadly they never had any. The Cardinal who visited was Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli. The future Pope Pius XII. The retreat center had a picture of the Cardinal and Mrs. Brady in the drawing room. They also displayed some of his vestments. I am happy to hear that the chapel is in storage. It was one of most beautiful rooms in the house. The house is missed by many Catholics on Long Island.
The baroque mantle place was my favorite. ❤
Nooo....... How sad. 😥 Can you imagine if the same thing was done in Europe with their castles and manor houses?
It has been done . Thousands upon thousands have been torn down in Europe . The reason being huge inheritance taxes being owed when deaths occurred. All sad tales lead back to government.
@@kenj.8897 😥😥
Another sad tear-down of architectural art and craftsmanship that doesn’t exist any more.
I made a retreat at Inisfada years ago when the Catholic church had it as a retreat house, the house was breathtaking. There was a pipe organ built in the grand hall and the pool house was still there but had been sold off in the first phase of land sell off. I pass there often and it just broke my heart to see it torn down, you can't believe how grand it was.
Wonderful blog on a sadly-lost palace!
You state the house was torn down on December 5th of the same year it was sold. What year was home torn down? Your only other clue is it happened "decades" after the sale of the furnishings. Aside from this odd tease, I love your content.
2013
For some reason he omitted all the years regarding its construction and demolition.
@@peggypierce8020 it was built 1916-1920 sold in May 2013 to the developer and torn down in Dec. 2013
Horribly devoid of dates. REWRITE!
_(I subscribe to this channel for both a history lesson and as an appreciation of architecture and decor.)_
*However* , I have to laugh as the comments are always "why did they tear it down" or "what a waste".
These opulent displays of wealth and power had no place when the rest of the country was struggling and not even the Catholic Church, paying no taxes no less, could see fit to keep this monstrosity going.
Is it beautiful? Yes. Are they practical in this world of smaller families? Absolutely not.
I grew up in a multi generational manor house in Britain and at least it lasted hundreds of years before the land was sold off in chunks. If not for museums, tourist shops, and events such as weddings we wouldn't have any of our British manor house houses left. After WWII hundreds were raised.
Equally, the ostentatious modern build such as the LA spelling mansion and all of the hideous 20+ room mcmansions will go in time and the land parceled off to build smaller and more practical housing.
Im so glad you made this comment. Although this mansion was beautiful, as are many others in Newport etc., they are grossly ostentatious. Many mansions were built around the Great Depression simply to show off wealth to other wealthy people. Museums, charities, religious orders and other non profit organizations who were gifted these places need more and more money just to maintain them.
Disagree.....the big homes are built in the popular areas of the world's wealthy.....which Long Island is not the popular areas of the big homes anymore. Rich people are building extravagant homes at the same clip they were in the Gilded Age. You just need to look worldwide.
@@pavelow235 While I agree with the concept you put forward, I must remind you that back in the day we had artisans who spent months or even years crafting moldings, furniture, reliefs, ceilings, ironwork, and anything you can think of that a home would need. Everything you need for a "mansion" now is mass produced and dare I say, "affordable". Being from the NYC area, I see this every day.
@@kathycasey9153 I was actually astounded by one of the aerial views. It was bigger than my boarding school in Britain. I’m not joking! If you count the support buildings, it was bigger than a boarding school for 300 girls!!!
How grand! Thanks, Ken!
The phrase "Nice house but I'd hate to have to clean it" certainly comes to mind!
It seems few of these huge homes have happy endings.
I imagine they are extremely difficult to maintain.
When people and organizations are given "things"; too often, the recipients have no respect for the gifts' "value". The end-story of this mansion is a prime example of how ungrateful the recipients were.
Something of this size would always be beyond the abilities (and sensibilities) of a religious order to maintain. My guess is that Genevieve Brady hoped it would house a school or even nascent college. It was too big even for a seminary. It might have survived if donated to the City of New York or a NYC museum. I got a degree in historic preservation in the 1980s and even small treasures (Frank Lloyd Wright houses, Tiffany mosaics, etc) were very difficult to maintain via private funding. If there’s not an almost immediate secondary use for a building like this, only a “vanity purchaser” can save it. People with that kind of money are rare. Even the original owners usually find they cannot afford to maintain the property they’ve paid to have built. This is something that architectural enthusiasts are usually unaware of. It made working in preservation a very depressing experience. That’s why I eventually went into design and engineering instead.
@@rosezingleman5007 thank you for being a voice of reason in these comments.
I just left a comment as to my family background in a very large Manor House in Britain. Many were sold off and razed after WWII and tax laws just as in the case in the US.
Museums, tourist attractions, gardens, and even hosting events such as wedding is the only way that we have any of these large houses left in Britain.
However I do not shed too many tears as in the US these houses rarely lasted one or two generations as tax laws had changed and no descendants wanted to take on the burden.
The same will happen to the ugly mcmansions that oligarchs and the nouveau riche now build in LA and other emerging economies.
Thank you for your reply. When I was growing up my mom allowed me to see a rather adult movie based on a Noel Coward play (I think) called “The Grass is Greener,” starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr as a landed gentry couple who, coincidental to the plot, open their home weekly to tours. I was maybe 10 years old and it opened my eyes to the reality of ownership of someone else’s dream house. Years later I would encounter this up close when I was a volunteer in the first restoration of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Jacobs I house in Madison Wisconsin. It had been rumored for years that Wright had raided the Johnson Wax corporate building project in Racine Wisconsin for basic building materials in order to bring the newspaperman’s “modest house” in on budget-a highly publicized $5000. At the time that was still a bit rich for most people.
I have, to this day, two bricks from the original Jacobs house and they are curved, which confirmed that they were, in fact, from the other project. Herb Jacobs sold the house.
*All architect designed structures are “vanity projects” for both signers of the contract.* That is a hard truth in rough economic times.
I wish people like Bill Gates that have plenty of money to waste on ridiculous unwanted projects would use their money to save these magnificent structures. Intifada should have never been destroyed. In this day and age there should be plenty of creative methods and resources to save our heritage.
I enjoyed the manse and interiors including the dining , drawing , parlor !
Such a sad loss 😢
I like the irregular quoins, an authentic touch.
It would be good to see the development that replaced it.
No, it would definitely NOT be good to see it. The shacks built in the former estate are HOVELS compared to Inisfada.
How horrible! In Europe they protect their historical and architectural treasures in the US is the opposite, in most cases.
In Europe the iconoclastic religious movements destroyed an estimated 500,000 priceless works of art. Generations of Europeans raided old structures to build new structures. There’s precious little of the actual built history of any civilization still standing. Look at how fast the French were to suggest turning Notre Dame de Paris into a “multicultural center” by removing most traces of the original ornamentation from the interior. There’s always a mania for newness. People like us who value the antique are the rare ones.
I hail from Britain and hundreds manor houses were razed after the two World Wars as they are impractical and nowadays no one has multi-generational large families, especially the wealthy.
The few that are left had 95% of the lands they lorded over sold off to developers and the main houses have survived only to become museums and event facilities.
@@IntriguedLioness The large tracks of land had to be sold due to incredibly high taxes in most cases, the same thing happened in the US, but turning those grand mansions into museums is better off than tearing them down. Here in the US, we tear down not only mansions, but architecturally worthy/significant buildings in cities all over the country, but in most places in Europe, especially in Spain, they can't tear them down, they can be updated/refurbished/add floors to it, but the facade most stay standing.
@@rosezingleman5007 Look at what they did to Notre Dame during the French Revolution ! It took 100 years to undo that....
@@steveschramko2386uite true. Also in the wake of Luther. All social upheaval leads to destruction of some kind, as we have witnessed in very recent times.
I'm not much a Connoisseur or something but gahddamn, 2:07 is magnificent!!! That ceiling is worth getting stared at if you want to avoid eye contact, lay down flat with a hangover...i don't know what successful, good people did with it but that's why I want one
Right on! Whether it is hammerbeam, queen truss, king truss, I want that ceiling too! I think the homeowners and family would just sat back with a nice snifter of cognac in their recliners and stared at the truss beams for hours of entertainment on weekend nights.
Good work on a most interesting mansion. Just a reminder that Jacobean is pronounced jacko-BE-un.
Ok, ken that was good. Now we need the top 3 largest houses. lol
While I don't see why anyone would need such a huge home, what a shame it was demolished!!
What I always wonder seeing these open fireplaces: why on earth would somebody have an open fireplace that wastes all the wood and fire-heat and not use a masonry stove that traps the heat and remains warm with less wood-waste, and does not even leave a trace of smoke in the room, if you heat it from a service-room? One should think if people are rich they would go for clean air.
Very cool video friend 👍👍
incredible place.
Thanks a lot Chy-Nah...
They also bought the New York City Chamber of Commerce Building in Manhattan as an industrial bank. Its interiors were the setting of the fictional "Heritage Club" in "Trading Places" with Dan Ackroyd and Eddie Murphy. I bet they dismantled that nice mahogany-paneled Assembly room and sold all the paintings of the capitalists.
The Hong Kong Based Developers that demolished this flawless home, should have been arrested and incercerated for 30 years each, with no chance for parole ‼‼‼‼‼‼‼‼😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡‼‼‼‼‼‼‼‼‼‼
They should just rename Long Island Inisfada. Inisfada,New York.
i thought it looked like wayne manor from the original batman tv show in the 60`s
Ever read DeMilles Gold Coast!? Try it. 👍
Wow that's night right. Can't believe we allowed this beautiful home to be torn down.
Every one of these mansions in the US has the exact same story
Some wealthy man builds it for his wife, he dies soon after, she lives in it for a few more years, claims it to be too much to handle, and auctions off all interior furniture and structures like paneling, fireplaces, stairs etc, then sells it to some strange group or nonprofit that holds onto it for some years before selling or demolishing it....
All of the ggreat homes mansions, large impressive structure have met their demise the exact same way
A few survive, the Biltmore for example.
@@tradeprosper5002
Yeah, but sadly it is one of only a few
Built in the same time period, some only take two years to build, this one was four. It's very odd. Just like the World's Fairs. The one in New York had a Crystal Palace just like the one in England. They make no sense. Actually, this one did take only two years to build.
They need to save the Widener's mansion outside Philly before the roof collapses more. The family had died out by the 1940s (and the father and son (Harry Elkins Widener, Harvard '07) drowned on the sinking of the Titanic in 1912) and was sold to some church group then they left after some legal squabbles and it went derelict.
Hollywood actor Hopwood DePree is trying to restore his ancestral 14th Century manor outside Manchester (Hopwood Hall) and has dedicated his life since discovering it in 2017. He wrote a book about the ongoing restoration "Downton Shabby". He is doing a pretty good job with it using various national preservation societies and craftsmen. He is also hilarious on his videos. The 2 sons of the last owner had been both killed in WWI and the sorrowful father passed away around 1940. The Hall then became a religious order teacher's college and in the 70-80s the students even built a nightclub inside that featured many of the British New Wave acts and even Ozzy Osbourne. Then it closed in the 1990s to the point of near collapse from roof leaks and vandalism. Chopin had played there in the 1800s. Bryon had slept there as well. It will be amazing when the restoration is done.
These stories blow my mind and in a way illustrate our impermanence and addiction to wealth and celebrity. American entrepreneur oligarch makes unfathomable amounts of money, he and his wife build unfathomably large and priceless manson to display said wealth, (I always wonder how their relationship is at this point in the marriage), they move in and enjoy the house a while before they die, kids sometime get house and don't want it, house donated but too big and expensive, real estate developer purchases - museum- demolishes and creates tenant housing. I guess the whole story is part of the -not so popular- part of the narrative of the American dream, the birth and death cycle that can happen in a single generation.
A pity and a shame.
Apparently it was 72,000 square feet. It looks similar to the 88,000 square foot Meadowbrook Hall in Rochester Hills Michigan.
Like my place only smaller.
There does not seem to be any construction photograph's to document the construction.
Many of these mansions were "founded" and not built in the years, nor construction times cited by the mainstream story.
This is so sad
Very Sad
Such a tragedy!!
I have to say, this is one of your saddest stories. This could have been saved.
It’s sad that’s it’s gone, but I understand why. The maintenance and upkeep really is astronomical
That's not a house, it's a university!
LOVE the content here ! CONSTRUCTIVE POSITIVE CRITICISM !! It sound like you are working on voice inflection. Please listen carefully to yourself, then others to hear the peaks and valleys in your structure. I am not a professional but it definitely sounds like you want to be. All is meant in peace with honest opinion.
Cek ⬆️
I almost cried when he said demo began.
Took a vow of poverty, refused the mansion
Lol still took the money from selling it
What should they have done? The point is, with all its furnishings, it wasn’t an appropriate place for a holy order. They wanted a stripped down house. Sure - it’s extravagant but she wanted them to use it. Yea, they sold it and it went to other causes. I guess this is where you bring up mistreating kids.
@@kattengat2 Pedos all the way.
@@kattengat2 Actually live in poverty lmao 🤣😂 like their oath said to.
@@badxradxandy it doesn’t require they live in poverty. By the way, never end a sentence with “to”. It really shows ignorance. Guess you were not educated by the Jesuits.
@@kattengat2 lmao so they aren't that committed to it are they to?
you didnt mention what year the house sold and demolished in
💔💔💔
What a foolish thing be conducted to destroy such a master piece …
I would like to see what the developers did after they tore the mansion down.
I wonder when it was demolished? (Year) Sadly not mentioned in the video.
I am always amazed how people lived that were wealthy before there was really a middle class in the United States
Before there was income tax, the people who made the money got to keep the money :-)
I went to a rave there in the 90's.
Makes me physically ill.
Not sure about the reason the Jesuits turned down Inisfada. They already owned the second largest house in America, Shadowbrook. That was a different province, but there was precedence.
Interesting. I had to look this up. It was given to them. 'Andrew Carnegie's widow gave Shadow Brook to the Jesuit Society of Jesus in 1922. In March of 1956, the castle burned, but was rebuilt. The new building does not approach the quality of the old one.' But this is another mansion that was built in just two years, the original one. SMH
Keeping up a huge place like this would be astronomical, this was built before income tax,, plus who today wants to live in a almost 90 room home?
5:22 “landmark and historical protections were not granted”….why??
The mayor of North Hills at the time, a really ignorant person, didn't believe in landmark protections nor preservation so his legacy is that under his watch, the village of North Hills long island lost this architectural masterpiece and gained a tacky cluster of developer grade mcmansions. Nice going mayor! Your title as the dumbest mayor ever is secured.
"On December 5 of the same year...."
What year? You do not give any important dates in this video.
Isn’t this the mansion that inspired rose red/someof the filming happened at??
It’s always taxes and maintenance that bring these masterpieces to demolition.
The house sold to the "Hong Kong based development group, Mesabi Group" is so troubling. Seriously, how do Americans not see the issue with foreign Communist parties buying up American land and American landmarks?
Why not tell us the year of its destruction??
What a colossal waste!
What a crime this was destroyed