North Shore Long Island: Country Houses, 1890-1950

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By: Paul J. Mateyunas
(5 customer reviews)
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EDITORIAL REVIEW

NORTH SHORE LONG ISLAND: Country Houses, 1890 1950 covers 40 of the region s most noted homes, representing the breadth and variety of architectural design and the social and sporting life that characterized the North Shore in its golden age. Drawing on 15 years of extensive research and introducing dozens of never-before-published original photographs and social records, author Paul J. Mateyunas traces the stories of the grand estates and the people who built and occupied them. Each estate covered in the book was carefully chosen; many are written about in detail for the first time. Scarce source information, much of it provided by heirs of the original estate families, clarifies incomplete or misleading information offered by other books on the subject. Each estate is illustrated with both exterior and interior views of the residence, the outbuildings for service and sport, and lushly landscaped grounds that made Long Island famous.

PRODUCT DETAILS

Publisher: Acanthus Press
Pub. Date: 16th March 2007
Catalog: Book
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Pages: 368
Ean: 9780926494374
Isbn: 0926494376

ABOUT THIS BOOK

USER REVIEWS

Highly recommended by a non-American!
~ Written on Sep 1, 2009. out of users found this review helpful.

From far across the Pacific in Australia and never having visited Long Island I studied the novels of Scott Fitzgerald during school years and remain fascinated by the history of vast private wealth and and what it reflected about the whole idea of 'America' and the concept of the 'American Dream'.
The pages of this book with black and white photographs were a wonderfully evocative journey through this lost world. Very well organised and not overly academic, it was difficult to put down, partly because of the anticipatory anxiety about whether the closing descriptions on each house would or would not reveal the unbelievable - its demolition. Difficult to comprehend the absence of resistance to such vandalism. Whatever the origins of that wealth, these splendid places were a monument to American enterprise and the poignant yearning of the human imagination for a paradise on earth....

Beautiful...
~ Written on Apr 14, 2007. 8 out of 9 users found this review helpful.

Wow.

I grew up in Old Brookville and was drawn to this book. While I know some of the history, and remember bits of it from anecdotes and people and stories from my childhood, Mr. Mateyunas has done a compelling, well researched job of evoking a lost era of a magical time in American history. And even better, he has captured all of it in one beautiful book.

He has done a masterful job (and this from someone who writes for a living). I shall give this book as a gift and am proud to have it in my library.

"And so we beat on, boats against the current..." FSF

Best Gold Coast book
~ Written on Apr 13, 2007. 10 out of 11 users found this review helpful.

This book is absolutely amazing. It is by far the best book out there for this part of Long Island, in this particular time period. There are so many pictures that I've never been able to find anywhere else. My only complaint is that there wasn't enough information about the few houses in the back part of the book (one of them is my old house and I can't find any info about it anywhere!!). Finally someone has put all of the best info about the classic North Shore together in one place. Excellent work!

FASCINATING ARM CHAIR VISITS
~ Written on Apr 8, 2007. 16 out of 18 users found this review helpful.


Ever imagine what it might have been like to have dinner with F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda, to attend one of the fabulous parties so vividly painted in his literature? Their time is often called the Gilded Age, and it truly must have been if the amazing homes featured in North Shore Long Island are examples of houses they frequented.

As most know, the North Shore of Long Island borders Long Island Sound and once boasted some 1,000 stately homes, more accurately mansions, earning that area the sobriquet Gold Coast. These were the homes of the rich and famous, the celebrated, and a gathering place for those who yearned to be a part of their storied existence.

In all probability, it is the setting for Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (1925) with its memorable descriptions of privileged lives. North Shore homes with their varied architecture, verdant gardens, pools, furniture and appointments once outshone any to be found elsewhere in America or in Europe.

Art historian Paul J. Mateyunas has selected 40 of these homes as the focus of "North Shore Long Island/Country Houses 1890 - 1950." He not only presents 350 duotones and floor plans in his beautiful volume but also traces the building of the homes and the lives of those who were in residence. All of this makes for a fascinating arm chair tour of another time in an unparalleled place.

Recommended.

- Gail Cooke

GOLD COAST
~ Written on Mar 28, 2007. 6 out of 6 users found this review helpful.

Acanthus Press rocks..and this is another great book from them..this book is fantastic. The North Shore of Long Island is the benchmark for high society living..the movie The Great Gatsby may have been filmed in Newport, but it was about the Gold Coast. This is the bastion of WASP high society of the turn of the century into the sixties. The book itself is perfect, scholarly text and crisp, vivid images. Highly recommended, you wont be disappointed.

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