Photographs of the colonial mansion, said to be the
inspiration of F. Scott Fitzgerald's literary classic The Great Gatsby, clearly
show the estate’s former grandeur.
In the Roaring twenties the lavish home on the North Shore
of Long Island was the go-to party house for the likes of Fitzgerald, Winston
Churchill and the Marx Brothers.
Lands End came to a sad end last month when it was
demolished after the owners could no longer afford the $4,500 a day upkeep of
the home.
Lands End, the Long
Island estate rumored to have inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald's vision of Daisy
Buchanan's house in The Great Gatsby, is pictured in a brochure in the '70s or
early '80s
The estate was knocked down last month after the owners, who
brought the home in 2004, could no longer afford the property's $4,500 a day
upkeep
Lands End, on the North Shore of Long Island, boasted 23
rooms, a private beach and numerous spacious sitting rooms - including this one
with impressive sea views
The estate, which sprawled over 13 acres, was valued at $30
million when it was torn down.
These incredible photos, from an old listing brochure posted
on Old Long Island blog, were taken in the ‘70s or early ‘80s, before the
mansion was brought in 1983.
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The brochure lists the house for $2.5 million - a sum that
includes 'all furniture, drapes, linens, complete service of English threat
silver and Baccarat crystal for 48, furnishings in all bldgs.'
As well as 10 bedrooms, the brochure details the property as
having nine and a half bathrooms, six servant rooms, multiple sitting rooms, a
7-car garage and a sauna.
Illustrious: These
pictures were taken when the estate was on the market for $2.5 million in the
late '70s - in 1983 the property was snapped up by former Mets owner Charles
Shipman Payson
The brochure adds that the property price of $2.5 million
includes 'all furniture, drapes, linens, complete service of English threat
silver and Baccarat crystal for 48, furnishings in all bldgs'
The house was the scene of lavish parties attended by the
likes of the Marx brothers and Winston Churchill. Guests danced on the rounded
cabana overlooking the 75ft pool
Fitzgerald is said to have based Daisy Buchanan’s home in
his 1925 masterpiece on the extravagant mansion.
Built in 1902, the New York World newspaper executive editor
Herbert Bayard Swope brought the property, which was originally called
Keewaydin, in 1929.
He used to throw extravagant parties for guests including
the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Dorothy Parker, Groucho Marx and Albert
Einstein.
After moving to the
island with his wife, Zelda, in 1922, Fitzgerald watched the grand parties from
his veranda in Great Neck across the bay imagining what went on there.
Guests danced on the roof of a rounded cabana by the 75ft
swimming pool, and would have stayed in one of the six family-sized bedrooms
while the Swopes lived in the three-room master suite.
Similarly, in the classic novel, Daisy Buchanan's house has
a green light at the end of the dock which Gatsby gazes at every night from his
mansion.
The 24,000 sq. ft. mansion had 25 rooms, which in its heyday
had Palladian windows, marble floors and hand-painted wallpaper.
Once upon a time: The
library boasted two fireplaces and a wet bar, according to the brochure
As well as views across Long Island sound, it had its own
tennis court, two private sandy beaches and a 75 ft swimming pool. There was
even a bird sanctuary next door.
The home was one of the few remaining relics harking back to
Fitzgerald's time. It was built on a strip of land known as the Gold Coast
where wealthy New Yorkers built estates.
In 1983 Mets owner Charles Shipman Payson brought the
estate, christening it Lands End.
Adaptation: A film
adaptation of The Great Gatsby is being released later this year with Carey
Mulligan taking on the role of Daisy Buchanan
The property’s last owner developer Burt Brodsky, purchased
the illustrious home from Virginia Kraft Payson, the late wife of Charles
Shipman Payson.
He planned to renovate it and turn it into a family home,
but it proved too costly with the maintenance costing $4,500 a day.
In 2006, he estimated it would cost around $2 million to
make it livable.
Now there are plans to build five custom built homes worth
$10 million each on the property in a community called Seagate in the village
of Sands Point.