FROM THE BRYANT ROOM ARCHIVES
By Myrna Sloam, ©Mar/Apr 2003

A View of the Mackay Estate by Stewart Donaldson
(Part 1: North Entrance and Tennis Casino)

Stewart Donaldson (1907-1994) was born and raised on the 600+ acre Clarence H. Mackay Estate in Roslyn, which is now part of East Hills. His father, William, was a coachman and then a chauffeur, for the Mackay family from 1902 until the estate closed down in the1930s. In the1950s, Mr. Donaldson began to write down his reminiscences of his life in Roslyn, which included detailed descriptions of the buildings and layout of the estate. He later donated these writings, along with numerous photographs, to the Bryant Library Local History Collection. This will be the first in an ongoing series of articles featuring aspects of the Mackay Estate as remembered by Mr. Donaldson.

If you were able to take a tour of the Mackay Estate called "Harbor Hill," you would most likely come from Roslyn via Northern Blvd. and through the old railroad tunnel at Frick's [Nassau County Museum of Art] then to the North Drive entrance opposite the Roslyn Cemetery…. This was a gravel road about 16 feet wide, with a stone gutter on each side of the road and a grass plot from the gutter to the edge of the woods. The grass plot varied in width from 10 to 14 feet. As you rode along, the land would be at road level then rise up to probably 8 or 10 feet above the road level on the right side, while on the left side you looked down into quite a deep gully and wood thicket which covered up or screened the bay tree house and the old root cellar and piles of earth used for the greenhouse benches.

After traveling along this road for perhaps 800 to 1,000 feet you came to a crossroads, with a mass planting of rhododendrons on the four corner plots and all along the drive.
The edges of the drive were planted with dogwood trees. In the middle of May this was a fairyland of pink and white dogwood blossoms, with daffodils in large clumps in bloom and as the dogwood faded out the mountain laurel and rhododendrons came into bloom. About Decoration Day, the crossroads presented a beautiful spectacle of all colors of rhododendrons with the background of large trees in full leaf. It was a beautiful sight.

Now, as you turned right and took the road towards the west, you would go up a winding hilly road banked with rhododendron bushes, laurel and trees. After 1,000 feet or so, you came to the casino or indoor tennis court and swimming pool. You would pass through a privet hedge as you entered the yard to the court. On your right and to the east of the casino were the outdoor tennis grass courts. After you passed through the privet hedge opening you entered a gravel court area, completely edged with a grass plot. Between the grass area and the wall of the building were large half ball shaped bay trees planted in large green tubs. These trees were probably 12 to 14 feet high and trimmed at the top in the shape of a ½ ball. In the fall these trees were transported back to the bay tree house on large flat wagons drawn by a team of horses, which were heated in order to keep the trees from dying during the winter months. I believe they came from Belgium and it was quite a costly affair, as you can see….

As you entered the [casino] building, you entered at the inner corner of this T shaped building, and you looked straight ahead into a large sitting room. It reminded you of a hunting lodge. There was a large fireplace to the left side of the room (the west side) and to the north, doors which led outside. On the floor in front of the fireplace was a white polar bear rug, with the polar bear's head baring its large white teeth and around the room [there were] comfortable divans to sit on. I think the floor was parquet. As you entered, to your right you went down a stairway to the handball court and just beyond the court was a hallway which led to several rooms and a warming kitchen. If you went out the door to the left of the sitting room, you passed the north end of the indoor tennis court and you opened a door which led to the tile swimming pool. This room had a tile wall, as well as floor, with a glass roof to let in the sunlight. Along the sides of this room were dressing rooms, exercising apparatus, scales and rubbing tables. I remember William Baldwin was Mr. Mackay's masseur, Mr. Cecil Fairs was Mackay's tennis instructor and tennis partner, and he always won all the games from Mackay when they were playing for money. Mr. Mackay could never understand this.

After you left the swimming pool [if] you came back into the sitting room, then you would turn to your right pass the front door and proceed on a carpet covered walk past the indoor tennis court south, to the far end of the building and another turn to the right would take you into the living quarters of John Canary and his family. John was caretaker of the court and building…. To be continued in later editions of the Bryant Library Newsletter.

Permission to reproduce, publish or display whole text articles must be obtained from the Bryant Library Archivist.

 

Email: localhistory@bryantlibrary.org

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