From the Bryant Room Archives
By Myrna Sloam ©Jan/Feb 2005
A View of the Mackay Estate by Stewart Donaldson,
Part IV: The Dog Kennels and Main Stables
NOTE: This is the 4th in an ongoing series of articles taken from the writings of Stewart Donaldson (1907-1994) who grew up on the former Clarence H. Mackay estate in what is now East Hills. The complete manuscript, written in the 1950s, can be found in the library’s Local History Collection.
The kennels [were] built in a half moon shape, with the “dog runs” coming into a central point, more or less. There [was] a cottage on each side of the circle. In the east cottage, Mr. & Mrs. Mercer lived. He was the butler in the 1920s. In the right, or west cottage, Mr. & Mrs. Adam lived. He was the chef in the 1920s. The kennels were brick about 4 feet up, then heavy wire mesh above that. The yards were laid with a small white brick. All they had to do was hose down the yard to keep it clean. And, of course it did not get muddy in wet weather.
As you left the kennels and proceeded up the hill, or to the west, you soon came to a road turning sharp to your left. This was the chicken farm drive and it [would] wind its way through the woods, finally coming out on Harbor Hill Road. If you turned to your left up the hill, you came to the main stables…. This was the garage in the 1920s. The cars were kept in the left wing of the building. After [that] you passed through the wash room, where many a hand of pinochle was played over the years, while the boys were awaiting orders. I never saw them play for money.
In the center part was the carriage room. These carriages [were] on blocks and chocked up, just standing there for show purposes and they were beautiful. There was a carpeted walk through this portion of the building. When you reached the opposite end of the carriage room, you entered the horse quarters. On the right side was the trophy room where all the ribbons won at Madison Square Garden Horse shows and other shows on the Island were kept in a glass covered case. Several of them, in fact. The little room next to that was the harness room, where the harness hung on the wall, shinning and neat and clean. The silver decorations all polished so brightly.
Then, straight ahead to the horse box stalls. The horse’s name was above his stall. There was Land O’ Burns and Ben Hur, Bannister and two or three more. I guess there were about five horses all together. Beautiful, big black stallions. If you got too close to the bars, Land O’ Burns would nip you.
Another interesting thing was the spiral stairway up to the feed room and hay loft. I used to run up and down these stairs. Bill Carl took care of the horses. The initial “M” in silver was on all the harness. I remember one of the autos was Mr. Mackay’s Rolls Royce with a Brewster body. This car cost $18,000 in those days. There were other cars such as a Chandler, Packard, Buick, 2 white trucks and a black suburban, a Metz and a few more that I can’t remember. Over the center part of the carriage room was the living quarters of Jack Mackie who was in charge of the horses and garage. There was a large gravel yard with an iron railing fence around it. [There were] bay trees in front of the building and geraniums in the window boxes, with ivy trailing down. The area was enclosed with a privet hedge. To be continued….
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Email: localhistory@bryantlibrary.org