Brookville is a wealthy village in Nassau County. It lies between Jericho to the south and Oyster Bay to the north. Homes in Brookville range from just over a million dollar and up. In the early 1900's wealthy millionaires built immense estates in and around Brookville with sweeping vistas and a whole cadre of servants to maintain the high standard of living. Today, the same luxurious living is still the stamp of Brookville living albeit on a much smaller scale. At the time of this article, there are 23 luxury homes on the market ranging from $1,469,000 for a 4 BRs ranch to $11,900,000 for a 6 BRs estate. Brookville for all its glory does not have its own post office but shares with Glen Head. According to the 2000 census, the demographics are majority Italians with a sprinkling of Russian, German, Polish, Irish, English and other minority groups.
Delano & Aldrich, the prominent architect of the ‘20s made his first commission in this area. His first commission is the Christie House on Muttontown Rd whose exterior wall was modeled after Mount Vernon, the home of our first president, George Washington. This mansion is now called Nassau Hall owned by Nassau County. Nassau Hall was built by Delano & Aldrich for the Winthrop family and was known originally as the Egerton L. Winthrop Jr. House or Muttontown Meadows. The estate was purchased by Lansdell Christie in 1950 and hence called the Christie House. His widow, Helen Christie sold the house and its 183 acres to Nassau County in 1969. It is now the home of Nassau Parks Conservancy. Nassau Hall has one of the biggest collection of pine trees. Being a past president of the Long Island Rose Society and a resident around here, I was asked to restore the Rose Garden at Nassau Hall. For three painstaking years, we worked hard every Wednesday during the growing season trying to rehabilitate the old Rose Garden which was neglected for 30 years. It was a tremendous job as you can imagine. We were able to finish two big beds and the center bed and planted about 40 roses.
Nearby is another mansion located on the beautiful Muttontown Preserve. Chelsea Mansion with a French Normandy style architecture was built for Mr. & Mrs. Benjamin Moore in 1924. Mr. Benjamin Moore's great, great grandfather was the author, Clement Clark Moore, who wrote the poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas", otherwise known as "T'was The Night Before Christmas". Chelsea Mansion was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. One special feature of this property is the moat around the mansion, an Oriental influence favored by Mrs. Moore after a trip to China on her honeymoon in 1921. This mansion is also owned by Nassau County and used now for various charity fundraising events and concerts in the summer.
Moore was the first mayor of the village of Muttontown (1931-1938), which he named. Mr. Moore's died in 1938, and 17 years later Mrs. Moore married Robert McKay, a life-long friend. Mr. McKay died in 1958. In 1964, Mrs. Alexandra Moore McKay began donating portion of the property to Nassau County and over a period of 10 years, nearly 100 acres were donated to the County. With this acquisitions plus the Christie House, Nassau County created the 550-acre Muttontown Preserve. Muttontown Preserve is one of the most beautiful preserves in Long Island. An Equestrian Center can also be found on its premises. For people who love nature, there are miles of nature trails where you can go on foot or ride your horse. During the early part of the 20th century, this area was a horse country. Fox hunting used to be a favorite pastime by the upper class. King Zog of Albania own a property here at some point but from what I can gather never lived in it.
Marjorie Merriweather Post, an heiress to the Post cereal empire was a resident here. CWPost College, now the Long Island University is situated on Route 25A. Nearby is the New York Tech, an excellent engineering school. Recently it added a culinary school. There is an excellent preparatory school located on Brookville Rd, the Lutheran High School.
One of the oldest rose nurseries is still in business in Brookville. It is aptly called the Brookville Nursery or the Rose Farm. Originally it was started by the Rizzo family in the early 1930's on Frost Pond Rd in Locust Valley and moved to the current location later on. It is still run by two elder sisters and a brother and offers the best rose plants on Long Island. Martin Viette, another very good nursery west of Brookville Nursery is close by. Here you can find an assortment of plants and ornaments for your garden and special Christmas items during the holiday season. In the same building is a famous group of landscapers, "Ireland Gannon Associates". For all your landscaping needs, it is the place to go.
For dining pleasure, residents of Brookville take advantage of several restaurants on nearby East Norwich where cuisine range from simple fare to expensive gastronomical experience. We have Rothmann's Steakhouse, Angelina Italian Restaurant, Café Girasole, Saggio Pizzeria, La Pizzetta Restaurant, IHOP Restaurant, Mezzina Market, Taste of China and Tokyo and Bagel Boss Café.
For dog lovers, there is a kennel "Have a Home" on Brookville Rd that has been there for almost 80 years. I just used them recently and it was well recommended to me by one of my clients. It is an excellent place for your best friend when you are away.
Brookville with its bucolic settings also offer numerous recreational facilities. Golf courses abound in the area. Tam O'Shanter Club has a prominent location on Route 107 and is located in Brookville. There are other golf courses nearby - Muttontown Golf and Country Club in Muttontown, The Mill River Club in Upper Brookville, Brookville Country Club located in Old Brookville, Meadow Brook Club in Jericho, Glen Oaks Club in Old Westbury, Piping Rock Club in Matinecock and the Creek Club in Lattingtown.
There are a few houses of worship in the area. St. Paul The Apostle Catholic Church is located on Route 107, Brookville Reformed Church on Brookville Rd., Community United Methodist Church on Route 106 in East Norwich, the Muttontown Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on Northern Blvd in East Norwich, the Orthodox Church in America on Northern Blvd and North Shore Synagogue on Muttontown Eastwoods Rd.
For those special clients who want the best that money can buy, this area provides lots of choices. Just give me a call at 516-385-0584 or email me at info@rosalindamorgan.com and I will help you in the process of finding you your dream home. I know the area very well having served on the board of some of the charitable organizations in the area.
Other real estate related articles can be found at my website: http://www.rosalindamorgan.com/.
