On June 5, 2008 I visited this Mansions and Millionaires Designer Show House. I had been to the grounds of this great estate many times while I was growing up, but somehow I never made it into this fabulous house until this day. I was saddened to learn that this great building has been standing empty, since the School for the Deaf moved to its new buildings adjacent to this mansion.
This house was built in 1923, by the architectural firm of Clinton & Russell, Wells, Holton & George. It is a Tudor Revival Manor. Thirty-seven fabulous rooms were on display on three floors. The service wing is visible in the above picture, on the left.
Over the main entrance, a large stained glass window depicting five of Shakespeare’s most memorable plays, is visible. It was made by Charles Connick of Boston. It dramatically lights the main stairs inside the manor house.
Charles Leavitt was the landscape architect employed by the Dodges. He designed sunken, formal gardens which have not been restored, with three temples and two beautiful gates, which are all still existant. Two of the garden temples look like the one pictured above. They are known as the Temple of the Evening Sun and the Temple of the Morning Star.
One of many urns that mark where the sunken gardens once were.
A limestone temple- known as the temple of the Midday Sun.
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Information on this page is from the Designers’ Showcase 2008 – Mill Neck Manor booklet, provided with admission to the show. P. 76, 108, 118.
