Oyster Bay – RDZ Photography

Our next stop of Long Island North Shore former estates is the Planting Fields Arboretum. As with the others it was an estate for a wealthy New York City resident – William Robertson Coe. William took an easier route to wealth, he married into it.

The Coe’s were avid gardeners, hiring renown landscape artists to design the estate. In the mid 1950s it became a temporary campus for the State University of New York, but finally in the mid 1960s it became an arboretum.

One of the more interesting features is a tunnel of evergreens.

Eventually we went into the greenhouses and were met with a nice collection of flowers and plants.

We left the greenhouses and made our way over to the Italian Gardens.

Nearby is the mansion, which in keeping with the theme of the day was closed to visitors.

As we returned to the Italian Gardens we first met the ‘running of the brides’. Apparently this is a very popular place for wedding photography, and for the rest of the afternoon we were dodging brides.

We saw about 10 different wedding groups (on a Tuesday afternoon)!

Finally we left the wedding parties and moved to another greenhouse.

Our wedding day complete, we went back into the town of Oyster Bay where we were greeted with a great statue of their favorite son, Teddy Roosevelt.

As American presidents go, none were more interesting than Teddy Roosevelt. Born and raised in New York City Teddy did as many wealthy people of the time did, he bought an estate in the country. In his case he purchased 155 acres along the North Shore of Long Island, near Oyster Bay. By 1887 a home was completed and Teddy moved in.

Today the estate is part of the National Park Service. As you arrive and park about 100 yards away at the visitor center, you approach the home from the rear therefore the first close up you get is of the ice house. Without refrigeration an ice house was an integral part of life.

Making our way around the exterior (once again we arrived somewhere that was closed to tours for the day) we were greeting with a view of an eagle sculpture on the side of the home.

When it was built in the late 1800s it was thought to be a very modern looking house.

On this closer view of the front you will note that a portion of the railing is missing. Teddy has this removed so he could more easily address crowds that regularly gathered on the front lawn.

The front porch is massive, and the awnings add to the comfort on a warm summer day even more.

The traditional entrance featured a porte cochere (carriage porch).

Our final view of the home provided an interesting perspective up the hill past the ice house to the main house. Note the numerous roof lines.

Nearby Teddy Roosevelt Jr later built his home.

The estate property goes all the way down the hill to Cold Spring Harbor. Sagamore Hill is a great place to spend a couple of hours – just try and time it when the house it open!