A Gilded Age Gathering Around the Palm Court at Hempstead House

House and Garden Tours by the Sands Point Preserve Conservancy House History Exhibit * Live Music * Specialty Cocktails and Tasting Room * Hors D’oeuvres RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED BUY YOUR TICKETS ONLINE, or call us at 631-692-4664. Champion: $500 per person Collector: $300 per person Advocate: $200 per person Friend: $175 per person Young Preservationist (Under 35 Years Old): $125 per person About Hempstead House: Hempstead House evokes a time in Long Island’s storied past when prominent New Yorkers came out to build grand country house estates. It was originally created for Howard Gould (son of railroad tycoon, Jay Gould) and his wife, actress Katherine Clemmons. It comprised over 200 acres of shore-front property in Sands Point, the place many believe is the famed “East Egg” of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Building the estate began in 1901 with the construction of Castle Gould, the 100,000 square foot limestone pile modeled on Kilkenny Castle in Ireland. Several other structures would follow including a massive gentleman’s farm complex and the impressive 50,000 square foot, 40-room Hempstead House designed by Hunt & Hunt architects. In 1917, Howard Gould sold the property to mining heir, Daniel Guggenheim, and his wife, Florence. The Guggenheims enjoyed the estate until Daniel’s death in 1930, at which time Florence built her dower house, Mille Fleurs. Meanwhile, in 1923 her son, Harry F. Guggenheim, built Falaise on his own 90 acres in the style of a 13th century French-Norman manor house. Over the years, Hempstead House has been a refuge for children evacuated from Europe during World War II, a home for the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences, and a Naval Training Device Center. Nassau County acquired the 216-acre estate in 1971 and, in 2008, the County granted Friends of the Sands Point Preserve, now the Sands Point Preserve Conservancy, the authority to exclusively manage and plan the future uses of the site. Directions to Sands Point Preserve: 127 Middle Neck Road, Sands Point NY 11050: Long Island Expressway to exit 36 (Searingtown Road/Port Washington). Take Searingtown Road north. It will change into Port Washington Boulevard at Northern Boulevard and then again into Middle Neck Road (Rt. 101). In 6.8 miles, the Preserve will be on the right.