"Beacon Towers"/"St. Joan" (Sands Point, New York)

USA / New York / Sands Point / Sands Point, New York
 residence, LIGC - Long Island Gold Coast, Gothic revival (architecture), historical layer / disappeared object
Beacon Towers, built for Alva Erskine Belmont (Alva (nee Smith) Vanderbilt) by Richard Howland Hunt c.1917-18 at Sands Point, a replica of an Irish castle. She was first married to William K. Vanderbilt, and then to Oliver H.P. Belmont, son of August Belmont {banking}. Oliver had died in 1908, and she dedicated herself to women's suffrage, and lived until 1933. Around 1924 she purchased the adjoining Lighthouse property, and the beacon has remained in private hands ever since, now part of the newer mansion on the point.

"Beacon Towers" was sold to William Randolph Hearst in 1927, who raised the roof, added dormers, and enlarged the long narrow windows to allow more light and air in. They renamed it "St. Joan". Hearst sold the castle in 1940 and it was demolished in 1945.

"Beacon Towers" is generally believed to have been one of the many inspirations F. Scott Fitzgerald had for Jay Gatsby's estate in his novel "The Great Gatsby", although the estate was set in Kings Point in the novel.

www.oldlongisland.com/search?q=beacon+towers
househistree.com/houses/beacon-towers
archive.org/details/discoveringsands0000kent/page/83/mo...
books.google.com/books?id=nwWH3KSt7s4C&q=beacon+tow...
go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA398627855&sid=google...
www.liucedarswampcollection.org/betahearst/highlights.p...
www.liucedarswampcollection.org/betahearst/hearst_index...
nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn95071148/1997-07-24/ed...
www.flickr.com/photos/pwpl/5008950639/in/album-72157624...
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_Coast_Mansions
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   40°51'56"N   73°43'40"W

Comments

  • Beacon Towers was used as the inspiration for the mansion of Jay Gatsby in the 2013 film adaptation of The Great Gatsby.
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