"Feu Follet" (Kings Point, New York)

 residence, LIGC - Long Island Gold Coast

Residence built c.1909 in the Neo-Georgian style for financier E.M. Scott {manufacturing} originally on 62 acres with approximately 2,000ft of frontage on the Long Island Sound. The house is constructed of granite block, with three foot thick walls and 12+foot high ceilings. 10,500+sq ft 17 room mansion currently on 2 acres. First floor with grand reception hall with beamed ceiling, columns and a large entry fireplace. Oak-paneled dining room with beamed ceiling, built-in cupboards, and tooled leather paneling. Still clearly visible in the spacious dining room are the initials “S,” incised into the four corners. One of two kitchens was located on the first floor, as well as a study, sun room with a tile floor, and two master suites. Seven fireplaces and seven bathrooms.The central staircase rises and splits, each side leading to the second floor’s three master bedrooms and four servants’ bedrooms. The third floor full attic has three finished rooms, two of them cedar-lined for storage. The basement had a second kitchen connected to the floor above by a dumbwaiter; a fireproof wine room; a marble-walled three-tub laundry.

Estate purchased in 1925 by August Heckscher {industrialist}. Hecksher was a partner of the Richard Heckscher & Co. coal mining firm, vice president if Zinc & Iron Co. and Eastern Steel Co, and founder and president of Vermont Copper Co. Heckscher also had a summer home in Huntington, where he was a generous benefactor, but moved to Great Neck to be closer to the city. He named his estate "Feu Follet", and while living there he swam nearly every morning in Long Island Sound. "Feu follet" translates to a ghostly, flickering light seen by travelers at night, especially over marshes. He funded both the Heckscher Museum of Art and Heckscher State Park; in New York City he created Heckscher Playground in Central Park. The estate was subsequently owned by Herbert Haar.

cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p15281co...