"The Moorings" (Sands Point, New York)

 residence, LIGC - Long Island Gold Coast, Colonial Revival (architecture)

"The Moorings" estate has a varied history that dates back to land subdivided from the Frederick C. Hicks estate, hence the name of Hicks Lane. Hicks was a U.S. Congressman who was prominent in the National Republican Committee, held a number of appointments, and is credited with casting the deciding vote for Women’s Suffrage.Current boundaries reflect the combination of several parcels from the Hicks, Bushe, and Hoe families.

The estate was purchased in 1924 at a cost of $185,000 by L. Gordon Hammersley, Sr {financier, industrialist}. Hammersley served as director of United States Trust Company as well as the president of Walker Signal & Equipment Co. As a speedboating enthusiast, he made a record run from New York to Albany In 1925 in 2 hours 38 minutes. and in 1926 won the first national speedboat regatta in the Potomac River.

George and Elizabeth Marshall are identified as early owners of the property that included the current carriage house/barn.The estate under Marshall was composed of a residence likely built prior to 1910, a 1908 caretaker’s cottage, and an 1898 carriage house/barn. The 1898 barn/later garage accommodated cow stalls in one wing and a “tiled wall” milk room, and that the other wing had box stalls (horse stalls). The stalls remain and the building was still described as a dairy barn in the 1940s. A side-gabled clapboard cottage on the property identified as a caretaker’s cottage dating back to 1908.

The story of the main residence itself is a bit uncertain, as it was likely on the estate when it was owned prior by George Marshall or possibly the Bushe family. Tax records for the residence show that it was remodeled in 1941 rather than demolished which suggests that the home dates most likely before 1910 at estimate. A likely architect was Bradley Delehanty. It is Colonial Revival in style with a broad entablature at the cornice line extending around the entire structure, and multi-paned windows with shutters, a projecting section with pedimented gable and bulls-eye window is flanked by flatroofed wings; an entry in the south wing is centered between two bulls-eye windows and sheltered by a balcony at the second story, pedimented gables with bulls-eye windows flank a flatroofed section; all three sections have a central projecting bay with what may be French doors. The interior rooms retain moldings and mantels customary to the Colonial Revival style and a library which has dark paneling, built in shelving and a cove ceiling. Unlike earlier eras of residential development, where garages were separate buildings, the two-car garage of this early mid-century renovation is incorporated into the footprint of the house.

The property was later purchased by C. Robert Allen, III {investing}. Allen was a partner in the Allen & Company investment bank established by his father, Robert Allen II, known as the “Shy Midas of Wall Street. Allen was an avid runner and had an 1/8 mile track constructed on the property. It was later owned by the Thayer family before being put up for sale in 2017.

usmodernist.org/MurphyBrinkworthList.pdf
archive.org/details/countrylife57gard/page/n18/mode/1up