The Cliffs (Mill Neck, NY)

Designed by an English architect, Henry G Harrison, who specialized in ecclesiastical buildings (among them the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City)"the Cliffs" is a splendid example of Victorian Gothic style. Built for NY Senator James William Beekman in 1863-1864, the Cliffs is considered the first of the "Gold Coast" mansions, those great estates which were developed on Long Island's North shore between the Civil War and World War II. The estate encompassed 43 acres which once included the old mill built by George Townsend in the 18th century as well as an early Indian archeological site.

James W. Beekman was the scion of the rich and powerful Beekman family descendants of Wilhelmus Beekman an early settler of the Hudson Valley who sailed to New Netherlands with Peter Stuyvesant. The Beekman fortune derived mainly from their real estate holdings which in New York consisted of a farm whose southeast border was near the current Pearl and Fulton Streets and spread northward to current-day Soho. In 1770 the Beekmans developed this farm into building lots including the site of their home at Broadway and Spring Street. As the Beekman's wealth increased in the late 18th century, they purchased a large tract of land on the East River near current day Beekman place. It was at this spot that James Beekman's grandfather, also James, built a mansion called "Mount Pleasant".

James W. Beekman was a graduate of Columbia College and studied law with John L. Mason. He became vice president of New York Hospital, was a founding member of the New York Historical Society, and was an early supporter of the development of Central Park.

Through his Central Park connections Beekman worked with one of its designers, Andrew Jackson Downing, on extensive gardens at "The Cliffs" including "the Big Flower Garden", "the Water Gardens", "the Croton Garden" and "the Alma Tadema Pool Garden". The last of these is noted for the large fountain, known for years as "The Flowing Well", still visible from the the West Shore Road just North of the Long Island Railroad underpass.

Beekman died in 1877. "The Cliffs" remained in the Beekman family into the early 20th century.