"The Cliffs" (Mill Neck, New York) | LIGC - Long Island Gold Coast, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places

USA / New York / Mill Neck / Mill Neck, New York
 residence, LIGC - Long Island Gold Coast, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places
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 a 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. Upon the death of his children in the 1st quarter of the 20th century, control of the estate was ceded to a family corporation,The Beekman Family Association. The Association leased the property out from the mid 1920's onward ultimately selling it to Cornelius J. Ryan in the late 1940's.

Recent renovations were made by Smiros & Smiros Architects.

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Coordinates:   40°52'48"N   73°32'43"W

Comments

  • Remarkably intact? I guess you haven't been inside. The mid-1990s Arab owner ripped everything out above the ground floor and turned it into an atrocity. It now resembles something like a cross between yacht cabin, a disco, and a Turkish bath -- we're talking curved walls, lots of tile and glass brick.
  • In regards to the last sentence of the introductory posting, the Beekman family owned "The Cliffs" until a little past the early 1900's. I checked Nassau County records and they say that the Beekman's were the owners up until either 1949 or 1950. The cards were overlayed and both dates were displayed, so I wasn't sure which year was their last year of ownership.
  • Last year of Beekman ownership was 1949; it was then purchased by my husband's grandparents. They sold it in the mid 1970's. We loved the place. It was very grand. I am sad most of it was torn up.
This article was last modified 3 years ago