#Old Westbury Gardens

[way-out-there]

Pax intrantibus, salus exeuntibus

Peace to those who enter, good health to those who depart

Old Westbury Gardens, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is the former home of John S. Phipps, his wife, Margarita Grace Phipps and their four children. Completed in 1906 by the English designer, George A. Crawley, the magnificent Charles II-style mansion is nestled amid 200 acres of formal gardens, landscaped grounds, woodlands, ponds and lakes. Westbury House is furnished with fine English antiques and decorative arts from the more than fifty years of the family's residence. (From the official websitme

[lunarcies]

The wonderland Alice sang about-

Old Westbury Gardens, NY 😌

[goingplacesfarandnear]

All that Glitters, Shimmers and Glows this Holiday Season

All that Glitters, Shimmers and Glows this Holiday Season

Amaze Light Festival is the newest holiday attraction in New York City © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com Traveling this holiday season? There are so many special activities and attractions to enjoy. Here are some of our favorites: Shimmering Solstice at Old Westbury Gardens The magical Shimmering Solstice returns to…

[cathikesny]

OLD WESTBURY GARDENS

If you’re asking me, Old Westbury Gardens is probably one of the “Big Long Island Three”, the other two being Planting Fields Arboretum and Vanderbilt. “The Big Long Island Three” being old “Gatsby” estates that have been turned into gardens or preserves that like EVERYONE knows about and has been to at least once. 

💰 : winter rates are $8/adult, FREE if you reserve through the Long Island library museum pass program

⏰ : hours (and I think fees) vary by season, check the wesbite

🌎 : 71 Old Westbury Road, Old Westbury, Long Island

♿️ : honestly, the website claims to be technically handicapped accessible, but it's really not - they could do better

🏃‍♀️ : beginner, this place is meant for a casual stroll

🐶 : service animals only, no pets

🚗 : ample parking on site

📸 : HIGH Instagramability

📍: ancestral land of the Matinecock peoples.

Ironically though, I’ve actually only been to Old Westbury Gardens ONCE. Listen, I am a student right now and those tickets are just too expensive for my taste (although you can reserve them and get in for FREEEEE through your local library if you live on LI). I don’t understand how OWG doesn’t qualify as a botanical garden like NYBG or Brooklyn Botanical. Why is it just a regular “garden”? It’s legit just as impressive and beautiful and manicured as the big botanical gardens in the area, in my opinion. But, as per usual, I digress…

Old Westbury Gardens has been featured in so many tv shows and movies and was what Baz Luhrman used as inspiration for his ridiculous adaptation of The Great Gatsby with Leo DiCaprio (can we tell I hated that movie?). It’s truly a gorgeous and impeccably well-preserved early 1900s era Gold Coast mansion and the grounds are this bizarre garden oasis in an otherwise very busy section of Long Island suburbia.

HISTORY:

The estate was owned by the Phipps family, who gained their wealth through their association with Andrew Carnegie (of Carnegie Hall) and the Carnegie Steel Company, and upon research, it actually looks like the Phipps who built the mansion, also sponsored Amelia Earhart’s ill-fated flight across the Atlantic, which I thought was interesting and random enough to include. Anyway.. The Phipps family moved in and lived there as early as 1906 but the estate was converted into a museum and gardens in the 1950s and has served that purpose ever since.

The house and grounds have been used for movies like Hitch, Cruel Intentions, American Gangster and shows like Gossip Girl. It’s been used so thoroughly because every nook and cranny of Old Westbury Gardens is meticulously designed and planned and gorgeous. Even the entrance through the MASSIVE iron gates and the thin, tree-lined driveway demands drama, demands your attention and then you pull through and see the mansion from the distance and you can’t help but be genuinely awed. 

TRAIL RECOMMENDATION:

I DO and I DON'T have a specific trail recommendation. As this will NOT be the only post about OWG, the sort-of-recommendation is forthcoming in the next post, so watch this space!

I don't really have a specific recommendation because you should just attempt to experience every inch of this place. The walled gardens were really stunning. I would like to go back when the lilacs are really in season because I think that would be pretty spectacular but they make sure there is something pretty much year round, even in the winter, when they do light displays.

If I were made of money, or library reservations for free tickets, I would go legitimately every couple of weeks between March and September because there is that much to see and that much is often in bloom between the GIGANTIC rhododendron bushes in the front of the mansion to the rose garden in the back, something is always blooming and beautiful. 

I wish Old Westbury Gardens wasn’t so expensive (or I wasn't so poor.. lol). You can tell why it is though because of how well it is maintained. I highly recommend taking advantage of the free tickets through Long Island libraries if you live locally, and I recommend going at least once in general regardless of the price. It's worth it.

This, despite the admissions fee, makes my “Run, Don’t Walk” list because it’s truly a magnificent experience. 

P.S. Something unusual but occasional...

NEARBY FOOD RECOMMENDATIONS:

I’d also like to give a quick shout out to two of my favorite area restaurants if you’re looking for some food to eat after your long walk through the gardens.

Hildebrandt’s in Williston Park, just a few miles west; it’s an old ice cream shoppe from the 1920s that has remained in business by sheer will of force and local love and also because it has the greatest French onion soup and ice cream you’ll ever have in your entire life. I'd bet my life on it.

Spuntino in Westbury, near Roosevelt Field Mall, which is like a little Italian tapas and wine bar. They have great happy hour deals at the bar and literally the most incredible pepperoni personal pizza (picante) you’ve ever had.

These are OBVIOUSLY not sponsored posts, I just really love both restaurants and who doesn’t like a good food recommendation?

[ex-skydiving-scientist]

Old Westbury Gardens, Nassau, New York

[hicisleri]

Old Westbury Gardens, Nassau, New York

[whartonists]

Not in our version of the story.

the age of innocence (1993, dir. martin scorsese) // the gilded age season 2 (2022-) // the age of innocence, edith wharton

[koffiphotography]

[servants-hall]

‘The Gilded Age’ Season 2 Behind the Scenes: How Fashion Defines Each Character (PHOTOS)

by Kelli Boyle

Julian Fellowes, the creator of Downton Abbey (2011-2016) [mod note: on PBS in the US], set that upstairs-downstairs series at a palatial British estate on the eve of World War I. He moved his newest costume drama Stateside to the streets of New York City. Set in the late 1800s, The Gilded Age, which has its second-season premiere on Sunday, October 29 on HBO (streaming on Max), pits the new money of railroad barons against the old money of New York society. The powerful fight for control of the city and use their wealth to measure social success. And dressing for success was its own full-time occupation.

When researching women’s fashion in 1800s New York, the show’s costume designer Kasia Walicka-Maimone saw one thing clearly: “Their life was a catwalk. There was this enormous excitement” when the ladies trekked the bustling, dusty streets of Manhattan. Her job was to recreate that excitement for contemporary viewers of The Gilded Age.

Fashion as a Sign of Status

Who’s doing all this promenading? Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) arrived in NYC with no money and was taken in by her aunts Ada (Cynthia Nixon) and Agnes (Christine Baranski), both living off an inheritance. Then the newly affluent Russells—headed by railroad baron George (Morgan Spector) and wife Bertha (Carrie Coon), who is determined to break into polite society—moved in across the street.

Ada Brook (Cynthia Nixon) and Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski) head to church on Easter morning in ‘The Gilded Age’ Season 2 premiere. Niece Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) follows close behind (Credit: Barbara Nitke/HBO)

The frill thrills continue in Season 2, especially in a pivotal garden party scene (pictured below) that TV Insider observed being filmed in September 2022 at New York’s lavish Old Westbury Gardens estate. (Westbury House was previously home to an heir of the Phipps family, real-life Gilded Age figures whose patriarch made his fortune alongside Andrew Carnegie at his steel company.) On set was Fellowes, whose smart black suit and tie were the only dark hues around.

Gladys Russell (Taissa Farmiga), George Russell (Morgan Spector), and Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) step out for Easter mass in ‘The Gilded Age’ Season 2 premiere (Credit: Barbara Nitke/HBO)

Historically Accurate Costumes

It’s a testament to the wardrobe department that the stunning colors of the sprawling grounds nearly pale in comparison to the vibrancy of the women’s period garb. Despite the sepia-toned images in history books, Walicka-Maimone says, those bright tints are decidedly historically accurate. She has a library of more than 35,000 reference images to prove it.

“It’s shocking to our modern eye to see the explosion of color from that period,” she said. Production designer Bob Shaw (who won an Emmy for his work on Gilded Age) was present to share his creative process, which, just as Walicka-Maimone described of her own work, is “deeply steeped in history.”

Nicole Brydon Bloom joins the cast for Season 2, pictured here at the garden party with Blake Ritson’s Oscar van Rhijn (Credit: Barbara Nitke/HBO)

He does note that, when deciding between “what is correct and what feels correct,” the latter always wins. Creative liberties are taken to “build [character] histories into the costumes,” Walicka-Maimone added.

A Garden Party to Remember

Take Brit newcomers Dashiell Montgomery (David Furr) and his daughter, Frances (Matilda Lawler), for example. Nephew by marriage to Baranski’s Agnes, Dashiell requires more “toned-down” attire suitable for social outings, which contrasts with Season 1’s primarily business and formal menswear.

Aurora Fane (Kelli O’Hara) and husband Charles Fane (Ward Horton) attend the garden party in ‘The Gilded Age’ Season 2 (Credit: Barbara Nitke/HBO)

Dashiell must escort Frances through society in his late wife’s absence. One consideration for Walicka-Maimone: “This is a girl who doesn’t have a mother, so there’s probably extra care from all the other family members in [dressing her],” she said.

Meanwhile, Marian, who Jacobson said is “shining this season and sees herself in [younger] Frances,” will be more open to a strategic marriage. Marian’s “not necessarily cynical” after being jilted by Tom Raikes (Thomas Cocquerel) in last season’s finale, the actress continued, but the heartbreak gives her a “spice and edge.”

Don’t count out the possibility of a romance with Larry Russell (Harry Richardson), son of the railroad titan, which was teased last year. Jacobson shared: “They will definitely continue to deepen their friendship.” Old money and new money unite!

[mtaartsdesign]

Arts & Design is excited to unveil a new permanent artwork by Darryl Westly at LIRR Westbury station. “Illuminations” (2023) is a dynamic, allegorical reflection of the people and places of Westbury that employs glass, metal, light, and shadow as equal counterparts, creating symbols of remembrance and an environment for transitory contemplation.

“Illuminations” was translated from original paintings by Westly that gather the past and present histories of the village and community, which have been translated into 782 square feet of painted glass by Glasmalerei Peters Studios, and 140 square feet of etched metal work fabricated by KC Fabrications. Spanning the station's ticket office to the overpass towers, the work blends divergent narratives, archival imagery, and motifs from Westbury’s past into brilliantly colorful dreamscapes.

The painted glass is interspersed with patterns inspired by Wampum Belt designs, juxtaposing Tuskegee Airmen, farm stands, and the local children’s library. Recurring floral and bouquet motifs reference the gardens of the historic Orchard Hill Estate, serving as metaphors for the ancestry of the land and the cultivation of community. In the etched metal railing, race cars and horses harken back to the old Roosevelt Raceway, boats reference the migration of Quakers to the area, and chain-links take on the dual meaning of both the history of enslavement and the bonds that now hold diverse communities together. “Illuminations” honors Westbury history while also leaving space to contemplate its future. It is a memorialization of moments in history where people can find meaning, understanding, and connection, regardless of race, creed, or class.

📸: Jason Mandella

[adamsvanrhijn]

‘The Gilded Age’ Stars Reveal the Social Battlefronts of Season 2 (PHOTOS)

[These interviews were conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike authorization.]

Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) finally has her foot in the door of 1883 Manhattan society in HBO‘s The Gilded Age Season 2, but the door to the coveted Academy of Music remains closed. No matter. She’ll make the fledgling Metropolitan Opera the place to be instead! And that’s just one intrigue for The Gilded Age’s second season.

TV Insider was on set of Julian Fellowes‘ glamorous period drama in September 2022. There, we spoke with Coon, Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon, Louisa Jacobson, Fellowes, and the team behind the camera as they filmed a pivotal garden party scene on the lush grounds of Long Island’s Old Westbury estate. The former home to an heir of the Phipps family fortune, this was a perfect locale to host the series’ fictional steel magnates and their families.

George (Morgan Spector) and Bertha Russell are as hellbent to get to the top as ever in the new episodes, premiering October 29 on HBO and streaming on Max, and last season’s setbacks and victories will make them even more cutthroat. While George handles the money (and union troubles at his railroad), Bertha handles their social rise.

“George wants to be the richest and most powerful man in the country. That is his motivation,” Fellowes told journalists on set. “I personally don’t think he cares much about society, but he cares about his wife. And because she wants to be the dominating factor in New York society, he will support her in that and anything he can do to support her, he will do. That’s why I don’t think he cares if he knows a duchess or he’s having dinner with a princess. He could give a monkey’s toss about that. He just wants people to shake in the knee when he comes in the room, because he can break them just like that.”

“What I hope I’ve created in Bertha and George are one of those marriages where they both have quite separate fields of endeavor and each one of them is 100 percent supportive of the other one’s ambitions,” Fellowes continues, “so any way they can help, they will.”

The Russells aren’t the only well-off family with their eyes on the social prize. Below, the stars of The Gilded Age reveal the social battlefronts of Season 2.

Instead of Vying for a Seat, Bertha Makes Her Own Table

Bertha (Coon, above, with Nathan Lane) “thrives” on the bitterness her friendship with Mrs. Astor (Donna Murphy) stirs up in town, Coon says, adding, “It’s not just the other ladies who get ruffled. Mrs. Astor herself is in for a few surprises if she thinks she’s pacified Bertha by allowing her to enter society.”

When it comes to her and George’s children, Larry (Harry Richardson) and Gladys (Taissa Farmiga), Bertha has her sights set on a noteworthy marriage for her newly out daughter.

“Gladys is developing a mind of her own, much to Bertha’s chagrin. [Gladys] doesn’t always go along with what Bertha wants for her, and so we’ll see a lot of butting heads between the two of them,” Coon explains. “Larry, she doesn’t worry about. The world’s set up for Larry, but he makes some bad decisions, and it wouldn’t be like Bertha to keep her nose out of that business. She’s going to insert herself wherever she can to make sure her kids are on the right track.”

George's Past May Come Back to Haunt Him

Bertha and railroad baron husband George “are very much working in concert,” Coon says, to secure their rise, but the firing of gold-digging lady’s maid Turner (Kelley Curran) is the “monkey wrench” in their best-laid plans.

“Turner’s been dismissed, but we’ll see,” Coon warns. “That may not be the last of that lie. Bertha and George are going to have to deal with some personal issues in their marriage while they’re trying to complete this rise in society.”

Marian Searches for a Husband on Her Own Terms

Despite her money problems, Marian Brook (Jacobson) was the bright-eyed lovebird of Season 1. But being jilted by would-be husband Tom Raikes (Thomas Cocquerel) may have cast a love match out of her mind in Season 2. Nevertheless, Jacobson told us on set that Marian’s “shining this season.”

“I think she’s really stepping into herself. Having a bit of heartbreak has made her not necessarily cynical, but have a little bit of spice and edge. She’s not so timid,” she says. Timid, she’s not, but blind she may be.

Dashing neighbor Larry (Richardson) showed romantic interest in the Season 1 ender, and Jacobson says they will “continue to deepen their friendship” in Season 2 as Marian “feels relief when she’s around him.” But this former romantic may be shirking love for pragmatism like her Aunt Agnes (Baranski), much to Aunt Ada’s (Nixon) displeasure.

Agnes van Rhijn Wants Marian Married

Agnes van Rhijn experiences a tectonic shift in her relationship with sister Ada Brook.

“You’ll see a level of depth and feeling there that’s going to be quite rich,” Baranski tells TV Insider. Adds Nixon: “The power skirmishes that have been subtextual come out.”

As Marian searches for her life partner, Agnes will continue to urge her to be pragmatic, as her pragmatism saved their family from destitution after Marian’s late father squandered their family fortune.

Ada Brook Asserts Her Independence

While Nixon says that “Ada is not a rule-breaker,” the spinster will be outspoken about niece Marian not following in Agnes’ strategic footsteps when choosing a husband. Still, Ada fears Marian becoming the next Mrs. Chamberlain should she only follow her heart.

“I think [Ada’s] a person who likes to push it and try to push the envelope and sort of see what she can get,” Nixon says, “but for herself and also for her niece, she doesn’t want her to speak to Mrs. Chamberlain because there’s such a price to pay.”

As for her personal life, Ada won’t be as meek and meager this season. Her newfound independence and insistence that she can live a life separate from her sister may be what brings on that tectonic shift. Or could it be political differences as social issues, especially women’s right to vote, start to come to the surface?

[matt1sims4blog]

Inspired by Westbury House / Old Westbury Gardens

[lunarcies]

🌷 Old Westbury Gardens //

[tfarmiga]

September 20th, 2022 - Filming ‘The Gilded Age’ Season 2 in Old Westbury Gardens, Westbury NY

[cathikesny]

OLD WESTBURY GARDENS - EAST LIKE TRAIL

A big “news event” happened back in June that I was pretty devastated by and really pissed off about and I’m not gonna get into it as to not get overly “political” here… if I stayed inside and just looked at my phone and watched the news all day that day, I was going to lose my ever loving mind.

Thankfully, my boyfriend was coming to Long Island that weekend (we go to him in Westchester more because Long Island traffic SUCKSSS) and I sent him a text message on that beautiful summer morning. I wrote, “I bought tickets, the Garden closes at like 4pm, I’m just going to meet you there. I need to touch grass and see something nice or I’m gonna freaking lose it.”, at that point he knew to just say "yes" and off we went. 

💰 : winter rates are $8/adult, FREE if you reserve through the Long Island library museum pass program

⏰ : hours (and I think fees) vary by season, check the wesbite

🌎 : 71 Old Westbury Road, Old Westbury, Long Island

♿️ : honestly, the website claims to be technically handicapped accessible, but it's really not - they could do better

🏃‍♀️ : beginner, this place is meant for a casual stroll

🐶 : service animals only, no pets

🚗 : ample parking on site

📸 : HIGH Instagramability

📍: ancestral land of the Matinecock peoples

"Touching some grass" was the right decision.

Nature CALMS people, or at least, nature calms me. Bougie gardens also calm me but that’s besides the point.

Hydrangeas, pictured below, a real summer favorite of mine, were fully in bloom and buzzing with pollenating bees, the rose garden was filled with different varietals climbing trellises that covered walkways… it was a beautiful first introduction to the Gardens that I had always known were five minutes away from where I grew up but I had never been to, and it served its purpose as a very efficient distraction.

HOWEVER!!!!

If you’ve been here since the beginning, you have come to understand that I get VERY excited about animal and bird sightings, like, guys, I get excited about chipmunks (BECAUSE YOU NEVER SEE THEM ON LONG ISLAND AND THEY ARE ADORABLE!)…

You can all probably guess where this is going…

As my boyfriend, Rob and I were casually strolling along the edge of the East Lake, which you can find if you go to the right when looking at the backside of the mansion, towards the Temple of Love (which is just a stone gazebo that’s under construction..) we saw FROGS AND TURTLES AND OMG I WAS SO EXCITED.

Rob and I started crouching closer to the edge of the lake and suddenly I realized there was a little frog in the water and a little frog no more than six inches from us that was completely unfazed and a very cooperative model for several giggle-filled minutes right up until he PLOPPED himself straight back into the water and swam away. We were completely tickled and were now completely obsessed with pointing out more frogs and turtles, which there were like dozens of to our complete delight. 

Little did we know, the very best was waiting for us at the end of the loop of the East Lake trail, by the old swimming pool and the steps down to the lake…

We were graced by something that I literally will not forget for probably the rest of my life: a huge snapping turtle.

I mean, if this thing wasn’t thirty pounds and like 75 years old, I would be STUNNED. He was just as curious of us as we were of him and we sat on those stairs for thirty minutes contemplating whether or not we could actually touch his shell without losing a finger. We decided my luck wasn’t generally good enough to even attempt, but Rob ALMOST did, and then chickened out at the last second, but I named the turtle Lenny and if you see him on your visit tell him I sent you and I love him. 

No, but seriously, if you go to Old Westbury Gardens and see Lenny the Turtle, please come back here and tell me. It will make my year.

[eclecticharmonytimemachine]

LEN JENSHEL  Old Westbury Garden, Old Westbury, NY, 1981