Harbor Hill

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Harbor Hill was a spectacular Long Island mansion built from 1899-1902 in Roslyn, New York, commissioned by Clarence Hungerford Mackay. It was designed by McKim, Mead, and White, with Stanford White supervising the project. It was the largest home he ever designed.[1]

Clarence Mackay (1874-1938) was the son of Comstock Lode magnate John William Mackay, and inherited much of an estimated $500 million fortune upon his father's death in 1902. White collaborated closely with Clarence Mackay's wife, Katharine Duer Mackay (1880-1930), and with her approval, based the main facade of Harbor Hill upon that of François Mansart's Château de Maisons of 1642, using a mix of other influences to finish the overall design.

Built at great expense and furnished lavishly (at least three different decorating firms were employed), the home originally sat on 688 acres and enjoyed views across Roslyn Harbor to the Long Island Sound. Formal terraces and gardens were finished by Guy Lowell. After Harbor Hill was dynamited in 1947, a fountain with four equestrian statues, designed by Henri Gréber, was moved to Kansas City, Missouri where it has since been on public display adjacent to the Country Club Plaza.