The DuPont-Guest Estate, now known as the NYIT de Seversky Mansion, is a historic

estate Estate or The Estate may refer to: Law * Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations * Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries. ** The Estates, representativ ...

located at Brookville in

Nassau County, New York Nassau County ( ) is a suburban County (United States), county located on Long Island, immediately to the east of New York City, bordering the Long Island Sound on the north and the open Atlantic Ocean to the south. As of the 2020 United St ...

. Since 1972, it has been part of the Old Westbury campus of the

New York Institute of Technology The New York Institute of Technology (NYIT or New York Tech) is a Private university, private research university, research university founded in 1955. It has two main campuses in New York (state), New York—one in Old Westbury, on Long I ...

(NYIT).

History

The home, originally called "White Eagle", was built between 1916 and 1918 for Alicia Heyward (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Bradford) Maddox, the second wife of

Alfred I. du Pont Alfred Irénée du Pont (May 12, 1864 – April 28, 1935) was an American industrialist, financier, philanthropist and a member of the influential Du Pont family. Alfred du Pont first rose to prominence through his work in his family's Delaware ...

and daughter of Judge Edward Bradford. It was designed by the architectural firm of

Carrère and Hastings Carrère and Hastings, the firm of John Merven Carrère ( ; November 9, 1858 – March 1, 1911) and Thomas Hastings (architect), Thomas Hastings (March 11, 1860 – October 22, 1929), was an American list of architecture firms, architecture firm ...

in the

Georgian Revival Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover, George I, George II, Ge ...

style and the interiors were designed by Charles of London. The residence is two stories plus a basement level, with a red brick façade, white

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

and

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

embellishments, and a gabled,

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

roof. ''See also:'' Alicia du Pont died in January 1920 before the home was finished. The estate consists of the residence, surrounding landscaping, and garage. It adjoined

Harbor Hill Harbor Hill was a large Long Island mansion built from 1899 to 1902 in the present-day Village of East Hills, New York, for telecommunications magnate Clarence Hungerford Mackay. It was designed by McKim, Mead & White, with Stanford White supe ...

, the country seat of Clarence Mackay (to the west), and the home of

Harry Payne Whitney Harry Payne Whitney (April 29, 1872 – October 26, 1930) was an American businessman, thoroughbred horse breeding, horse breeder, and member of the prominent Whitney family. Early years Whitney was born in New York City on April 29, 1872, as ...

(who married Gertrude Vanderbilt) (to the south). It was near to the "homes of many of America's leading financiers, including Nicholas F. Brady,

Otto H. Kahn Otto Hermann Kahn (February 21, 1867 – March 29, 1934) was a German-born American investment banker, collector, philanthropist, and patron of the arts. Kahn was a well-known figure, appearing on the cover of ''Time'' magazine and was sometimes ...

, J. Pierpont Morgan, Thomas H. Hitchcock,

Elbert H. Gary Elbert Henry Gary (October 8, 1846August 15, 1927) was an American lawyer, county judge and business executive. He was a founder of U.S. Steel in 1901 alongside J. P. Morgan, William H. Moore, Henry Clay Frick and Charles M. Schwab. The city ...

and Ormond G. Smith."

Later ownership

In 1921, the estate (which had been completed and fully furnished in January 1921, but never lived in), which was valued at over $1,500,000, was to be sold at public auction conducted by Arthur C. Sheridan for the benefit of Mrs. du Pont's child by her first marriage, Alicia Maddox, who had been adopted by Alfred du Pont. It was sold for $470,000 to David T. Layman Jr., who was understood to be acting for Howard C. Phipps of the

Phipps family The Phipps family of the United States is a prominent American family that descends from Henry Phipps Jr. (1839–1930), a businessman and philanthropist. His father was an English shoemaker who immigrated in the early part of the 19th century ...

. The property was purchased in the 1920s by

Frederick Guest Frederick Edward Guest, (14 June 1875 – 28 April 1937) was a British politician best known for being Chief Whip of Prime Minister David Lloyd George's Coalition Liberal Party, 1917–1921. He was also Secretary of State for Air between 192 ...

(husband of Amy Phipps) and his family, who called it "Templeton". It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2009. Since 1972, it has been part of the Old Westbury campus of the

(NYIT).

References

External links

NYIT de Seversky Mansion website
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Georgian Revival architecture in New York (state) Houses completed in 1918 Houses in Nassau County, New York National Register of Historic Places in Nassau County, New York Gilded Age mansions {{NassauCountyNY-NRHP-stub