
Idle Hour is a former
Vanderbilt estate that is located in
Oakdale on
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
in
Suffolk County, New York
Suffolk County ( ) is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of New York, constituting the eastern two-thirds of Long Island. It is bordered to its west by Nassau County, to its east by Gardiners Bay and the open Atlantic Ocean, to its no ...
. It was completed in 1901 for
William Kissam Vanderbilt. Once part of
Dowling College
Dowling College was a private college on Long Island, New York. It was established in 1968 and had its main campus located in Oakdale, New York on the site of William K. Vanderbilt's mansion Idle Hour. Dowling also included a campus in Shirle ...
, the mansion is one of the
largest houses in the United States.
History

In 1878,
Alva and
William Kissam Vanderbilt began building a lavish, wooden 110-room home known as Idle Hour, on a estate on the
Connetquot River. The building, initially completed in 1882, was designed by
Richard Morris Hunt of
Hunt & Hunt (an American who studied at the
École des Beaux-Arts
; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...
in Paris), continuously added to until the home was destroyed by fire on April 15, 1899, while his son,
Willie K. Vanderbilt, was honeymooning there.
Willie and his new wife,
Virginia Fair Vanderbilt, escaped the fire. His daughter
Consuelo had also honeymooned there when she married the
Charles Spencer-Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough in 1895.
It was promptly rebuilt of red brick and gray stone in the
English Country Style, with exquisite furnishings, for $3 million. The building was designed by Hunt's son,
Richard Howland Hunt, and at the time was considered among the finest homes in America. The rebuilt estate "included nearly all of Oakdale, 290 or 300 buildings, a herd of steer and a
paddlewheel steamer to ferry guests up and down the
Connetquot River alongside the mansion."
Around 1902, an addition was made to Idle Hour by the prominent architectural firm
Warren & Wetmore.
Later ownership
After Vanderbilt's death in 1920, the mansion went through several phases and visitors, including a brief stay during
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
by gangster
Dutch Schultz.
Around that time, cow stalls, pig pens and corn cribs on the farm portion of Idle Hour were converted into a short-lived bohemian
artists' colony, known as the
Royal Fraternity of Master Metaphysicians, that included figures such as
George Elmer Browne and Roman (Bon) Bonet-Sintas as well as sculptor Catherine Lawson, costume designer Olga Meervold, pianist Claude Govier,
Francis Gow-Smith, and his wife Carol.
In 1963,
Adelphi College purchased the estate and, in 1968, spun the campus off as
Dowling College
Dowling College was a private college on Long Island, New York. It was established in 1968 and had its main campus located in Oakdale, New York on the site of William K. Vanderbilt's mansion Idle Hour. Dowling also included a campus in Shirle ...
(named after city planner and philanthropist
Robert W. Dowling). In March 1974,
the home sustained its second fire and required a $3 million renovation.
The estate was home to Dowling College, a private co-educational college, until the college closed in August 2016.
In 2017, Idle Hour and the Dowling Campus were set to be auctioned off.
In 2018, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Central Islip approved the $14 million purchase of the site.
by Mercury International LLC of Delaware, an affiliate of NCF Capital Ltd. which owes over $3 million dollars in back taxes to Suffolk County.
Largest homes in America
The 70,000 sq. ft. mansion is tied for the 15th
largest house in the United States of America with
Woodlea in
Briarcliff Manor, New York (built for his sister
Margaret
Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...
and brother-in-law
Elliott Fitch Shepard in 1895) and
Lynnewood Hall in
Elkins Park, Pennsylvania (built for
Peter A. B. Widener in 1900).
Gallery
File:Country residence ("Idle Hour") for William K. and Alva Vanderbilt, Oakdale, Long Island, New York LCCN2017650941.jpg, Photograph of Idle Hour, 1880
File:Country residence ("Idle Hour") for William K. and Alva Vanderbilt, Oakdale, Long Island, New York). (Kitchen and servants' rooms addition). (Elevation) - Richard M. Hunt, architect, New LCCN2010647867.jpg, Kitchen and servants room' addition, 1886.
File:Country residence ('Idle Hour') for William K. and Alva Vanderbilt, Oakdale, Long Island, New York) LOC ppmsca.52120.jpg, Architectural drawing of the stables, 1888.
File:Country residence ('Idle Hour') for William K. and Alva Vanderbilt, Oakdale, Long Island, New York) LOC ppmsca.52124.jpg, Architectural drawing, 1889
File:Country residence ('Idle Hour') for William K. and Alva Vanderbilt, Oakdale, Long Island, New York) LOC ppmsca.52123.jpg, Architectural drawing, 1889
File:Country residence ('Idle Hour') for William K. Vanderbilt, Oakdale, Long Island, New York) LOC ppmsca.52116.jpg, Architectural drawing of Idle Hour's interior, -1901
Idle Hour 02.jpg, The north facade at Idle Hour,
Idle Hour 03.jpg, The inner courtyard at Idle Hour,
Idle Hour Stables.jpg, The stables at Idle Hour,
See also
*
List of Gilded Age mansions
References
;Notes
;Sources
External links
Idle Hour, Town of Islip, Suffolk Countyat Preservation Long Island
The Gilded Age, The Vanderbilt's and Idle Hourvideo on
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
.
{{coord, 40.7426, -73.1483, type:landmark_region:US-NY, display=title
Vanderbilt family
Vanderbilt family residences
Palaces in the United States
Dowling College
Houses in Suffolk County, New York
Residential buildings completed in 1901
Gilded Age mansions