Product Description

This beautifully illustrated book features the magnificent estates built in the early part of the twentieth century by the wealthy residents of Long Island's North Shore. Many of the mansions are no longer standing, making this book a critical archive and monument to their glory. In their heyday, they were inhabited by the aristocracy of America's gilded age, among them Vanderbilts, Phipps, and Pratts. The author's evocative photographs capture the splendor of these once luxurious homes, from the houses' turrets, porticos, columns, and courtyards to their vaulted entry halls, spacious ballrooms, and vast libraries. Accompanied by histories of the estates and the families that built them, this book is a classic and evocative reminder of a bygone era and lifestyle.

This expanded reprint includes a wealth of previously unpublished photographs, and fifteen estates have been added to those included in the original edition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #131917 in Books
• Published on: 2004-02-07
• Released on: 2004-02-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

About the Author
Monica Randall is a historical preservationist, film location scout, and author. Her books include Phantoms of the Hudson Valley and the forthcoming Winfield, Living in the Shadow of the Woolworths. She lives in Oyster Bay, New York.

Customer Reviews

What happened to this edition???
The previous edition of this book is *far* superior to this edition. In this version it appears that all of the photos were digitally scanned (and some altered) with absolutely HORRIBLE results. Some are actually blurry!! All the photos are *extremely* darkened, the cover included. It's shown here on Amazon with the grass being 2 different shades of green due to the sunlight, but on the actual book the grass is only a single shade of dark green, with no sun lightening half of it. I thought I had a bad copy from Amazon so I checked out 3 different bookstores and found the same thing. This is really absurd that a publishing company could let these go out this way. Or do they not consider this a defect because it was intentionally "cheapened" this way? What a disgrace to a book that was truly a work of art. I suggest obtaining the previous out-of-print edition and leaving this one alone.

The digital age
I appreciate the warning about the photographs in this book. Why else would someone buy a book such as this other than to look at the beautiful homes in all of their splendor? I blame the digital age and bad scanning/reproducing/printing and I agree, some things are better off left alone and out of print.

Classic book of this genre
Good grief, these reviewers are harsh about this edition, I mean sure the former edition did have more vivid pics, but this book is not a disaster, it's still the wonderful book Ms. Randall wrote years ago. I have that edition, but I also enjoyed this edition, I really appreciated the updates and the additional homes. Ms. Randall cares about these homes and the history of the Gold Coast. This book is well researched and the photos are quite interesting. I realize that the criticism by the other amazon critics are not a criticism of this book, just the editor for the quality, but one star really gives people the wrong immpression of this classic book. Honestly the quality of this book is not that bad and the book itself is a classic of its genre. Give it a try or at least buy a pre owned older copy, you won't be disappointed.