Product Description

A "palace" ruled by a "queen," Harbor Hill in Roslyn, Long Island, was commissioned by the beautiful and imperious Katherine Duer Mackay, wife of one of the country's wealthiest men. The mansion along with its magnificent furnishings, art, gardens, and the owners' striving, hubris, and ultimate failure are the dramatis personae of this saga. Stanford White, the architect, wrote, "with the exception of Biltmore, I do not think there will be an estate equal to it in the country." An extravagant product of the desire for social acceptance, the portrait encompasses western mining and old versus new wealth, religious differences and the building of a church, art collecting, and the many people, from the architects, builders, and workers to the servants and staff who ran the house and gardens. Harbor Hill's story includes elements of farce and tragedy; in a sense it is an American portrait. 9 color, 219 b&w illustrations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #308353 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 264 pages

Review
Delves into its creation, its owner and family, its place in society- and so much more. (LoHud.com) REVIEW: Fully illustrated look at this marvelous house and...surrounding structures...along with an in-depth look at the families who've called it home. (Long Island Pulse) REVIEW: Wilson turns this chronicle of what reporters at the time called "Heartbreak House" into a page-turner....entertaining, enlightening cautionary tale. (Period Homes, Eve Kahn) REVIEW: Wilson has compiled a riveting life story of...a prominent turn-of-the-century family...[and] their impressive mansion...that was intended to be remembered. (Romantic Homes, Jickie Torres)

Review
Fully illustrated look at this marvelous house and...surrounding structures...along with an in-depth look at the families who've called it home.

Review
Wilson turns this chronicle of what reporters at the time called "Heartbreak House" into a page-turner....entertaining, enlightening cautionary tale.

Customer Reviews

HARBOR HILL
Harbor Hill was one of the most spectacular mansions ever built in America. Designed by the iconic Stanford White and built to embody the MacKays desire to accend to the pinacle of NYC society. This book charts the rise of the MacKays and their ultimate demise, along with the similar fate of this great house. The mistress of the house was a real peice of work, but this beautiful showplace was really her creation, she knew what she wanted and Stanford White gave it to her, with Mr. MacKay's money of course. The book is well researched and it's an interesting read and the images are first rate. Honestly, it's tragic that this house no longer survives, you just wonder what kind of philstine could tear something like this down, unfortunitely this being America and not Europe, none of us should be surprised it was so uncerimoniously destroyed. Harbor Hills fate closely resembles the great Philadelphia mansion, Whitehall, and the MacKays are more than a bit similiar to the Stotesbury's, both thought they built their great estates to last for centuries and instead they barely outlived them..when you see the kind of grand mansions built today in places like Bel Air and Palm Beach, you can't help but notice how inferior they are in comparison to the great Gilded Age mansions like Harbor Hill, it's a shame we dont have more respect for beautiful architecture of the past, we inherited so much from the Europeans, but that unfortunitely was not one of them...too bad for Harbor Hill, now just a ghost, haunting old sepia stained images.

Harbor Hill: a reader's opinion
Harbor Hill: Portrait of a house deals with one of the most important private homes built in America's "gilded age." Both the family involved, and the architect, provide the meat for a good story. Unfortunately, the result is a dry review of the details. Perhaps there are few surviving photographs of the home's interior, but too few are included to gain a good picture of the interior design and furnishings. In the end, the book is something of a disappointment.

HARBOR HILL
BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS AND WELL WRITTEN STORY OF AN ESTATE THAT NO LONGER EXISTS....THE AUTHOR MADE IT EXIST AGAIN, IF ONLY IN THE MIND OF THE READER.