Some scholars believe that Beacon Towers in Sands Point, New York - a fantastical estate built in 1917 and 1918 for Alva Belmont, the ex-wife of William Kissam Vanderbilt and widow of Oliver Belmont, inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald's depiction of Gatsby's estate:
I lived at West Egg . . . between two huge places that rented for twelve or fifteen thousand a season. The one on my right was a colossal affair by any standard - it was a factual imitation of some Hotel de Ville in Normandy, with a tower on one side, spanking new under a thin beard of raw ivy, and a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden.
Nick Carraway, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Director Baz Luhrmann and his wife, production designer Catherine Martin, also alluded to Beacon Towers in their 2013 film. "Looking at images of Beacon Towers, there's something that gives it the feel of the Disneyland castle, and Baz referenced that - the idea that Gatsby was building a fantasy," Catherine Martin told Architectural Digest in 2013. Take a look:
Beacon Towers, Sands Point, New York. 1922 Front Elevation.
Designed by Hunt and Hunt.
Built 1917 - 1918 for Alva Belmont, the ex-wife of William Kissam Vanderbilt and widow of Oliver Belmont. The home was later sold to William Randolph Hearst. The estate was demolished in 1945.
Photography by Harris and Ewing.
Beacon Towers, Sands Point, New York.
View from northwest, as seen from the beach, in 1922.
Designed by Hunt and Hunt.
Built 1917 - 1918 for Alva Belmont, the ex-wife of William Kissam Vanderbilt and widow of Oliver Belmont. The home was later sold to William Randolph Hearst. The estate was demolished in 1945.
Photography by Harris and Ewing.
Beacon Towers, Sands Point, New York in 1922 showing the western elevation of the mansion.
Designed by Hunt and Hunt.
Built 1917 - 1918 for Alva Belmont, the ex-wife of William Kissam Vanderbilt and widow of Oliver Belmont. The home was later sold to William Randolph Hearst. The estate was demolished in 1945.
Photography by Harris and Ewing.
Oheka Castle was another Long Island estate that influenced the design of Gatsby's home in the 2013 Luhrmann film. According to the OHEKA website, "financier and philanthropist Otto Hermann Kahn built OHEKA CASTLE [1914 - 1919] in the middle of a 443 acre plot on the highest point on Long Island in Cold Spring Harbor, for an estimated cost of $11 million dollars ($110 million dollars in today's currency). At the time of its construction, the French-style chateau was, and still is today, the second-largest private residence ever built in America." The 109,000-square-foot summer home had 127 rooms. [Only The Biltmore, the Asheville, North Carolina, country home of George Vanderbilt (built 1889 - 1895) is larger.] OHEKA, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is now a hotel that serves as a venue for galas, weddings, corporate meetings and photo shoots. [The appellation OHEKA comes from Otto HErmann KAhn's name.]
Oheka Castle - Night shot from the Formal Gardens.
Photo copyright Elliott Kaufman Photography.
Photo via Oheka Castle website.
Architect: Delano and Aldrich.
Landscape architect: Olmsted Brothers.
Oheka Castle - View from the Formal Gardens.
Photo copyright Elliott Kaufman Photography.
Photo via Oheka Castle website.
Architect: Delano and Aldrich.
Landscape architect: Olmsted Brothers.
Oheka Castle - Formal Gardens.
Photo copyright Elliott Kaufman Photography.
Photo via Oheka Castle website.
Architect: Delano and Aldrich.
Landscape architect: Olmsted Brothers.
Oheka Castle - View from Gazebo in Formal Gardens.
Photo copyright Brett Matthews.
Photo via Oheka Castle website.
Architect: Delano and Aldrich.
Landscape architect: Olmsted Brothers.
Oheka Castle - Gate House Entrance.
Photo copyright Elliott Kaufman Photography
Photo via Oheka Castle website.
Architect: Delano and Aldrich.
Landscape architect: Olmsted Brothers.
Oheka Castle - West Gate Drive.
Photo copyright Deja Vu Studios.
Photo via Oheka Castle website.
Architect: Delano and Aldrich.
Landscape architect: Olmsted Brothers.
Oheka Castle - West Gate Drive.
Photo copyright Elliott Kaufman Photography
Photo via Oheka Castle website.
Architect: Delano and Aldrich.
Landscape architect: Olmsted Brothers.
Oheka Castle - Grand Staircase.
Photo copyright Elliott Kaufman Photography
Photo via Oheka Castle website.
Architect: Delano and Aldrich.
Landscape architect: Olmsted Brothers.
Here are some photos of Gatsby's house as it appeared in the Baz Luhrmann adaptation of The Great Gatsby. [I can't look at this photo without thinking of Harry Potter's Hogwarts.]:
Jay Gatsby's "mansion's digitally enhanced exterior was modeled after Gold Coast estates on New York's Long Island."
The Great Gatsby (2013).
Production Design: Catherine Martin.
Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn.
Photo credit: Warner Bros. Pictures.
"All Jazzed Up" text by Brad Goldfarb.
Architectural Digest (2013).
Jay Gatsby's ballroom.
"Gold abounds at the estate, mentions [Catherine] Martin. 'There was lots of opulence in the gilding of the mansion. We even gilded the Wurlitzer organ!' The house's exterior was the old St. Patrick's seminary in Sydney with turrets digitally added."
"Gold abounds at the estate, mentions [Catherine] Martin. 'There was lots of opulence in the gilding of the mansion. We even gilded the Wurlitzer organ!' The house's exterior was the old St. Patrick's seminary in Sydney with turrets digitally added."
The Great Gatsby (2013).
Production Design: Catherine Martin.
Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn.
Photo credit: Warner Bros. Pictures.
"And the Oscar Goes To . . . " text by Cathy Whitlock.
Architectural Digest (2014).
"Gatsby's two-story master bedroom was inspired by Philippe Starck's Delano Hotel lobby in Miami and the work of French decorator and furniture designer Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann. . . . [Catherine] Martin says, 'This was the most Art Deco of all the rooms in the house.' "
The Great Gatsby (2013).
Production Design: Catherine Martin.
Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn.
Photo credit: Warner Bros. Pictures.
"And the Oscar Goes To . . . " text by Cathy Whitlock.
Architectural Digest (2014).
Gatsby's house.
The Great Gatsby (2013).
The Great Gatsby (2013).
Production Design: Catherine Martin.
Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn.
While Gatsby's West Egg estate was an example of nouveau riche aspiration - a pastiche of architectural styles meant to impress - the home of Tom and Daisy Buchanan was a symbol of old money.
Their house was even more elaborate than I expected, a cheerful red-and-white Georgian Colonial mansion, overlooking the bay. The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for a quarter of a mile, jumping over sun-dials and brick walls and burning gardens - finally when it reached the house drifting up the side in bright vines as though from the momentum of its run. The front was broken by a line of French windows, glowing now with reflected gold and wide open to the warm windy evening, and Tom Buchanan in riding clothes was standing with his legs apart on the front porch.
Nick Carraway, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
According to the Old Westbury Gardens website, "John 'Jay' Shaffer Phipps (1874 - 1958) was a financier, real estate developer, and avid sportsman [who] built Westbury House for his family and resided there until his death. . . . Jay's father, Henry Phipps, Jr., was a neighbor and childhood friend of Andrew Carnegie and later became Carnegie's business partner in several companies, most notably Carnegie Steel." Here are some photos of Old Westbury Gardens in Long Island, which provided inspiration for Daisy and Tom Buchanan's East Egg Mansion as created by Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin:
"In his design of Westbury House, Crawley carefully studied original models of great houses of England built during the reigns of Charles I and Charles II (1625 - 49 and 1660 - 85), the English Caroline era."
Photo copyright Jim Large.
Photo via Old Westbury Gardens website.
"Pair of geese sitting on pillars in the front courtyard."
Photo copyright Richard Cheek, 1984.
Photo via Old Westbury Gardens website.
"The terrace's colonnade has double doors that lead into the ballroom.
Photo copyright Jim Large.
Photo via Old Westbury Gardens website.
"Close up of one of several statuary in niches along the South Terrace, Westbury House."
Photo copyright Jim Large.
Photo via Old Westbury Gardens website.
"Sister sphinxes of 18th century French origin on the South Terrace, Westbury House."
Photo copyright Jim Large.
Photo via Old Westbury Gardens website.
"Brick walkway around the South Terrace, Westbury House."
Photo copyright Vincent Kish.
Photo via Old Westbury Gardens website.
"A view of the pastoral serenity of a rural Long Island viewed from the north balcony, Westbury House."
Photo copyright Richard Cheek, 1984.
Photo via Old Westbury Gardens website.
Photo copyright Jim Large.
Photo via Old Westbury Gardens website.
"A formal allee lined with Tsuga Canadensis, Canadian hemlock and European lindens forms the main axis stretching south from Westbury House. The gardens combine both formal and naturalistic design elements to great effect. The north-south axis, which presents magnificent vistas as it stretches northward from the house's entry facade and southward from its garden facade. The axis is accentuated by a grand allee that is less formally aligned on the south side than on the north."
West Porch beech tree, Westbury House.
Photo copyright Jim Large.
Photo via Old Westbury Gardens website.
"In 1928, the west steps, a marble trimmed reflecting pool, Corinthian colonnade and Boxwood Garden were added. This area was designed by White, Allom and Co. of Hanover Square, London, who also constructed gardens and buildings for the Fricks and the Hearsts. In 1931, the Boxwood shrubs - Buxus sempervirens, already 100 years old when brought up from Virginia, were planted."
The Boxwood Garden viewed from the West Terrace, Old Westbury Gardens.
Photo copyright Vince Kish.
Photo via Old Westbury Gardens website.
"Located in the center of the colonnade is a terra cotta statue of Diana, the Huntress, and her canine attendant."
Diana the Huntress, Westbury House.
Photo copyright Jim Large.
Photo via Old Westbury Gardens website.
"Surrounded on the north by dense woodland and to the south by a meadow, East Lake is appropriately picturesque in the English tradition. A classic Temple of Love rises up at the far end of the lake, while a handsome swimming pool is positioned between the lake and the house."
Temple of Love during the spring, Westbury House.
Photo copyright Jim Large.
Photo via Old Westbury Gardens website.
Compare the Temple of Love in the picture above to the Gazebo at Oheka Castle pictured earlier in this post.
East Lake in winter, Westbury House.
Photo copyright Vincent Kish.
Photo via Old Westbury Gardens website.
"For her tenth birthday the only daughter, Peggie, received a thatched cottage as a playhouse, although in her memoirs, Peggie states she preferred playing in the log cabin forts built for her brothers."
The Thatched Cottage, Westbury House.
"The incorporation of the vernacular cottage garden into more formal garden design was popularized in the early twentieth century by noted landscape designers William Robinson and Gertrude Jekyll."
The Cottage Garden in September bloom, Westbury House.
Photo copyright Jim Large.
Photo via Old Westbury Gardens website.
"Nick Carraway's charming cottage was conceived to project his relative wholesomeness."
The Great Gatsby (2013).
Production Design: Catherine Martin.
Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn.
Photo credit: Warner Bros. Pictures.
"All Jazzed Up" text by Brad Goldfarb.
Architectural Digest (2013).
The interior of Nick Carraway's Arts and Crafts-style cottage.
The Great Gatsby (2013).
Production Design: Catherine Martin.
Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn.
Photo credit: Warner Bros. Pictures.
"All Jazzed Up" text by Brad Goldfarb.
Architectural Digest (2013).
Here is the movie version of Tom and Daisy Buchanan's estate, as conceived by Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin:
"The grounds of Daisy and Tom Buchanan's red brick manor, partly inspired by Old Westbury Gardens on Long Island."
The Great Gatsby (2013).
Production Design: Catherine Martin.
Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn.
Photo credit: Warner Bros. Pictures.
"All Jazzed Up" text by Brad Goldfarb.
Architectural Digest (2013).
"[Catherine] Martin designed the mansion of Daisy and Tom Buchanan (Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton) with a touch of Hollywood Regency and a nod to British interior decorator Syrie Maugham."
The Great Gatsby (2013).
The Great Gatsby (2013).
Production Design: Catherine Martin.
Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn.
Photo credit: Warner Bros. Pictures.
"And the Oscar Goes To . . . " text by Cathy Whitlock.
Architectural Digest (2014).
"Inspired in part by Old Westbury Gardens on Long Island, the [Buchanan] home (whose exterior was built on a soundstage, with enhancements added digitally) instantly conveys establishment status. The luxurious Hollywood Regency and Deco-inflected furnishings in the sitting room, the contemporary art, and the formal gardens are all intended, [Catherine] Martin says, 'to contrast Daisy with the new-money fantasist that is Gatsby.' "
The Great Gatsby (2013).
Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter - tomorrow we will run faster, stretch our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning -
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
The Great Gatsby (2013).
Production Design: Catherine Martin.
Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn.
Tom and Daisy Buchanan's house.
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the following about Tom:
His family were enormously wealthy . . . he'd left Chicago and come East in a fashion that rather took your breath away; for instance, he'd brought down a string of polo ponies from Lake Forest. It was hard to realize that a man in my own generation was wealthy enough to do that.
The Great Gatsby (2013).
F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the following about Tom:
His family were enormously wealthy . . . he'd left Chicago and come East in a fashion that rather took your breath away; for instance, he'd brought down a string of polo ponies from Lake Forest. It was hard to realize that a man in my own generation was wealthy enough to do that.
The Great Gatsby (2013).
Production Design: Catherine Martin.
Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn.
Photo credit: Warner Bros. Pictures.
Photo via IMDb - copyright 2013 Bazmark Film III Pty Limited.
Photo via IMDb - copyright 2013 Bazmark Film III Pty Limited.
Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire).
The Great Gatsby (2013).
The Great Gatsby (2013).
Production Design: Catherine Martin.
Set Decoration: Beverley Dunn.
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
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