Chanticlare
Alternative namesChanticlair; Ricks Estate
General information
StatusDemolished
TypeHome
Architectural styleEnglish Tudor
LocationStonytown Road, Flower Hill, New York
Construction started1920s
Demolished1960s
Design and construction
Architect(s)Frederick A. Godley
Other information
Number of rooms42

Chanticlare (often spelled Chanteclair) was a Gold Coast estate in Flower Hill, on Long Island, in New York.

Description

Overview

Chanticlare was constructed in the 1920s for attorney and Union Carbide executive Jesse J. Ricks.[1][2] The mansion, designed in the English Tudor-style by Frederick A. Godley, featured 42 rooms – including a music room/ballroom.[1][3][4]

Failed preservation efforts

In the 1960s, following the deaths of Jesse Ricks and his wife, their children would sell off the remaining land.[1][5] Originally, the developers of the Chanticlare at Flower Hill subdivision, Edwin and Walter Ketay, wanted to save the mansion, and made attempts to do so.[1][6]

One of the plans for its preservation was for C.W. Post University (now LIU Post) to purchase it and use the space as a music school, an accounting school, and/or administrative offices, amongst other proposed uses by the school.[1][7] However, in 1967, C.W. Post ultimately chose not to buy the property.[7][8]

The Ketays soon after tried getting the Nassau County Cultural Society to occupy the home – although the plan was largely opposed by residents.[9]

With all preservation efforts failing, preserving the building proved to be too costly, and the estate was ultimately demolished in the late 1960s and replaced with an additional 4 homes as part of an amended plat map and plan for the Chanticlare at Flower Hill subdivision made by Edwin and Walter Ketay.[7][8]

Remnants of the estate

Chanticlare pipe organ

In 1968, the pipe organ formerly located in Chanticlare's music room was donated by John Ricks and Jane Ricks-King, the children of Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Ricks, to Hofstra University in honor of their late parents.[10]

The three-bank Aeolian electro-pneumatic pipe organ, valued at $115,000 in 1968, was installed in the Adams Playhouse at Hofstra, along with a memorial plaque.[11] In order to house the components of the instrument, Hofstra had to add two chambers onto the Adams Playhouse, totaling 430 square feet (40 m2).[11]

The donation of the organ meant that students at Hofstra studying the organ could practice on-campus as opposed to having to travel off-campus to the nearby Episcopal Cathedral of the Incarnation.[10][11]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Kass, Jane (May 18, 1965). "Mansion Spared as Homes Rise on Estate". Newsday via ProQuest.
  2. "OFFICERS ELECTED BY UNION CARBIDE; J.J. Ricks Goes From President to Chairman -- Succeeded by Benjamin O'Shea". The New York Times. 1941-05-28. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  3. "Untitled – Page 19". The American Architect. February 5, 1929. p. 19.
  4. "TOUR OF L.I. HOMES TO AID SMITH CLUB: College Scholarship Fund to Benefit From 'Living With History' Event on May 7". The New York Times. April 18, 1957 via ProQuest.
  5. Map of Chanticlare at Flower Hill, Situated in Flower Hill, Nassau Co., N.Y.(Map). June 15, 1965 – via Nassau County Public Records.
  6. "On the Job". Newsday. May 21, 1965. p. 17C via ProQuest.
  7. 1 2 3 MINUTES OF A PUBLIC HEARING AND REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE VILLAGE OF FLOWER HILL. NASSAU COUNTY. N.Y. May 1, 1967. Village of Flower Hill, New York.
  8. 1 2 MINUTES OF A PUBLIC HEARING AND REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE VILLAGE OF FLOWER HILL. NASSAU COUNTY. N.Y. 1967-1969. Village of Flower Hill, New York.
  9. MINUTES OF A PUBLIC HEARING AND REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE VILLAGE OF FLOWER HILL. NASSAU COUNTY. N.Y. December 4, 1967. Village of Flower Hill, New York.
  10. 1 2 "Organ Donated to Hofstra". Newsday. July 10, 1968. p. 25 via ProQuest.
  11. 1 2 3 "Organ Given as Memorial". The Hofstra Chronicle. September 19, 1968.

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