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Frederick Bourne & The Long Island Maritime Museum
Text by Rob Van Wyen on 09/11/2007
Frederick Bourne & The Long Island Maritime Museum
Text by Rob Van Wyen on 09/11/2007
silver pgles. There was also a profusion of palms, ferns, and banks of lilies and azaleas. Mr. and Mrs. Bourne met their guests in the main hall. Supper was served in the upper hall and was announced by cathedral chimes. Many of the guests returned to town in the special train, but some of the younger set remained overnight to enjoy the dancing.
Even after Indian Neck Hall was completed Bourne continued to add property to his holdings. In 1900 he purchased 75 acres north of Montauk Highway, where he would build his new farm in 1910. The following year he began acquiring parcels in Bohemia, which he kept undeveloped as a hunting preserve. In early 1912 he purchased 300 acres between Montauk Highway and the railroad tracks, just north of the hall. Later that same year he purchased the remainder of the Ludlow acreage in Oakdale - the last piece of property, which the descendents of the original pattentee, William Nicoll owned east of the Connetquot River. By the time of Bourne's death in 1919, these and other purchases of property in Oakdale had increased the size of his Indian Neck Hall estate to nearly 2,000 acres. It extended from Ludlow's Creek on the west to West Avenue in West Sayville on the east, and from the Great South Bay on the south as far north as Bohemia.
Indian Neck Hall was not Bourne's only residence. He owned the entire first floor of the Dakota (which had by now become a very fashionable address on the increasingly popular Upper West Side), as well as an apartment on Jeykll Island, Georgia.11 In 1903, he purchased a seven-acre island in the Thousand Islands area of the St. Lawrence River, known as Dark Island, on which he had constructed a stone castle, costing nearly $500,000 to build. Indian Neck Hall, however, would always be considered home. It was partly for that reason that he had conscientiously added to his holdings, having done so with the view of providing his children with residences as they married. Three of the Bourne children married and eventually made their homes on parts of the estate during the Commodore's lifetime.
Bourne's daughter Florence married Anson Wales Hard, Jr. on 28 April 1908 at St. Bartholomew's Church in New York. Bourne gave the Hards the southeast corner of his estate as a wedding present. The 500-acre parcel stretched from Montauk Highway to the bay.
Early in 1909, Florence and Anson Hard began construction of their residence on the estate. Designed by noted Sayville architect Isaac Green in 1909, Meadow Edge featured a 14-room main house, greenhouse, two gatehouses, and, eventually, an elaborate garage and a boathouse. Although not nearly as impressive as Indian Neck Hall, it was still quite substantial. The large two-story residence stood near the bay and was finished in stucco, a "mission-look" Mrs. Hard had apparently seen and admired while on a trip to California. Work on it progressed rapidly and the Hards had occupied their new home by the end of 1909.
In 1914, Bourne and the Hards filed a suit against the Blue Points Oyster Company in West Sayville, their neighbors to the east. The company, which had been moved to that location from Bourne's property when Jacob Ockers' lease expired in 1908, had built a large oysterhouse on the Bay at the foot of West Avenue not far from the Hard's residence. Bourne sued to have that building removed, claiming that the company had no right to abstruct access to the bay at the end of the public road. He and the Hards also claimed that the odor from the building was a nuisance for those living nearby. The suit was in the courts for over a year, and Bourne finally won it in December 1915.
Mrs. Bourne died in August 1916, and the Commodore followed two and a half years later…
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Even after Indian Neck Hall was completed Bourne continued to add property to his holdings. In 1900 he purchased 75 acres north of Montauk Highway, where he would build his new farm in 1910. The following year he began acquiring parcels in Bohemia, which he kept undeveloped as a hunting preserve. In early 1912 he purchased 300 acres between Montauk Highway and the railroad tracks, just north of the hall. Later that same year he purchased the remainder of the Ludlow acreage in Oakdale - the last piece of property, which the descendents of the original pattentee, William Nicoll owned east of the Connetquot River. By the time of Bourne's death in 1919, these and other purchases of property in Oakdale had increased the size of his Indian Neck Hall estate to nearly 2,000 acres. It extended from Ludlow's Creek on the west to West Avenue in West Sayville on the east, and from the Great South Bay on the south as far north as Bohemia.
Indian Neck Hall was not Bourne's only residence. He owned the entire first floor of the Dakota (which had by now become a very fashionable address on the increasingly popular Upper West Side), as well as an apartment on Jeykll Island, Georgia.11 In 1903, he purchased a seven-acre island in the Thousand Islands area of the St. Lawrence River, known as Dark Island, on which he had constructed a stone castle, costing nearly $500,000 to build. Indian Neck Hall, however, would always be considered home. It was partly for that reason that he had conscientiously added to his holdings, having done so with the view of providing his children with residences as they married. Three of the Bourne children married and eventually made their homes on parts of the estate during the Commodore's lifetime.
Bourne's daughter Florence married Anson Wales Hard, Jr. on 28 April 1908 at St. Bartholomew's Church in New York. Bourne gave the Hards the southeast corner of his estate as a wedding present. The 500-acre parcel stretched from Montauk Highway to the bay.
Early in 1909, Florence and Anson Hard began construction of their residence on the estate. Designed by noted Sayville architect Isaac Green in 1909, Meadow Edge featured a 14-room main house, greenhouse, two gatehouses, and, eventually, an elaborate garage and a boathouse. Although not nearly as impressive as Indian Neck Hall, it was still quite substantial. The large two-story residence stood near the bay and was finished in stucco, a "mission-look" Mrs. Hard had apparently seen and admired while on a trip to California. Work on it progressed rapidly and the Hards had occupied their new home by the end of 1909.
In 1914, Bourne and the Hards filed a suit against the Blue Points Oyster Company in West Sayville, their neighbors to the east. The company, which had been moved to that location from Bourne's property when Jacob Ockers' lease expired in 1908, had built a large oysterhouse on the Bay at the foot of West Avenue not far from the Hard's residence. Bourne sued to have that building removed, claiming that the company had no right to abstruct access to the bay at the end of the public road. He and the Hards also claimed that the odor from the building was a nuisance for those living nearby. The suit was in the courts for over a year, and Bourne finally won it in December 1915.
Mrs. Bourne died in August 1916, and the Commodore followed two and a half years later…
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