On Long Island’s North Shore, there are several stately, old-money towns that make up the Gold Coast, which is within easy reach of Manhattan. It was once the case that socialites with names like Guggenheim, Phipps, Woolworth, Vanderbilt, and Frick would party at their opulent country estates at weekends. The same exact area filled with American bluebloods that inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald to write “The Great Gatsby” was the inspiration behind the novel.

‍

John A. Garver had enough money to build a stunning country home in tony Oyster Bay Cove in 1910, though his name is not exactly household. Not only was the stately result featured in a variety of architectural journals, but The House Beautiful journal played a prominent role in the advertisement as well. 

‍

Aside from being an attorney, Garver was also a businessman who owned a company called Wrexleigh as well as being a lawyer. He also endowed a chair of jurisprudence at Yale, his alma mater, in his own name. He also donated money to the Sterling Memorial Library, the Ivy League university's main library, with his legal partner and Yale classmate, John Sterling.

‍

Its designers, Stephenson & Wheeler, were renowned country-house architects, and Olmsted Brothers designed its landscaping. The estate was named Wrexleigh after Garver's company. This is a "new house in an old garden" according to a vintage magazine of the day.

‍

Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty's Julia Blaker and Kim Luneburg are offering the Tudor Revival mansion, brick carriage house, stables, greenhouse and more than 12 acres for $4.75 million. Don't scoff at the property taxes of $156,000 per year, an additional $13,000 per month on top of the mortgage.

‍

The house last sold for $775,000 in 1992 and has been a dormitory for Harmony Heights girls' school since then. It's unknown what the building's condition is, and it will cost a significant amount to restore it. According to Rich Report, the home has a commercial kitchen, a dining room, and a few pieces of furniture that look institutional.

‍

As the house sprawls over 14,000 square feet, it boasts 16 bedrooms, nine bathrooms, and two powder rooms, all of which are located on the first floor. On the first floor of the house, there are 11'9" ceilings, along with beautifully carved and preserved woodwork, floors, beams, and paneling that are all beautifully preserved. 

‍

There is a butler's pantry that is in keeping with the house's original style, and there is also a beautiful library that opens onto a covered patio through French doors. Additionally, the property includes a greenhouse and carriage house, as well as a stable with four stalls for your long-faced friends, who will be happy to stay there. Moreover, there is also a walk-out basement as well as a generator in the house.

‍

It is confident that anyone brave enough (and rich enough!) to take on the restoration and re-conversion of this house to a single-family home will be rewarded with a house that Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby would no doubt have enjoyed visiting during the 1920s.

‍