Harbor Hill: Portrait of a House

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

Hardcover: 264 pages

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; First Edition edition (March 17 2008)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0393732169

ISBN-13: 978-0393732160

Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 0.8 x 12.3 inches

Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds