The
Cutting estate of 600 acres at Oakdale,
which was turned over to the state of New
York several years ago, is operated by the
Long Island State Park Commission as a park
for the public. It is known as the
"Arboretum," and is one of the most
beautiful places on Long Island, with its
miles of paths and magnificent collection of
evergreen trees from foreign lands.
The Brooklyn
Daily Eagle for August 3, 1907, gives the
following description of this estate and
also "Idle Hour," the W. K. Vanderbilt
estate on the opposite side of the
Connetquot River:
"A Queen Anne
mansion, almost hidden from view by clinging
vines that just now are in their fullest
beauty is the Summer residence of W. Bayard
Cutting, who owns 1,700 acres in the Oakdale
section, and not one acre of it is wasted.
Some of it is lawn some woodland, and some
farm, but all of it forms a part of the
the wonderful Westbrooke estate, and the
family revels in it all when they are there
to enjoy it.
"To the south
of the house is one the finest lawns to be
found in the country. It slopes down to the
shore of the Great River, with its beautiful
scenery spreading out for miles before the
eye. The river is broad, and framed on
either side with a wall of shrubbery. Out in
the center, in front of the Cutting mansion,
is a pretty island, which does its share
towards perfecting the scenery.
"On the other
side of the house, to the north, a view that
costs a fortune to keep in trim, stretches
as far as the eye can reach. A succession of
grassy mounds bob up before the eye, and
between them pretty little valleys carpeted
with velvety lawn. Evergreen trees that are
foreign to that region, were long ago set
out picturesquely, and now they have grown
to be monuments to what nature has done in
other lands.
"The Cutting
place has a mile and a half of water front
along Great River, and there is a drive
within a few feet of the shore all the way
shaded by a row of trees. Along this drive
there are stretches where nature is allowed
to have her own way in the line of
decoration with wild flowers and berry
bushes. As the mansion is neared, the
handiwork of the gardener is seen in the
wide spreading fields of rhododendrons,
which when in bloom, make the picture a
bower of beauty.
"Following a
pretty drive that is lined so thickly with
shrubs that has has to part the branches
with his nose, one comes to the greenhouses
and flower gardens, several acres taken up
everything that is beautiful. The gardens
are surrounded with a neat box hedge that
makes a green frame to the picture within
it.
"There are
many other features of the Cutting estate
that go to make it a model place for Summer
life. There are two race tracks that are
used simply for training the horses kept in
the Westbrook stable. There is a fine golf
course, which Mr. Cutting has opened to his
neighbors of the South Side Club. There are
yachts in the boat house and a private dock.
There are hundreds of acres of farm lands
with everything on them that goes to make up
a farm., including herds of cows and other
live stock. The gatehouse that stands at the
roadside is unique. It is built after the
pattern of a Swiss chalet, with slanting
roof, which is thatched with genuine Scother
heather that was imported for this use.
" 'Idle Hour,'
the estate of William K. Vanderbilt, on the
eastside of the Connetquot River, or Great
River, is one of the most celebrated on the
south shore of Long Island. It is not a
seaside estate, but it has three miles or
more of water front on Great River,
providing even finer scenery than could be
had on the bay front.
"The
Vanderbilt mansion is located on high ground
only 100 feet back from the river's edge,
and leading down to the water from the main
veranda is a series of wide stone steps and
terraces that fit in well with the splendid
view to be had from the veranda. The river
is wide at this point, and across on the
other side may be seen the mansion of W.
Bayard Cutting.
"The Idle Hour
mansion is of red brick, and there are
nearly 100 rooms in the house. One of the
features is the enclosed ivy garden, which
occupies a court between the wing in which
the guests' rooms are located, and the house
proper. There is also a regulation sized
tennis court in the house, so arranged with
electric lights that the game can be played
at any hour of the evening.
"All around
the house are spacious lawns and shrubbery
and flower gardens of odd shapes dot the
lawn and line the drives and paths. Rare
plants are growing under the guidance of
careful gardeners, and greenhouses are
filled with flowers that wouldn't grow
outside. The roads that wind through the 800
acres of woodland are rolled smooth and the
grass is cut with regularity. There are
something like 10 miles of drives through
the woods, and deer and other game inhabit
these forests," the article concludes.
The Bayard
Cutting Arboretum was donated to the Long
Island State Park Commission by Mrs. Bayard
James in memory of her father, William
Bayard Cutting, who started to develop the
643 acre Arboretum property in 1887. Mrs.
James made this donation for the purpose of
"providing an oasis of beauty and of quiet
for those who delight in outdoor beauty, and
to bring about a greater appreciation and
understanding of the value and importance of
informal planting."
Many of the
fine specimens in the Pinetum date back to
the original plantings of fir, spruce, pine,
cypress, cedar, yew and hemlock from many
countries of the world, which are now
towering monuments, breath-taking in their
beauty. The broadleaf evergreens are
represented in the growth of rhododendrons
and azaleas which border the walks and
drives.
Miles of
footpaths lined with wild flowers are
located in a setting of three fresh water
ponds fed by small rivulets. Through the
generosity of the Cutting family this
wonderland of natural beauty has been made a
heritage to future generations as well as
the present.
It is open
daily from 9 a. m. to dark.