Alexandra Kathryn Mosca — Exploring Life and Death: A Writer's Journey

Long island is known for its beautiful beaches, stunning coastline, and its fabled Gold Coast estates. Touring them is a favorite pastime of mine. Recently, I revisited Chelsea Mansion, a 40-room estate built in 1924 for Benjamin Moore, and his wife Alexandra. Moore, an attorney, was the great-grandson of Clement Clarke Moore, who wrote: “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (often referred to as “Twas the Night Before Christmas”).

The 40-room mansion is located at the north end of the Muttontown preserve and sits on 33 acres (once 100). In 1979, it was named to the National Register of Historic Places.

Inspired by a farmhouse the Moore’s saw while traveling, Chelsea Mansion was created in a melange of styles. Williams Adam Delano, the home’s architect, blended Chinese, French and English influences to create a white stucco mansion with a corner tourelle. The estate was called Chelsea, for the area in New York City where Mr. Moore’s ancestors had lived for generations. In 1929, a children’s wing (also designed by Delano & Aldrich) was added for the Moore’s three children.

Landscape architect Umberto Innocenti designed imaginative outdoor settings with trees, hedges, flowers, ferns, and ponds, creating walking paths that offer dramatic contrasts between mystical and serene environments as well as between open and sheltered areas

The manor’s reception room, the Sert Gallery, features an 85-foot mural painted in oil over white gold. It was created by Jose Maria Sert, a muralist for King Alfonso XIII of Spain, in 1926.

Benjamin Moore became the first mayor of the newly incorporated village of Muttontown. He served from 1931 until his death in 1938. His widow remarried Robert McKay 17 years later. He died three years later. In 1964, Alexandra Moore McKay gifted a portion of the estate grounds to Nassau County. Over the next ten years, she donated nearly 100 acres to the County. Combined with earlier acquisitions from the Christie Estate, the 550-acre Muttontown Preserve, a breathtaking natural haven, was created. Mrs. Moore Mckay lived at Chelsea Mansion until she died in 1983 at 89.

The building’s south side features a courtyard, bridges, and moats.

Chelsea Mansion is available for events both public and private. To that end, the sizable outdoor terrace was recently enclosed.

On the far right, a small turreted structure adds a fanciful air.