Belle-Terre - The Tuxedo
of Long Island
This article first appeared
in the following publication - Country Life in America Advertiser, September
1903
BELLE - TERRE (Beautiful Country) is situated at Port Jefferson Harbor
on the rugged North Shore of Long Island, at a distance from New York just
sufficient to remove it from the intrusions of the excursion element, which
has proved such an annoyance to summer residents at points nearer to the
city.
Railroad station at Belle-Terre
- (actually Port Jefferson)
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Leaving
the handsome station, a drive over a smooth road less than a mile in length
leads to the picturesque white chateau which marks the entrance to Belle-Terre.
This road, lying at an elevation of over two hundred feet above the water,
affords a magnificent panorama at every step.
From the entrance, the main drive, of perfect macadam, passes through two
miles of ever-changing woodland scenery to the cliffs. Here, at a height
of one hundred and thirty feet above the water, have been built two pergolas,
which, with their background of rich foliage, may be seen for miles, and
form one of the most imposing architectural features on either shore of
Long Island Sound.
The estate comprises one thousand three hundred and twenty acres, with
five miles of shore front composed of clean sand or white pebbles, and
was purchased a year ago by several gentlemen who were interested in forming
an ideal residence park. A large force of men has been at work ever since,
building roads, docks, and other features for the common benefit of the
future residents. The illustrations shown are from actual photographs.
Gate lodge marking entrance
to Belle-Terre
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BeIle-Terre rises from the water to a height of from one hundred and twenty
to two hundred and twenty feet Harborhead, its northernmost point, extending
some distance into the Sound, gives one of the most commanding views in
America.
Owing to the altitude and its peninsular location, Belle -Terre receives
the cooling breezes from ocean, sound and bay, and the sandy soil, affording
splendid drainage, together with the absence of all marsh land, produce
a most salubrious climate both summer and winter. |
Forty miles of woodland
roads
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The natural
beauties of Belle-Terre are unsurpassed by any estate on Long Island Sound.
The picturesque scenery of hill and dale, of forest and meadow; such interesting
points as The Anchorage, The Oaks, Nature's Garden, Giant's Cradle, The
Cliffs, The Moors, Glen Rock, The Overlook, Piney Bluff, The Lost Meadow,
The Old Homestead, and Sentinel Rock, give variety and delight to every
one of the forty miles of drives which traverse this magnificent estate.
The yachtsman's paradise
(Port Jefferson Harbor)
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Its
natural beauties have been supplemented by the landscape architect, who
has opened vistas here and there, giving far-away water views from the
most remote inland portions of the estate.
About four hundred acres of rolling meadow are available for golf, polo,
tennis, and other out-of-door sports which form so large a part of country
life.
Belle-Terre has a shore front of more than two miles on Port Jefferson
Harbor, the deepest, safest and best harbor on Long Island. It is a yachtsman's
paradise.
Terminus of cliff drive
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The
topography of Belle-Terre is so diversified that the demands of purchasers
of every variety of taste are met. He who seeks the seclusion of a one-,
two or three-hundred-acre plot, with its private woods, deer park, golf
links, boat-house, etc., and he who desires a tenor twenty-acre plot, with
garden and, lawn-tennis court, can alike be satisfied.
Harbor Vista
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A by-law of the corporation requires that no sale shall be consummated
until the name of the purchaser has been approved by the Board of Directors,
the aim being to provide an ideal country residence park for congenial
people of sufficient means and taste to improve their individual properties
in keeping with the attractive public features of Belle-Terre. The spirit
of the enterprise is something after the order of Tuxedo, but with the
added benefit of Tuxedo's experience and a very marked advantage in price.
Ample provision has been made for the perpetual maintenance o f the drives,
gate lodge, entrance, plaza, pergolas, and the many and various other public
features of the property.
The Port Jefferson Company, owner of Belle-Terre, is composed of men well
known in the commercial and financial world, and whose names stand preeminently
for thorough and unequivocal success in any undertaking to which. t h e
i r masterly energies and immense capital have been devoted. Mr. Dean Alvord
, its President, under whose personal supervision the property is being
developed, was the owner and builder of Prospect Park South, which enjoys
the national reputation of being the most artistic suburban residence development
yet attained in an American city. |
Mr.
Martin Joost, Vice - President, capitalist, and man of affairs, is officially
identified with more than a dozen of the leading financial institutions
of New York and Brooklyn.
Mr. Clinton L. Rossiter, Secretary and Treasurer, was the first. president
of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, and longest in point of service.
He is now vice-president of the Long Island Loan and Trust Company, and
is connected with a number of other business and. philanthropic institutions.
Col. Timothy S. Williams has been connected with the Brooklyn Rapid Transit
Company ever since its organization, and is its present vice-president.
Hon. William W. Goodrich is the Presiding Justice of the Second Division
of the Appellate Court of New York.
Mr. E. V. W. Rossiter, who has seen long years of service with the New
York Central Railroad, formerly as treasurer, is now first vice president
of that corporation.
Although the property has not yet been formally opened, The Port Jefferson
Company is already receiving advance applications for sites at its office
in the Home Life Insurance Building, 257 Broadway (telephone, 7744 Cortlandt),
where arrangements may be made to visit the property, and further information
obtained.
Pergolas 130 feet above
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