Mackay Horse Statue (Gerry Park)
119 Main Street, Roslyn
Among the largest estates ever amassed on Long Island was the enormous Renaissance –style mansion known as Harbor Hill designed in 1899 by Stanford White and built in 1900 to 1902 for Clarence H. Mackay and his wife Katherine. The 648-acre estate, built in 1900-1902, was located atop the highest point in the area overlooking the village of Roslyn and Hempstead Harbor.
The estate was divided into formal gardens and terraces surrounding the main house and a 70-acre farm. In 1910, Katherine Mackay hired Jacques Greber to transform the Italianate garden into a French palace garden. A French garden specialist, Jacques Greber was a newly minted Ecole des Beaux-Arts medalist and would eventually develop a substantial trans-Atlantic practice. Greber created two intricate terraced parterres facing south and west of the Harbor Hill mansion. At the bottom of the west garden, he commissioned two 25-ton replicas of the Marly Horses statues.
The 26-foot statues and pedestals were carved by Franz Plumelet and installed in1920. With Clarence Mackay’s death in 1938, the Harbor Hill estate was left to his son John Mackay. Due to vandalism during the World War II, the mansion was demolished in 1947. The property was sold in the late 1950s and became the Country Estates housing development.
In the 1950s, the north-west statue was relocated to the “front yard” of Roslyn High School on Roslyn Road sponsored by Joseph Patrick of Old Westbury.
Until January 27, 2010, the south-west statue stood in its original location of the west formal gardens of Harbor Hill where it was installed in 1920. The horse rose above the house at 165 Poplar Drive in East Hills atop its original pedestal.
Following a restoration effort by the Roslyn Landmark Society was restored from 2010 to 2013. It was installed in it current location in the Town of North Hempstead's Gerry Pond Park on October 19, 2013. As a result of grants from Nassau County and the Town of North Hempstead, a plaza surrounding the statue was dedicated in 2018.
Mackay Horse Statues in their original location on Clarence Mackay's Harbor Hill Estate.
The Mackay Estate Horse Status as seen on August 10, 2009 in its original location.
The restored north Mackay Estate Horse Tamer Statue located in the parking lot of the Roslyn High School. Photo courtesy of Howard Kroplick.
1 Comments
Greetings,
The Roslyn Landmark Society has been instrumental in preserving Long Island history, many thanks & much respect for your ongoing & impressive work. The history of the Mackay Horse, impeccably restored, & now 'living' in Gerry Park is as fascinating as is the statue (breathtaking). I have a question, weren't there two statues?
Thanks in adavance,
JoAnn