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Westbury House was the principal residence for John S. "Jay" Phipps, his wife Margarita "Dita' Grace, and their four children. After their parents' deaths in the late 1950s, the children decided to open their family estate to the public in 1959.

The exterior and interior of Westbury House as well as the basic landscape were the creation of self-taught English designer George Crawley (1864-1926). The brick and limestone exterior echoes English country houses of the late 17th century. The architectural ornamentation of the interiors and selection of furniture reflect English styles of the early to mid-18th century.

Prior to Jay's commission for Westbury House, Crawley was known to the Phipps family as he had worked on interior designs for the residences of Jay's father, Henry, and his sister Amy Guest. Before his marriage Jay had purchased land in Westbury and intended to use it for hunting and polo. But shortly after his marriage he decided to settle in New York and use this land to build a residence. Design began in late 1904 and construction in 1905. Since Crawley did not have formal architectural training, Phipps hired the up-and-coming architect Grosvenor Atterbury to oversee the building's technical requirements.

Major construction was completed in 1906 and the family took up residence in spring 1907. The most significant modification of the residence was in 1911 when a service wing was added. This project relocated the food preparation areas that were adjacent to the dining room (now the Study) as well as the servants' living quarters, which were on the third floor. At about the same time an extension was added in the space that would eventually become the Dining Room.

In the 1920s two smaller revisions occurred: one of the two drawing rooms would become enlarged and transformed into the Music Room and the West Porch was expanded and enclosed.

Dita, Ben, Peggie, Michael, Hubert, 1912.

John Shaffer "Jay" Phipps (1874-1958)

Margarita Cecelia "Dita" Grace (1876-1957)

married November 4, 1903, Battle, England

Children

• John Henry Howard "Ben" (1904-1982)
• Hubert Beaumont (1905-1969)
• Margaret Helen "Peggie" (1906-2006)
• Michael Grace (1910-1973)

A graduate of Yale and Harvard, Jay's career focused on managing the Phipps's family financial interests. (His father Henry established the family's enormous wealth following the creation of U.S. Steel and the subsequent purchase of his share of Carnegie Steel.) Building upon the careful planning and advice of his father, Jay ensured the family's wealth would continue to last for several generations.

Reaching the rank of major in the US Army's newly-minted Air Service, Jay trained pilots during WWI. He also served on the boards on numerous businesses and cultural organizations. An avid sportsman, Jay became a leading advocate for the sport of polo in the US.

Dita focused her life caring for her children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. On Long Island she championed welfare agencies for young women, and in Palm Beach, where she spent the winter months, she was a leading patron of the arts. Her greatest legacy is her love of gardening and is exemplified in the Walled Garden which she carefully tended during her life and is maintained today in her memory.

Guests enter Westbury House through a small vestibule and are welcomed into the large hall. The fine, hand-carved paneling is a precursor to the art and design of the interior in the Georgian Period—England’s golden age of furniture and interior design.

Located in this room under the portrait of young Ben Phipps is a Bengal tiger, a souvenir trophy from the Phipps's honeymoon safari to India.

The mantlepiece is the work of Frances Derwent Wood (1871-1926), an English artist noted for his architectural sculpture, war memorials, and busts of noted figures such as Henry Adams. Wood also designed the mantlepiece in the Dining Room and the wooden screen framing the staircase in the Front Hall.

If you look up you’ll see the painted ceiling. This was done by A. Duncan Carse, who is noted for his illustrations of children’s books, most notably Hans Christian Anderson's tales.

Exiting the hall to the west (right) beneath a stone vault, one enters a square room lined with books and crowned with a circular dome, from which hangs a crystal and gilt metal chandelier. Many of the books shown were acquired when the house was first occupied. One section of the wall contains facsimiles of bookbindings, concealing the shallow closet which once contained Mr. Phipps’ Stradivarius and Guarnerius violins (located on the left, south wall as you enter the room from the front hall).

The room's cohesive design is exemplified in the symmetry, and ornamentation featuring classical imagery--satyrs and river gods decorate the fireplace, while Dionysus/Bacchus watches over the room from the east doorway.

While Jay and Dita resided in England during much of the construction phase Crawley kept them apprised of the progress on their new home by letter. In early 1907 Crawley wrote about this room " ... when the cases are full of nice books [it] will be one of the cosiest ever and

I think you and your wife will use that room more than all the others."

Fine Art

• Mrs. John S. Phipps, Simon Elwes (English, 1902-1975)

George Crawley's original design of Westbury House included two drawing rooms, this room and what is now the adjoining Music Room.

Typical of country house design, the drawing room was the usual gathering place for the Phipps's friends and family at tea time.

The elaborately carved chinoiserie mirror captures the sparkle of the Waterford cut glass chandeliers. The rare English carpet was made in Frome, Somerset, in 1760. On top of the marble mantelpiece is Allegory of Design by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1732-1792) . A self-portrait by the Phipps’ youngest son, Michael, hangs on the east wall.

Fine Art

clockwise from the mantlepiece

• Allegory of Design, Sir Joshua Reynolds, 18th c. English artist and founding President of the Royal Academy.
• Unknown Woman, Anonymous (French)
• Scene from Voltaire's Opera "Nina", Thomas Stothard (English, 1755-1834)
• Tancred and Clorinda, Angelica Kauffman (Swiss, 1741-1807)
• Miss Murray, Joshua Reynolds (English, 1732-1792)
• H. H. ("Ben") Phipps, Lydia Field Emmert (American, 1866-1952) on loan
• Cottage Landscape with Figures, John Crome (English, 1768-1821)
• White Horse in Stable, George Morland (English, 1763-1804)
• Self-Portrait, 1939, Michael Grace Phipps (American, 1910-1973)
• Landscape with Returning Hunter, George Morland (English, 1763-1804)
• Landscape with Horses and a Cow, George Morland (English, 1763-1804)
• Landscape and Cloud Study, John Constable (English, 1776-1837)
• Landscape with Boy Fishing, John Constable (English, 1776-1837)
• Figures in a Landscape with Distant Mountain Range, Richard Wilson (English, 1714-1782)
• Susan Phipps, 1942, Gardner Cox (American, 1906-1988)

Of the original single-bay porches that were positioned on the east, west, and south sides of Westbury House, only the West Porch remains.

In 1924 this porch was extended to three bays and enclosed so that on warm days the family could enjoy their afternoon tea. The great oak ceiling, composed of coffers and beams, conceals steel I-beam construction. In the 1930s Jay had hydraulics installed which allowed the windows to lower into the basement so that fresh air could cool the room.

The oversized armchairs and chesterfields were custom-made in proportion to the large room.

The enclosed porch was an American contribution to country house architecture.

Crawley originally designed this room to be one of two drawing rooms with an adjacent porch overlooking the south terrace.

In 1925, however, the south porch was eliminated and the room enlarged to accommodate a party that would introduce Jay and Dita's only daughter Peggie into society. This project was not completed in time and as result, her presentation took place at Pierre's in New York City. (An indication of this renovation is that the ceiling is not centered on the east-west doors.)

With its walls of scarlet damask, teak parquet floors, cut glass and rock crystal chandeliers, this room was a lovely setting for the family’s formal entertaining. The life-sized eagle, in the mahogany cabinet, conceals secret drawers within its breast.

Fine Art

left to right, facing the fireplace

• Henry, 3rd. Duke of Buccleuch, the Hon. Campbell Scott and the Hon. Frances Scott, 1758, Joshua Reynolds (English, 1732-1792)
• Mrs. Anna Campbell of Park, Henry Raeburn (Scottish, 1756-1823)
• Mrs. Michael G. Phipps, Simon Elwes (English, 1902-1975)
• Syon House from Richmond Gardens, Richard Wilson (English, 1714-1782)

The basic architectural elements of this room were designed by Crawley for the Fifth Avenue townhouse owned by Jay's father Henry. When Henry decided to move to the "country," Lake Success, the room and its furnishing were dismantled and reinstalled at Westbury in 1927. (Henry's heirs would later donate this country estate, Bonnie Blink, to the Great Neck School district and the former residence serves today as the district's administrative offices.)

The screen in the back left corners obscure the entrance to the warming room and the butler's pantry where food prepared in a basement kitchen was plated.

On the south wall is a double portrait of Mrs. Henry Phipps, Jay’s mother, and her infant grandson, Winston Guest, painted by John Singer Sargent (1856-1925).

Fine Art

left to right, facing the fireplace

• John Thompson, Esq., Henry Raeburn (Scottish, 1756-1823)
• William IV, when Duke of Clarence, Thomas Gainsborough (English, 1727-1788)
• British Officer in Red Coat, Henry Raeburn (Scottish, 1756-1823)
• Mrs. Henry Phipps and her Grandson (Winston Guest), 1906, John Singer Sargent (American, 1856-1925)
• Richard Boyle, Earl of Shannon, Joshua Reynolds (English, 1723-1792)
• The Rt. Hon. Juliana, Viscountess Skerrin, Stephen Slaughter (English, 1697-1765)

This room originally served as the family’s dining room, and a plethora of fruits and vegetables in the plasterwork ceiling reflect this.

The bookcase on the north wall contains a collection of primarily K’ang His famille verte porcelain. To the right you’ll see a portrait of John S. Phipps in 1915 by Sir William Orpen. On loan to the Nassau Museum of Art is a portrait by Raymond P.R. Nelson of Michael Phipps.

Once the new dining room was installed in 1927 this became Jay's home office.

Fine Art

left to right, facing the fireplace

• ltalian Rustic Scene, Richard Wilson (English, 1714-1782)
• Still-Life with Flowers, Fruit and a Parrot, Jean Baptiste Monnoyer (Franco-Flemish, 1636-1699)
• John S. Phipps, 1915, J.S. Eland (English, 1872-1933)
• John Eugene Phipps, Simon Elwes (English, 1902-1975)
• The Water Mill, George Morland (English, 1763-1804)
• Michael G. Phipps, 1933, Raymond P. R. Neilson (American, 1881-1964), on loan
• John S. Phipps, William Orpen (Irish, 1878-1931)

The family's private area contrasts the dark entry hall of the first floor. The bedrooms for Jay, Dita, and their children were on this second floor and the staff's bedrooms were on the third floor. In 1911 the service wing was built which included new quarters for the live-in staff. As a result, the children's bedrooms were relocated to the third floor. The remaining rooms on the second floor were repurposed as a dressing room and a guest room.

The hall contains two Chinese Chippendale mirrors which flank a view of the north allée of beech trees. Opposite the balcony and its wrought iron railing, is a mantel composed of Carrara marble. The armoire,

with walnut veneer and lavish inlay, carries the device of James II.

On the walls are a number of mezzotints (prints made from an engraved copper or steel plate) from the late 18th century.

Dominated by a fine Chippendale mahogany bed, c. 1750, the crestings of the tester are repeated over the window. The dressing table dates from about 1755. The English pile carpet bears the traces of generations of many well-loved pets.

Like many homes, pictures of children and adorn the bedroom, yet these pictures are commissioned portraits by artists known for their portraiture of children.

Fine Art

left to right, starting at the entrance

• Margaret Helen ("Peggie") Phipps, Mathilde de Cordoba (American, 1871-1942)
• Michael G. Phipps, Mathilde de Cordoba (American, 1871-1942)
• Hubert Victor Beaumont Phipps, Lydia Field Emmet (American, 1866-1952)
• J.H.H. ("Ben") Phipps, J.S. Eland (English, 1872-1933)
• Portrait of Margaret Helen, ("Peggie") Phipps, Lydia Field Emmet (American, 1866-1952)
• Portrait of Two Boys, John Downman (English, 1750-1824)
• "Spike", Michael G. Phipps (American, 1910-1973)

Originally the West Nursery, large English hand-blocked wallpaper surrounds this room and contains a massive bed, and wardrobe. The William IV bed, with its hairy paw feet, is typical of the period. A hidden doorway on the right side of the fireplace leads into the bathroom.

Fine Art

• John S. Phipps, 1954, Jack Lorraine (American)
• Landscape with Still-life, unknown, c. 18th century

Formerly the East Nursery, this room’s most striking feature is the 18th century hand-painted Chinese wallpaper. Fanciful birds and flowers are silhouetted against the blue background of this 18th century paper.

Such papers, while rare even in English homes, are unusual in America. Through the founding of the various East India companies Europe received many of the products of the East. In the ships of the East India Companies came wallpapers such as these, which originally were presented as gifts by merchants to their valued customers. Up to the middle of the 18th century the favorite motifs were birds and flowers; afterwards these were replaced by landscapes with figures.

Fine Art

• Margaret Helen ("Peggie ") Phipps, 1926, John Larvery (Irish, 1856-1941).

This room was often occupied by Margarita’s father, Michael P. Grace when he would visit. The photograph on the table is of Michael's four daughters, noted in the press as "the four Graces." Like the Blue Guest Room, this bedroom is decorated with antique hand-painted wallpaper, the perfect background for the oriental porcelains fashionable in the mid-18th century.

Underscoring the Eastern mood of the room is a carved gilt frame overmantel of chinoiserie design with figures and scenes painted in reverse on the surface of the glass. The mirror was recently cleaned and restored in 2019.