March, 1913 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
163 
This is characterized by the 
Estates of Great Neck. The chief 
developments are along the Sound, 
and with the various beautiful 
harbors afford unusual opportuni¬ 
ties for sailing and bathing. The 
enjoyment of these pleasures is 
greatly assisted by some of the 
best-appointed country clubs in 
the East. Continuing further 
along the coast, but on the Oyster 
Bay division, the towns of Roslyn, 
Glenhead, Glen Cove, Locust Val¬ 
ley and Oyster Bay 
arc passed through. 
The general charac¬ 
teristics of these sec¬ 
tions are quite like 
that of the previous 
one. Magnificent 
homes of individuals 
adjoining the beauti¬ 
ful developments of 
property where the 
landscaper’s art has 
vied with the profi¬ 
ciency of the engineer 
in making the district 
livable and attractive. 
On the Port Jeffer¬ 
son division, which 
runs from Jamaica via Hicksville to Northport, are the towns of 
Cold Spring Harbor, Huntington and Northport, and within 
commuting distance of the city all the year round. All this dis¬ 
trict enumerated is covered with a network of wonderful roads 
that wind up hill and down dale, through woodland and forest, 
giving the traveler the impression of being miles from city streets. 
It only takes a few minutes by machine to turn inland from the 
railroad and to reach the rolling farms or estates of the country 
gentlemen. 
The south shore is flatter, and the major part of its inhabited 
coast line fronts upon the Great South Bay. Rockville Center, 
Freeport and Amityville have, near the railroad, the more modest 
homes, and within automobile distance the acres of the wealthy. 
In the neighborhood of Babylon and Bayshore, about an hour out 
from town, is Brightwaters, where the home-seeker may choose a 
water frontage, a site on the pretty lake a little further inland or 
the pine woods beyond. As one goes still further eastward to 
Islip, Great River and Oakdale, one reaches another section of 
pretty parks and expensive prop¬ 
erties of wealthy individuals. Be¬ 
yond on this southern side comes 
a section of beautiful summer 
homes at Blue Point and Bell- 
port, Westhampton, Quogue, 
Southampton and Easthampton. 
Westhampton is delightful in that 
the bay and the ocean are both 
easily accessible, and this town 
with Quogue and the other 
Hamptons is in the famous Shin- 
necock Hill district, where rolling 
dunes approximate 
Surrey scenery. The 
strip of sandy beach 
that separates the 
Great South Bay 
from the ocean is 
now being developed 
as a summer section, 
and kept in touch 
with the railroad by 
a fast launch service. 
Here at Saltaire a re- 
c e n t discovery of 
science will turn the 
power of the waves 
into electric current. 
Between these two 
varied coast districts 
that offer beautiful home sites lies the Middle Island. Out from 
Jamaica in the neighborhood of Westbury are the large, expen¬ 
sive homes of those whose chief interest is in horsemanship and 
stock raising. A little further beyond, at Hicksville and Farm- 
ingdale, are large truck farms that are in daily touch with the 
city. The section beyond this in the center of the Island was 
formerly considered waste land. But under the efforts of the 
President of the Long Island Railroad, an Experiment Station 
was started at Medford and another at Wading River, farther 
out. The result of several years has been to show that all this 
area is exceedingly suited to cultivation. Indeed, it was discov¬ 
ered that three hundred and eighty varieties of plant growth 
could flourish here. And as the first Station was placed on the 
worst ten acres that could be found, the conclusions are not at 
all over-estimated. Vegetables of all sorts and exceedingly fine 
quality have been marketed from these Stations, and as the ex¬ 
pense for clearing the land can, in many cases, be met by the sale 
of the cord wood, there are exceedingly good opportunities for 
The long board walk that passes most of the Saltaire houses connects the Great South Bay 
with the ocean beach 
A bungalow at Belle Terre in its woodland section. Other prop¬ 
erties command a broad sweep over the Sound 
Jamaica Estates is within the metropolitan district, but boasts an interesting 
character of rural homes 
