A Norman-style estate designed by the same architects behind Columbia University’s main campus and the Boston Public Library has hit the market for $19.8 million.
The storied firm, McKim, Mead & White—which also created New York’s original (and massive) Pennsylvania Station—designed the 13-bedroom home in Sands Point, Long Island, to look like a chateau in Normandy, France, according to information provided by the home’s listing agent, Nava Mitnick of Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty.
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The 29-room limestone house has a steep mansard roof, rows of arched windows, a blue-stone terrace and French doors. The interior has original sculptural elements, like intricately carved moulding and friezes.
It’s only the second time the historic home, known as the Rumsey-Harriman House, has ever been on the market. It got its name from original owner Mary Harriman Rumsey, the daughter of a railroad baron, who built the home with her husband, Charles Rumsey, on the eve of the Great Depression in 1928.
The property remained in the family for more than 80 years until it sold for the first time in 2012 to investor Jamie Mai, founder of Cornwall Capital, and his wife, Chiara, for $6.675 million, according to property records.
Harriman Rumsey was inducted into the Women’s National Hall of Fame for founding women’s charitable organization The Junior League, which now has more than 290 chapters across North America.
The heiress’s brother was W. Averell Harriman, a former governor of New York, and over the years, the home played host to social and political galas thrown by the family.
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The main house has 13 bedrooms, nine bathrooms, including a half bathroom, and nine fireplaces. But there are two additionalresidences on the estate, including a summer cottage closer to the waterfront and acarriage house with a four-car garage.
Today’s estate still sits on 5.3 acres of land, which encompassesa 400-foot stretch of waterfront, tennis courts and a boat shed.
Since buying the home in 2012, the Mais have worked to restore and update the home, according to informationprovided by Ms. Mitnick.
They hired luxury firm Harrison Design to renovate the house and have even submitted the restoration for a Stanford White Award, a prize that recognizes excellence in classical and traditional architecture.