Grand Long Island Estate at Center of U.S.-Russian Controversy

A grand, 14-acre estate on Long Island that once belonged to a New York State governor is now at the center of a U.S.-Russian diplomatic meltdown.

President Obama announced on Thursday a laundry list of diplomatic sanctions in retaliation for Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election. They included evicting Russian diplomats from the historic Elmcroft Estate, which Russia has owned since the 1950s on Long Island, in Upper Brookville, about 30 miles outside of New York City.

Residents and visitors at the mansion had 24 hours to clear out, and on Friday, moving vans and cars with diplomatic plates were reportedly seen at both the Upper Brookville estate and at an even larger Russian compound, called Killenworth, in the neighboring town of Glen Cove.

The U.S. government has shuttered only the one Long Island compound, in Upper Brookville, in addition to a compound in Maryland, according to federal officials.

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"I understand from federal officials that the house has been closed and the Russians living or staying there have all left," Upper Brookville Mayor Elliot Conway said Friday in a statement . "In fact, I was at the front gate today when the last person departed shortly after noon."

Attaches from what was then the U.S.S.R. bought the closed manor in September 1952, according to a history of Upper Brookville. The Russians paid $80,000 for the home, originally built for WWI munitions builder Frank C.B. Page and which later belonged to New York Gov. Nathan L. Miller. At the time it was purchased, it was described as a 38-room mansion with outdoor and indoor pools, billiard and sun rooms.

"It was to be used as a retreat for second-level members of the Russian U.N. Mission," according to the Upper Brookville history.

In 2012, the Russian government got permission from the town to build an additional Georgian-style building on the Elmcroft Estate, according to property records. It was to have 12 two-room suites, a central social room and a basement for storage, records show.

For decades, Russian envoys to the United States have occupied the two Long Island properties, with their soccer fields and sprawling grounds. They swim and suntan on nearby public beaches—the local Town of Oyster Bay even waives parking and beach permits for the country’s U.N. diplomatic staff as a measure of goodwill, according to the Associated Press.

Mr. Conway referred to the Russian diplomats and staff as "quiet neighbors."

But now, the president has characterized these beach retreats as centers of espionage and "intelligence-related" purposes, according to a White House statement released Thursday.

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This isn’t the first time U.S. officials have accused the Russians of espionage at one of their Long Island compounds.

In the 1980s, defector Arkady Shevchenko claimed Killenworth, the grander Russian estate on Long Island, located in Glen Cove, had spy equipment installed on its top floors.

Killenworth was built in the early 1913 for George Dupont Pratt, son of oil baron Charles Pratt. A stately stone and iron gate guards the entrance to the English Renaissance-style mansion and its manicured grounds, which include tennis courts and gardens.