Saturn Mondays

The full home movies of “Round Bush”, which were likely recorded some time in the mid-1960s. Courtesy of the Villar family.

These one-of-a-kind films were discovered by myself a few weeks ago while searching through the deep corners of the internet. When I came across the digitized recordings, they had under 30 views each. Today, I have compiled all clips showing the massive mansion which was torn down in 1993. The full thing is on my youtube here. In the meantime, though, I feel it is only right that I tell you the incredible story of this once-grand estate. 

John Pierpont Morgan Jr. and his Glen Cove estate, Matinecock Point. Courtesy of Town & Country, and Brittanica.

“Round Bush” was built from around early 1917 to mid 1918. It was commissioned by the iconic John Pierpont Morgan Jr, a financial magnate who was most notable for running his father’s company “J.P. Morgan & Co” after he had passed away. Morgan, who had an estate in the nearby Glen Cove (atop an entire island later named after the man), intended to give this home to his daughter – Frances Tracy Morgan – as a wedding present.

So, when Morgan reached out to the architect Roger H. Bullard, he had one clear request: Make this home fit for a princess. And so, when it was completed, the modern Tudor-revival style home was made to resemble and honor the grand english palaces of past times.

Inside of the home, each room would be filled with antiques and artifacts collected by its owners (Mrs. Morgan and her new husband Paul G Pennoyer). These decorations were gathered through many of the couples long travels through Europe – a source ever so common in Gilded Age society.

The structure itself was accompanied by around 30 beautifully groomed acres of farmland, pools, outbuildings, and of course woods. Much of this does remain in some capacity, even to this day. Ultimately, the proportions of Mr & Mrs Pennoyer’s new home were undoubtedly extremely grand upon the buildings completion – leaving it to be solidified as a permanent home for the couple until their end.

Funnily enough, though, the name of this massive mansion & property came from a rather underwhelming detail: a bush located in the front of the house. Yes, as stated in later interviews given by the grandchildren of the Pennoyers, “Round Bush” was named after a rather round boxwood bush that Mrs. Pennoyer found very beautiful. Apparently, this bush was located right near the front of the home, in the middle of the driveway. It is important to note, however, that some other sources with apparent connections to the Pennoyers accredit this name to a hunting lodge near the Morgan family manor in England, that Mrs. Pennoyer loved dearly.

No matter the true cause, this name would actually stick very well – and is still used in reference to the land today. Thus, Round Bush was moved into in the summer of 1918, and was soon to become the permanent Pennoyer residence for decades. 

According to incredible historian Paul Mateyunas, the Pennoyer family actually loved their country seat so much that in 1928 (to accommodate their rapidly growing family) the Pennoyers expanded Round Bush. This expansion involved the addition of a large southwest wing to the main home, a garage & chauffeur cottage near the side entrance, and some squash courts farther back into the property.

Here are two absolutely beautiful aerials of “Round Bush”, believed to have been taken in 1932. Courtesy of Country Life.

Clearly, this reimagination of Round Bush was very opulent in taste. Nonetheless, it worked and as far as historic records state, Round Bush was not altered (to a noticeable extent) past this point. On the other hand, while no alterations occurred to the preexisting facets of Round Bush after 1928, some changes did occur to the size of the land. 

In the coming 60 years, Round Bush was successfully enlarged to a staggering 84 acres. Even by the 1980s, when Gilded Age estates were dropping like flies due to nasty developers and unfortunate abandonments, Round Bush remained under one singular name: the Pennoyers.

Sadly, in 1989, Mrs. Pennoyer died at age 92 in her Locust Valley home, which she had lived in ever since it had been completed. Upon her passing, her children were given the entire estate, which now included the neighboring “Apple Trees”, another Morgan family estate that was purchased as part of the Pennoyer’s land acquisition ventures during the late 1920s. Obviously, this is a significant amount of land for any family to have. And so, beginning the very year of Mrs. Frances Tracy Morgan Pennoyers passing,  bits and pieces of Round Bush were sold off. 

Firstly, a significant 38 acres of untouched land from the estate was donated to the North Shore Wildlife Sanctuary. Secondly, the main residence of Round Bush had to be sold. Per the Pennoyer family themselves, it was rising property taxes that resulted in this unfortunate sale that they reportedly regretted in later years.

A major facet of this regret came from one saddening decision in 1993. It was in the middle of that year that “Round Bush” was torn down, marking the end of a long island estate that (miraculously) survived through the same family from beginning to end.

The former farm building for “Round Bush”, which still stands today. Courtesy of Nassau County.

Even with this monumental architectural & sentimental loss, Round Bush’s legacy has not died down. The estate today is half nature preserve half developed neighborhood, although between the two are the former farm buildings of Round Bush, which are now private residences. In fact, up until his 2010 passing, the son of Paul Pennoyer still lived on the property, from which he would recall many of his memories at the “big house up on the hill” he once called home.

With all of this now fresh in your mind, I hope you can understand the importance of the footage attached in this post. While I have been unable to find a direct confirmation on what family these exact home movies came from, the name attached was “Villar.” Nevertheless, the movies show so many repeated shots of the grand Round Bush mansion that I do wonder if these might be that of the famed Pennoyer family. For now, though, I simply do not know. What I can tell you is that these films are of the utmost rarity, and their discovery is truthfully one of my proudest accomplishments. I hope you can join me in relishing over seeing this long elusive mansion in bright color & motion – a gift not many ever thought could be given. I do hope you enjoyed this article and the video!