The former estate of the late John S. Phipps, sportsman and financier, was made available to the public in 1959. The house and one hundred acres were given and endowed by the John S. Phipps Foundation to be maintained as a non-profit museum and botanical garden.
Like an 18th century park with its stately Georgian Mansion, it has five beautiful gardens, whose flowers present a continually changing picture with the seasons. There are magnificent views down avenues of linden and beech trees with sparkling pools and lakes. The peace and beauty of these settings defy description. Garden enthusiasts will find many unusual specimens of trees, shrubs and lovely perennial borders of infinite variety.
The interior of Westbury House is furnished as it was during the family’s occupancy and contains many English objects d’art and pieces of furniture of the 18th century, together with paintings by Joshua Reynolds, Henry Raeburn, and Thomas Gainsborough. Spacious rooms, decorated with gilded mirrors, crystal and old brocades, filled with fresh flowers, recreate the gracious, unhurried atmosphere of a vanished era and Long Island’s “Gold Coast.”
Spring Meet History
The first G.N.Y.R Annual Spring meet was held at Salisbury Park in Nassau County, later renamed Eisenhower Park, in honor of the late President, on June 11, 1967. Club members felt the time had come for a judged meet using A. A. C. A guidelines on Long Island.
In 1977, Old Westbury Gardens became the location for our Spring meet. Both locations were superb to hold shows and the cooperation of both organizations was top notch. However, it can’t be denied that the setting at the Gardens would be difficult to duplicate.
THIS YEAR WAS MY FIRST SHOW FOR “MARTY” MY 1967 XKE COUPE- I AM HIS ONE AND ONLY OWNER AND WAS SO THRILLED TO RECEIVE A THIRD PLACE TROPHY FOR DAY OF SHOW-MET SOME SUPER PEOPLE AND LOOK FORWARD TO MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO SHOW OFF MY “BEST FRIEND.”