Taylor Swift filmed part of her Blank Space music video at Winfield Mansion
March 7, 2022
“Historic Mansion Where Taylor Swift’s Blank Space Music Video Was Filmed”
Although Taylor Swift was busy buying up practically an entire NYC city block in 2014 when she made her Blank Space video using Winfield Hall as one of the elegant backdrops, had it been for sale at the time, she might have grabbed it as well. Now busy with more homes than most would care to manage, Winfield Hall, the former Woolworth Mansion on Long Island Sound, slipped through her fingers and recently acquired a new owner. Previously on the market for $19.95 million, the mansion recently sold for $8.25 million.
Built in 1917 for Frank Winfield Woolworth, the famous five & dime store retailer, the 16-acre property includes the 32,098-square-foot main mansion and a 17,000-square-foot carriage house. It is located in Glen Cove on Oyster Bay where many captains of industry maintained homes. The area was referred to as the Gold Coast of Nassau County during the 1920s. When the mansion was completed, it was the largest private home in America. Sadly, Woolworth died only two years afterward.
Later owned by family from the Reynolds Wrap business, a young women’s business school, and most recently by Martin Carey, the brother of former New York Mayor Hugh Carey, only the most extravagant materials were sourced and used throughout the mansion. The main house foyer is graced with a marble staircase, a fireplace and cathedral ceilings. Formal rooms such as the dining room, where much of Blank Space was filmed, are large enough to hold major functions, and once in the hands of a master landscaper, the grounds will again tempt romantic strolls.
Not a single surface of the interior went untouched. From intricate gold leaf ceilings with massive chandeliers to decorated or paneled walls, equally intricate fireplace surrounds to stunning inlaid floors, it is evident that only the most skilled artisans were chosen. Winfield Hall is one of the last well-preserved Gilded Age mansions that bears testament to the exorbitant wealth of that period of American history.
The Winfield Hall interiors contain 12 bedrooms, 12 baths, an elevator, 180-degree water views, den, family room, cathedral ceilings, guest quarters, grand public rooms, and a large kitchen with marble countertops and pantry. Throughout the house, parquet flooring is laid in different patterns. Some walls are paneled with hand-carved moldings and there is a large indoor garden room and some windows are accessorized with finely detailed wrought iron. Outside, lawns are divided into garden rooms on varying levels with follies, pergolas, fountains and overlooks.
The Glen Cove area has always attracted the rich and famous such as President Theodore Roosevelt, Billy Joel, John McEnroe and many others. With its wide sandy beaches and its proximity to Manhattan, it is conveniently located for business, socializing and entertainment.
Margaret Trautmann of Compass, Long Island, New York held the listing.
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