Old Westbury Gardens: Days of Grace on Long Island

Celebrating the house that Jay Phipps built in 1906 for his English love, Dita Grace, Old Westbury Gardens is Long Island’s uniquely preserved showcase of architecture, horticulture, and the decorative arts. Old Westbury Gardens: Days of Grace on Long Island honors the life and legacy of the house that Jay Phipps built to woo his English love, Dita Grace. In his efforts to secure her hand in marriage, he promised to recreate the world of elegance, gardens, and dogs that she had known in Sussex. She said “Yes”—and the rest is Westbury. Designed in 1906 by English connoisseur and family friend George Crawley, the house was furnished with British antiques and craftsmanship, with gardens planted under Dita’s discerning eye. Of the hundreds of mansions built on Long Island around the turn of the twentieth century, Old Westbury Gardens is now unique—the only one preserved in its original condition. In 1959, Peggie Phipps Boegner generously placed Old Westbury Gardens in trust, in memory of her mother, Dita, so that the public could enjoy the place where she herself had been so happy. Maintained to the highest standards of authenticity, it is now a showcase of architecture, horticulture, and the decorative arts.