Sagamore Hill (house)

Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Site
Sagamore Hill
Location:	Cove Neck, New York
Coordinates:	40°53′8″N 73°29′51″W
Area:	83.02 acres (33.60 ha)
Built:	1884
Architect:	Lamb & Rich; LaForge,C. Grant
Architectural style:	Queen Anne
Visitation:	38,009 (2005)
Governing body:	National Park Service
NRHP Reference#:	66000096
Significant dates
Added to NRHP:	October 15, 1966
Designated NHS:	July 25, 1962

Sagamore Hill was the home of the 26th President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt from 1885 until his death in 1919. It is located at the end of Cove Neck Road in the Incorporated Village of Cove Neck, New York, on Long Island, 25 miles (40 km) east of Manhattan. Sagamore Hill is located within the Oyster Bay 11771 Zip Code. It is now the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site and also includes the Theodore Roosevelt Museum.

It derives its name from Sagamore which is the title of the head of an Indian tribe.

History

Although a native of New York City, Theodore Roosevelt spent many summers of his youth on extended vacations with his family in the Oyster Bay area. In 1880, by then a young adult of 22, Roosevelt purchased 155 acres (62.7 hectares) of land for $30,000 (equal to $713,690 today) on Cove Neck, a small peninsula roughly 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of the village of Oyster Bay. In 1881, his uncle James A. Roosevelt had designed his estate home several hundred feet west of the Sagamore Hill property. In 1884 Theodore Roosevelt hired the New York architectural firm Lamb & Rich to design a shingle-style, Queen Anne home for the property. The twenty-two room home was completed in 1886 for $16,975 (equal to $433,743 today), and Roosevelt moved into the house in 1887. Roosevelt originally planned to name the house "Leeholm" after his wife Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt. However, she died in 1884 and Roosevelt remarried in 1887, so he decided to change the name to "Sagamore Hill." In 1905 Roosevelt decided to expand the house adding the largest room, entitled the "North Room" (40x30) for $19,000 (equal to $485,485 today). The home now has twenty-three rooms.

The house and its surrounding farmland became the primary residence of Theodore and Edith Roosevelt for the rest of their lives. Sagamore Hill took on its greatest importance when it became known as the "Summer White House" during the seven summers (1902–1908) Roosevelt spent there as President. Roosevelt died at Sagamore Hill in January 1919.

National Historic Site

On July 25, 1962, Congress established Sagamore Hill National Historic Site to preserve the house as a unit of the National Park Service. As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, Sagamore Hill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. The home is open to the public by guided tour, and almost all the furnishings are original. Also on the site is the Theodore Roosevelt Museum, which chronicles the life and career of the President. The museum is housed in the Old Orchard building, the former residence of Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr. and his family.

Visiting

Tickets to visit the home are purchased at the Sagamore Hill Visitor Center and cost $5 for adults and free for children under the age of 15. Guided tours of the home are guaranteed on the hour.

The site is open for visitation seven days a week from Memorial Day to Labor Day. During the fall and winter months it is open Wednesday through Sunday and closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

On December 5, 2011, the house closed for a three year, $6.2 million renovation. The visitors center, museum, and adjoining grounds remain open, and tours of the grounds are still conducted. As of October 2012, the expected reopening is in 2015.

Roosevelt Museum, former home of Roosevelt's eldest son Theodore, and a brief walk from the main house.

References

• The National Parks: Index 2001–2003. Washington: U.S. Department of the Interior.

External links

• Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, Nassau, NY: 13 drawings, 35 photos, 5 data pages, and 3 photo caption pages at Historic American Building Survey
• Sagamore Hill, Grey Cottage, Oyster Bay, Nassau, NY: 1 photo, 1 data page, and 1 photo caption page at Historic American Building Survey
• Official NPS website: Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
• TeddyRoosevelt.com: Sagamore's Man of the House
• Friends of Sagamore Hill
• More info on Sagamore at the Theodore Roosevelt Organization's Web site
• Youngs Memorial Cemetery
• "Life Portrait of Theodore Roosevelt", broadcast from Sagamore Hill from C-SPAN's American Presidents: Life Portraits