Woolworth Estate

I have photographed this estate many times over the past 30 years. I was in the house as visiting nurse to see Mrs. Martin Carey. The house was in very bad condition at that time. It is amazing to see what this new owner has done to this property. At one time it was so overgrown.
I remember seeing Martin Carey riding on his mowing lawn mower. Even in his early 90's, he was still taking care of the property leading up to the house.


**A more than 16-acre New York estate that once belonged to F.W. Woolworth of the famed five-and-dime store chain has sold for $8.25 million—more than 50% less than its original asking price.
Built in 1915, the ornate, 30,000-square-foot mansion in the Long Island city of Glen Cove sold on Wednesday, according to the Multiple Listing Service.
The buyer was a Long Island resident who made an all-cash offer, according to listing agent Margaret Trautmann of Compass. She said he has experience renovating large properties in the area and intends to live in the mansion after its makeover, but declined to further identify him. Records of the sale are not yet available, so Mansion Global could not independently identify the buyer.
It was most recently owned by Martin Carey, the late entrepreneur and preservationist who was a younger brother of Hugh Carey, who was New York governor from 1972-82, according to records with PropertyShark. Carey owned the home since the ’70s, and was dedicated to preserving Gilded Age mansions on Long Island and in Newport, Rhode Island. He died in 2020 at the age of 98.
Still known as the Woolworth Estate or Winfield Hall, the home was built by Woolworth—whose initials stood for Frank Winfield—after a shingled home on the site burned down.
“In 1913, he decided to build a house to protect his three girls and his wife,” Ms. Trautmann said. “That’s why he built a marble house—so that it wouldn’t burn to the ground…it took between 1913 and 1915 to build this house…[and] he apparently spent $10 million building it and $2 million on the marble staircase.”
It also boasts a foyer with 33-foot ceilings and gold leaf ceilings, plus 2-inch thick butterfly marble that seems to have the insects embedded in the pink-and-beige stone, the agent added. There’s also bespoke millwork and chandeliers throughout, plus a music nook with space for a grand piano and numerous other period details.
Woolworth died after living in the home for just a few years, and a nephew of R.J. Reynolds, who owned the eponymous tobacco company, purchased the home. The 17,000-square-foot carriage house was converted into a workshop, and Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil was developed for food purposes there, Ms. Trautmann explained. ****