Beacon Towers facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Beacon Towers
Front facade of Beacon Towers in 1922
Location	Sands Point, New York
Built	1917–18
Architectural style(s)	Châteauesque
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Beacon Towers was a huge, fancy house, also called a mansion. It was built during the Gilded Age, a time when many rich people built amazing homes. This mansion was located in Sands Point, a village on the North Shore of Long Island. It was built between 1917 and 1918. The owner was Alva Belmont. She was a very wealthy and important woman of her time.

Building Beacon Towers

This amazing mansion was designed by a company called Hunt & Hunt. This company was run by Richard and Joseph Hunt. They were the sons of a famous architect named Richard Morris Hunt. Beacon Towers was the last house they designed on Long Island.

Design and Look

Experts who study buildings say Beacon Towers looked like a pure Gothic castle from a fairy tale. It also had some design ideas from old Spanish castles called alcázars. Some parts looked like castles drawn in old medieval books.

The inside of the mansion was huge. It had about 60 main rooms. In total, there were more than 140 rooms! The whole outside of the building was covered in smooth, shiny white stucco.

In 1924, Alva Belmont bought the land next to her estate. This land included the Sands Point Light, which was a lighthouse. She paid $100,000 for it. She bought it to make her estate even more private.

Owned by William Randolph Hearst

Three years later, in 1927, a very famous newspaper owner bought the mansion. His name was William Randolph Hearst. While Hearst owned Beacon Towers, he made some changes to it.

The roof was made taller, and new windows called dormers were added. Some windows were made bigger, and others were removed. The main entrance was also changed. It became a doorway that was set back into the building.

Hearst sold the estate in 1942. Sadly, Beacon Towers was torn down in 1945. A new neighborhood was built on the land later. But you can still find some small parts of the old building. The original gatehouse also still stands today.

Images for kids

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  The primary facade in 1931, following renovations by William Randolph Hearst

See also

In Spanish: Beacon Towers para niños