Poplar Hill (Glen Cove, New York) facts for kids
Poplar Hill is a very old and important house, also known as a mansion, located in Glen Cove, New York. It was built in 1925 for a man named Frederic B. Pratt. Since 1947, Poplar Hill has been used as a healthcare center, and today it is called the Glengariff Healthcare Center.
The Story of Poplar Hill
Building a Grand Home
Poplar Hill was built in 1925 to be the home of Frederic B. Pratt. The house was designed by an architect named Charles A. Platt. He designed it in the French Renaissance style, which means it looked like grand buildings from France's past. The mansion had 21 rooms and was built on a large piece of land, about 35 acres. Frederic Pratt wanted the inside of his home to be comfortable, not just fancy, because he liked to keep a low profile.
This mansion actually replaced an older house that was built around 1898. The beautiful gardens and outdoor areas of the original estate were designed by a landscape architect named Martha Brookes Brown Hutcheson. These gardens were kept when the new Poplar Hill mansion was built.
Poplar Hill is one of five large mansions in Glen Cove that were built for the sons of a very rich oil businessman named Charles Pratt. The other mansions include:
- "The Braes," which is now the Webb Institute of Naval Architecture.
- "Welwyn," now home to the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center of Nassau County within the Welwyn Preserve.
- "Killenworth," which is used as a country retreat by the Russian delegation to the United Nations.
- "The Manor," which is now the Glen Cove Mansion Hotel and Conference Center.
A New Purpose: Healthcare
Frederic Pratt passed away in 1945. Two years later, in 1947, the Poplar Hill estate was bought by the Sister Kenny Foundation. They turned it into a hospital to help people who had poliomyelitis, a disease that affects the nervous system.
Later, the facility became known as the Glengariff Healthcare Center. In 1971, the ownership of the center changed, and a new nursing home building was constructed. For a while, the old mansion was not used.
In 1974, the mansion was fixed up as part of a special event called a Designers' Showcase. After this event, the building started being used again to help patients who could walk around and move easily. During the 1974 showcase, some interesting equipment was found on the third floor. This equipment could see the nearby "Killenworth" estate, which was used by the Soviet Union's delegation to the United Nations.
By the year 2000, Glengariff was a large center with 262 beds, providing care for patients who needed medical attention but were not in critical condition. In 2011, the mansion itself was renovated and turned into a special center for rehabilitation, helping people recover from injuries or illnesses.
See also
In Spanish: Poplar Hill (mansión) para niños
