Manhasset Historical Society Forms to Fight Development Threats to Historic Properties

A new advocacy organization has emerged in Manhasset with the goal of preserving the community’s historic architecture from what its founder calls “increasing encroachment of speculation.”

Andrew Cronson established the Manhasset Historical Society this year after witnessing the demolition of Inisfada, a historic mansion that was once one of the largest private homes in the United States, according to Cronson. The building later served as a Jesuit retreat house before its destruction and redevelopment.

“I was the last person permitted to photograph the interior of the historic mansion in detail before it was demolished and redeveloped,” Cronson said. “This really brought home to me that our history is so fragile out here.”

The society has already assembled a board of over 20 members, according to Cronson. Architects Michael Devonshire, Laura Heim, Sussan Lari, Tony Wood and urban planner Jeremy Woodoff are consulting for the organization. The organization’s commitment to preservation aligns with similar efforts in the region, as evidenced by recent appointments to the Roslyn Landmark Society’s board of trustees.

Cronson’s advocacy work began in 2021 when he joined the Great Neck Historical Society to oppose plans to replace the Tower Ford auto dealership with an apartment complex. He helped lead a campaign petitioning the Village of Thomaston to designate the Tudor-revival building as a landmark, and the effort succeeded in 2022, according to Cronson.

Now focusing on his childhood home of Manhasset, Cronson emphasizes the area’s unique development history. “As the 1900s come about, Manhasset really, without exception, is a place for very wealthy people to build their homes,” he said, describing how farmland was converted to country homes for affluent residents.

Different companies developed each neighborhood of Manhasset, with many buildings designed by the same architects, according to Cronson. T.B. Ackerson Co. developed Flower Hill, the Plandome Land Co. developed Plandome, and Levitt & Sons, the developer of Levittown, developed North and South Strathmore.

In Strathmore, residents can see a “common set of building blocks” similar to Levittown, though the homes are not identical, Cronson said.

“This is an area that has had such really extraordinary beauty and acclaim, but it has not had a focus on trying to plan for the future,” Cronson said.

The organization differs from traditional historical societies, according to its founder. “My vision for the group is really not to be an ordinary historical society that is one that puts on a country fair or cleans tombstones, but [rather] one that is really an advocacy society,” Cronson said.

The society models itself after the Historical Society of Palm Beach County in Florida, which Cronson describes as having “enormous wealth and enormous pride of place” and being more activist in nature.

The group plans to pressure the Town of North Hempstead and incorporated villages in Manhasset to designate specific sites as landmarks. “North Hempstead has not designated a single landmark in over 20 years,” Cronson said.

The society’s top priorities for landmark designation include the Manhasset Secondary School building, which the Works Progress Administration constructed as a New Deal project under President Roosevelt from 1933 to 1939, according to Cronson. Revolutionary-era homes at 200 Port Washington Blvd. in Flower Hill and 263 Manhasset Ave. in Shorehaven are also targeted for protection.

Cronson said there is reason to believe an underground railroad site exists in Manhasset, and he plans to push for landmark designation for that location as well.

The organization is also working with homeowners in Plandome Heights who have expressed interest in designating their own homes as landmarks. “We want to see those get the full attention that they deserve,” Cronson said.