Abstract
This thesis addressed the cultural landscape of Meadow Croft, the former country home of John Ellis Roosevelt, a cousin of President Theodore Roosevelt, in Sayville, Long Island, New York. This study followed completion in 1986 of a Historic Structures Report for the Meadow Croft house by Suffolk County Department of Parks, Division of Historic Services.
Meadow Croft had the unique attribute of being one of the three contiguous estates that compromised the Roosevelt Family Compound; the other two estates were owned by John’s brother, Robert B. Roosevelt Jr., and their father, Robert B. Roosevelt. Robert B. Roosevelt, an uncle of President Theodore Roosevelt, was the first Roosevelt to establish a country place on the south shore of Long Island, while most of his relatives chose to reside in Oyster Bay on the Island’s north shore. Meadow Croft is one of the finest examples of a country home from the turn-of the-century resort era on the south shore of Long Island. The site was laid out in the picturesque style containing an ornamental pleasure garden and farm. It is a vivid reminder of a transitional episode in the development of Long Island’s south shore from small agricultural villages to summer estates and resort communities of the wealthy.
This thesis consists of three sections, site history, evaluation and analysis, and treatment. The final section of this thesis formulates a plan consisting of guidelines and recommendations that to restore the landscape, including the pleasure grounds and the small active farm area that contribute to the significance of the landscape. The surrounding woods and marshes are protected as part of the Suffolk County San Souci Lakes Nature Preserve. The county has preserved 64.8 acres of the original estate property.
This thesis is available at SUNY ESF’s Moon Library – Thesis Call Number C6383