Idle Hour Estate

A Brief History: Idle Hour Estate is located at 150 Idle Hour Boulevard Oakdale New York. One of the largest mansions ever built on Long Island is called Idle Hour. It was built in1878 but was burned down and replaced by the current version made of red brick in 1899. The second Idle Hour’s walkways, palm gardens and exterior were designed by Richard Howland Hunt. The Bachelor wing and tennis courts were designed by the architectural firm Warren and Wetmore and built between 1902 and 1904. The interior of the palm garden was later redesigned with a Turkish theme. The house was built for William Kissam Vanderbilt who purchased 900 acres of land to use as a summer retreat. The mansion had 110 rooms and reached a total cost exceeding 9 million dollars. Today the building is used as the Rudolph campus of Dowling College.

Haunted History: There have been claims of seeing a man walking around the mansion and outside and then disappear. There have also been claims of seeing strange balls of light in the window late at night when no one is inside.