Explore the real-world places that appear in The Gold Coast by Nelson DeMille. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include Planting Fields Arboretum (Coe Hall), Old Westbury Gardens (Westbury House), Oyster Bay Village, Sagamore Hill, Oheka Castle and 7 more.
1395 Planting Fields Road, Oyster Bay — a model for the Sutter estate world
The novel's Sutter family estate, Stanhope Hall, is fictional, but its world of vast Tudor and Georgian mansions, long driveways and aging aristocratic families echoes places like Coe Hall. John Sutter lives on his shrinking ancestral acreage with his wife Susan, scorning the new money moving in. Frank Bellarosa's purchase of the neighboring estate, Alhambra, upends this order.
Coe Hall is a 65-room Tudor Revival mansion built 1918-1921 for William Robertson Coe, an insurance executive and horticulture enthusiast. The estate was given to the state of New York in 1949 and became an arboretum.
Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park offers greenhouses, gardens and tours of Coe Hall. It is a popular spot for seeing the Gold Coast's grand architecture and landscaping.
Visit: Planting Fields Arboretum State Historic Park (historic site)
71 Old Westbury Road, Old Westbury — a Stanhope Hall analogue
The Old Westbury area stands in for the horsey, old-money enclave where John Sutter's family has lived for generations. Sutter reflects sardonically on his neighbors' fading privilege, fox hunts and clubs. Bellarosa's arrival, with his helicopter and bodyguards, scandalizes this staid society.
Westbury House was built in 1906 for John Shaffer Phipps in the Charles II style, with gardens designed by George Crawley. The Phipps family lived there until 1959, when it opened to the public as a museum.
Old Westbury Gardens is a public museum with gardens, ponds and the mansion's period rooms. It hosts events and car shows and has appeared in many films.
Visit: Old Westbury Gardens (historic site)
Audrey Avenue & South Street — North Shore town life
Oyster Bay-style North Shore villages form the backdrop where Sutter does errands and encounters locals reacting to the mobster in their midst. The town's old families and tradespeople gossip about Bellarosa and Sutter's strange friendship. The setting contrasts the genteel Gold Coast with the vulgar newcomer.
Oyster Bay was settled in the 1650s and later became famous as the home of Theodore Roosevelt. By the early 20th century it was surrounded by lavish estates of the Gold Coast elite.
The hamlet has shops, restaurants and a waterfront. The Oyster Bay Railroad Museum and the Theodore Roosevelt sites draw visitors.
Visit: Oyster Bay Railroad Museum (museum)
20 Sagamore Hill Road, Oyster Bay — emblem of Gold Coast power
Sagamore Hill stands for the era when the Gold Coast was a center of national power. Sutter often reflects on how the region's history has given way to modern decline and the intrusion of Bellarosa. It embodies the heritage Sutter fears losing.
Theodore Roosevelt built Sagamore Hill in 1885 and used it as his Summer White House from 1901 to 1909. It remained in the Roosevelt family until acquired by the National Park Service.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site offers tours of the house, a museum and grounds. It is one of Long Island's most visited historic sites.
Visit: Sagamore Hill National Historic Site (historic site)
135 West Gate Drive, Huntington — the grandest Gold Coast mansion
Oheka Castle exemplifies the extravagant Alhambra-style estates that Bellarosa covets. Bellarosa's love of opulence and his purchase of a grand estate mirror this kind of palatial excess. Sutter views such places with a mix of envy and contempt.
Financier Otto Hermann Kahn built Oheka between 1914 and 1919; it is the second-largest private residence ever built in the United States. It later served as a sanatorium and fell into disrepair before restoration.
Oheka Castle is now a luxury hotel and event venue with restaurant service and tours. The French-style gardens are among the finest on Long Island.
Visit: Oheka Castle Hotel & Estate (landmark)
Railroad Plaza, Oyster Bay — Sutter's commute to Manhattan
Sutter commutes by train to his Wall Street law practice, moving between the Gold Coast and the city. The commute underscores his divided life between old-money Long Island and professional Manhattan. It also puts him in contact with the world Bellarosa dominates.
The LIRR line reached Oyster Bay in 1889. Theodore Roosevelt used the station during his presidency.
The station is the terminus of the Oyster Bay Branch and has a nearby railroad museum.
Visit: Oyster Bay Railroad Museum (museum)
Centre Island Beach — waterfront estates
The Sound-front setting evokes the waterside lawns and boat docks of the novel's estates. Sutter and Susan spend time at the water, and Bellarosa's lavish entertainments dwarf the old families' quiet customs. The shoreline underlines the fading grandeur Sutter laments.
Centre Island developed as an exclusive residential community in the early 20th century. Its waterfront has long been home to yacht clubs and wealthy families.
Centre Island remains an affluent residential village with limited public access. Nearby Beekman Beach offers public shoreline.
194 Bayville Road, Locust Valley — preserved estate grounds
Quiet wooded grounds like these reflect the private paths and gardens where Sutter walks and reflects. In the novel he and Susan encounter Bellarosa in garden and estate settings that blur the line between neighbor and intruder. The landscape embodies Sutter's attachment to inherited land.
The arboretum was once the Bailey family's country estate, donated to Nassau County in 1968. It features mature specimen trees collected by Frank Bailey.
Bailey Arboretum is a county park with walking trails and gardens, open to the public.
Visit: Bailey Arboretum (park)
Horse Island Road, Locust Valley — old-money country club
Country clubs like the Creek represent the exclusive social world where Sutter's peers gather and gossip. The question of whether Bellarosa can be admitted or tolerated by such institutions exposes the snobbery of the Gold Coast. Sutter's wry commentary on the clubs shows his ambivalence.
The Creek, founded in 1923 in Locust Valley, was established by prominent families including J.P. Morgan partners. It is known as one of the most exclusive clubs in the country.
The Creek remains a private members-only club and is not open to the public.
Wall Street, Manhattan — Sutter's law practice
Sutter works as a Wall Street lawyer, and it is through legal channels that Bellarosa first draws him in. Bellarosa, a Mafia don, seeks legal help and influence, and Sutter is pulled into his world despite his misgivings. The financial district represents the legitimate power that Bellarosa wants to infiltrate.
Wall Street has been the center of American finance since the late 18th century. The New York Stock Exchange building dates to 1903.
Wall Street remains a hub of finance, with the New York Stock Exchange and Federal Hall National Memorial open to visitors.
Visit: Federal Hall National Memorial (historic site)
225 Cadman Plaza East — Mafia trials
Bellarosa's legal battles with federal prosecutors place him in the courthouse world of organized crime trials. Sutter's role as his attorney and friend draws him into these proceedings. The courthouse symbolizes the law that Bellarosa both exploits and evades.
The Brooklyn federal courthouse at Cadman Plaza has handled many notable organized crime cases. The Eastern District of New York has long prosecuted major Mafia figures.
The Theodore Roosevelt United States Courthouse is an active federal court and not a tourist attraction.
Mulberry Street, Manhattan — the Mafia's traditional heartland
Bellarosa's roots in the New York Mafia link him to the old Italian-American neighborhoods of the city. Meals and meetings in places like these show the Mafia culture Sutter finds both repellent and seductive. Bellarosa's warmth and menace play out in such settings.
Little Italy formed in the late 19th century as Italian immigrants settled around Mulberry Street. It was long associated with organized crime figures such as the Gambino family.
Little Italy is a small tourist district of restaurants and cafes along Mulberry Street. Many of the old Italian residents have moved away as Chinatown expanded.
Visit: Mulberry Street, Little Italy (landmark)
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