Chanticlare

{{Infobox building

| name = Chanticlare

| alternate_names = Chanticlair; Ricks Estate

| location = Stonytown Road, Flower Hill, New York, U.S.

| status = Demolished

| start_date = 1920s

| demolition_date = 1960s

| architect = Frederick A. Godley

| building_type = Home

| architectural_style = English Tudor

| rooms = 42

}}

Chanticlare (often spelled Chanteclair and also known as the Ricks Estate) was a large, Gold Coast-era estate located in the Village of Flower Hill, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States.

Description

= Overview =

Chanticlare was constructed in the 1920s for attorney and Union Carbide executive Jesse J. Ricks.{{Cite news|last=Kass|first=Jane|date=May 18, 1965|title=Mansion Spared as Homes Rise on Estate|work=Newsday|id={{ProQuest|}}}}{{Cite news|date=1941-05-28|title=Officers Elected by Union Carbide; J.J. Ricks Goes From President to Chairman – Succeeded by Benjamin O'Shea|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/05/28/archives/officers-elected-by-union-carbide-jj-ricks-goes-from-president-to.html|access-date=2021-04-17|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |title=Village of Flower Hill » Flower Hill Village Historical Gallery |url=https://villageflowerhill.org/about-us/flower-hill-village-historical-gallery/ |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=villageflowerhill.org}}{{Cite book |last=Schwartz |first=Mitchell |url= |title=Flower Hill Village Historical Gallery Official Guidebook |publisher=Village of Flower Hill, New York |year=2023 |pages=17, 25–26 |language=En}}{{Cite web |title=Village of Flower Hill » Flower Hill Historic Trail |url=https://villageflowerhill.org/flower-hill-historic-trail/ |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=villageflowerhill.org}} The mansion, designed in the English Tudor-style by Frederick A. Godley, featured 42 rooms – including a music room/ballroom.{{Cite news|date=February 5, 1929|url=https://usmodernist.org/AMAR/AMAR-1929-0205.pdf|title=Untitled – Page 19|page=19|work=The American Architect|access-date=May 4, 2025}}{{Cite news|date=April 18, 1957|title=Tour of L.I. Homes to Aid Smith Club: College Scholarship Fund to Benefit From 'Living With History' Event on May 7.|work=The New York Times|id={{ProQuest|}}}}

== Failed preservation efforts ==

In the 1960s, following the deaths of Jesse Ricks and his wife, their children would sell off the remaining land.Map of Chanticlare at Flower Hill, Situated in Flower Hill, Nassau Co., N.Y.(Map). June 15, 1965 – via Nassau County Public Records. Originally, the developers of the Chanticlare at Flower Hill subdivision, Edwin and Walter Ketay, wanted to save the mansion, and made attempts to do so.{{Cite news|date=May 21, 1965|title=On the Job|page=17C|work=Newsday|id={{ProQuest|}}}} A number of the homes built on as part of the development were designed by architect Stanley H. Klein.

One of the plans for its preservation was for C.W. Post University (now LIU Post) to purchase it and use the space as a music school, an accounting school, and/or administrative offices, amongst other proposed uses by the school.MINUTES OF A PUBLIC HEARING AND REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE VILLAGE OF FLOWER HILL. NASSAU COUNTY. N.Y. May 1, 1967. Village of Flower Hill, New York. However, in 1967, C.W. Post ultimately chose not to buy the property.MINUTES OF A PUBLIC HEARING AND REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE VILLAGE OF FLOWER HILL. NASSAU COUNTY. N.Y. 1967-1969. Village of Flower Hill, New York.

The Ketays soon after tried getting the Nassau County Cultural Society to occupy the home – although the plan was largely opposed by residents.Minutes of a Public Hearing and Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Flower Hill. Nassau County. N.Y. December 4, 1967.

With all preservation efforts failing, preserving the building proved to be too costly, and the estate was ultimately demolished in the late 1960s and replaced with an additional 4 homes as part of an amended plat map and plan for the Chanticlare at Flower Hill subdivision made by Edwin and Walter Ketay.

= Remnants of the estate =

== Chanticlare pipe organ ==

In 1968, the pipe organ formerly located in Chanticlare's music room was donated by John Ricks and Jane Ricks-King, the children of Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Ricks, to Hofstra University in honor of their late parents.{{Cite news|date=July 10, 1968|title=Organ Donated to Hofstra|page=25|work=Newsday|id={{ProQuest|}}}}

The three-bank Aeolian electro-pneumatic pipe organ, valued at $115,000 in 1968, was installed in the Adams Playhouse at Hofstra, along with a memorial plaque.{{Cite news|date=September 19, 1968|title=Organ Given as Memorial|work=The Hofstra Chronicle}} In order to house the components of the instrument, Hofstra had to add two chambers onto the Adams Playhouse, totaling {{Convert|430|ft2|m2}}.

The donation of the organ meant that students at Hofstra studying the organ could practice on-campus as opposed to having to travel off-campus to the nearby Episcopal Cathedral of the Incarnation.