Wereholme (also known as the Scully Estate or Harold Weekes Estate)

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The mansion was designed by Grosvenor Atterbury, an acclaimed architect who completed designs for John D. Rockefeller, and completed in 1918. The property was built for Harold Weekes, a noted college football player, and his wife, Louisine Peters Weekes. The home was originally part of the larger estate of Louisine's parents, Samuel and Adaline Peters. The original Peters estate, which consisted of nearly 300 acres, was known as Windholme. The Peters divided the estate between their two children, Harry, who received approximately 230 acres, and Louisine, who received the remaining 70. The home now houses the Seatuck Environmental Association.

Images

Wereholme

Entrance turret

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

The history of the striking, turreted home known variously as Windholme, the Scully Estate, or the Harold Weekes Estate, dates to 1887. That year, Samuel and Adaline Peters purchased approximately 300 acres near Islip. They turned the property into a "gentleman's farm," but eventually divided the property between their son and daughter. Their son, Harry, got the larger portion of more than 200 acres, and Louisine, their daughter, was given the remaining 70. A street now divides the larger portion of the estate from Louisine's portion.

The home, which was inspired by a chateau Louisine saw in the Loire Valley, was completed in 1918 for her and husband, famed college football player-turned stockbroker, Harold Weekes. The home was designed by Grosvenor Atterbury, a sought-after architect who designed projects for John D. Rockefeller as well as part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Smaller than many of its Gold Coast contemporaries, the home is nonetheless striking. A three-story structure of concrete blocks, it features turrets, a hand-carved wooden fireplace, an elegant spiral staircase and bottle glass windows.

While money, success, and a beautiful estate might seem indicative of a happy marriage, the Weeke's union did not last. In 1926, just eight years after moving into their elegant home, Louisine Weekes shocked New York society and many of her friends by obtaining a divorce in the French Riviera. She quickly remarried a Russian composer, bringing a scandalous end to a society marriage.

Harold and Louisine had one child, their daughter, Hathaway "Happy" Weekes Scully. Happy was married several times but had no children, and when her mother died, she inherited the Wereholme property. WIth no heirs, she chose to bequeath the property to the National Audubon Society. The Society took over the property in 1984, when Happy Scully died, and Suffolk County bought it in 2004 and established the Suffolk County Environmental Center there. The remaining 230 acres of the original Peters estate belonged to Scully's first cousin, Natalie Peters Webster, who donated the property to the federal government, at which point it became the Seatuck National Wildlife Refuge. The Suffolk County Environmental Center currently operates out of the Wereholme mansion, which has undergone extensive renovations. There are few original pieces of furniture or decor remaining in the home, but the structure itself remains largely as it was when it was completed in 1918.

Sources

La Gorce, Tammy . Nature is All Around but an Ornate House is a Draw in Islip, New York Times. April 26th 2014. Accessed May 16th 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/27/nyregion/nature-is-all-around-but-an-ornate-house-is-a-draw-in-islip.html.

Merritt, Jim . Touring the Scully Estate in Islip, Newsday . June 10th 2012. Accessed May 16th 2021. https://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/recreation/touring-the-scully-estate-in-islip-1.3770706.

Naylor, Natalie . Long Island Women Preserving Nature and the Environment, Long Island History Journal . Accessed May 16th 2021. https://lihj.cc.stonybrook.edu/2016/articles/long-island-women-preserving-nature-and-the-environment/.