From the age of the diamond stickpin and the Gibson Girl to a time of bathtub gin and flappers, along the North Shore of Long Island larger-than-life characters seemed to stride across a magical and privileged world of well-dressed men and glamorous women, sipping cocktails, smoking cigarettes in long holders, and dwelling deliciously on details of the latest scandal. Long Island in its heyday has been celebrated in literature, onstage, and onscreen; there never was, and never will be, another place quite like it. North Shore Long Island: Country Houses, 1890-1950 covers 40 of the region's most noted homes, representing the breadth and variety of architectural design and the social and sporting life that characterized the North Shore in its golden age. Drawing on 15 years of extensive research and introducing dozens of never-before-published original photographs and social records, author Paul J. Mateyunas traces the stories of the grand estates and the people who built and occupied them. Each estate covered in the book was carefully chosen; many are written about in detail for the first time. Scarce source information, much of it provided by heirs of the original estate families, clarifies incomplete or misleading information offered by other books on the subject. Each estate is illustrated with both exterior and interior views of the residence, the outbuildings for service and sport, and lushly landscaped grounds that made Long Island famous. The volume also includes a portfolio of over 40 houses, and the biographies of individual architects.