New York's Long Island Fairytale Village Offers Luxurious Vibes With A Castle And Scenic Preserve

If you're looking for a New York trip that feels like stepping into the pages of a Gilded Age novel, you should look to a village on Long Island's North Shore called Sands Point. This is the real-life inspiration for "East Egg" in The Great Gatsby (not the Broadway show where you can use a sneaky trick to get the best price on tickets ). When you drive through its roads, you will see large waterfront estates and quiet, tree-lined streets that maintain an opulent feel from the early 20th century. You'll find the community is known for its grand real estate, with your main point of interest likely being the Sands Point Preserve, a 200-acre park (216 to be exact) on the former Guggenheim Estate that is open to the public. The preserve contains multiple historic mansions, including the medieval-style Castle Gould. You'll notice the village itself is only residential, a quality that preserves its tranquility, similar to New York's laid-back Long Island hamlet of Kings Park.

Even with its low-key and secluded feeling, you're 30 miles from Manhattan. When you're flying into the area, New York's LaGuardia Airport (LGA) is the closest major airport, about 20 miles away, which is about a 40-minute drive. Other nearby airports include John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR). You won't find any train stations right inside the village, but your nearest stop is the Port Washington station, which is the final stop on the Long Island Rail Road's Port Washington branch. The station is a five-minute drive from the preserve, and your train trip from New York Penn Station to Port Washington takes between 50 minutes and an hour.

The exclusivity of Sands Point is maintained through its history and its local laws. The village has a policy of being a strictly residential community, with no commercial businesses (stores, gas stations, or bodegas) permitted within its limits. This is enforced by the village's zoning code, which mandates large properties to preserve a low-density environment. This coding creates the estate-like appearance of the properties. The history of the area is rooted in the Gilded Age, when wealthy industrialists like the Gould and Guggenheim families built huge summer homes there.

Your first stop will likely be the most prominent of these stunners, Castle Gould. Financier Howard Gould began its construction right at the beginning of the 1900s, and it was completed in 1904. The large building was designed by Augustus N. Allen and was modeled after Kilkenny Castle, which is one of the best places to visit in Ireland. It was built to be the main home for Gould and his wife, Katherine Clemmons, but it was not really her jam. Nowadays, it houses the preserve's Welcome Center and event spaces.

The Sands Family Cemetery, which was established around 1704 and is on the National Register of Historic Places, is another stop you might want to add to the itinerary. You can find a small African-American Cemetery used in the early to mid-1800s in the area of what is now the Village Club. Your visit might line up with one of the events that lean into the area's storybook quality, like the annual Long Island Fairy Festival. You can join in on a walk to see fairy houses built by the community, maypole dancing, and magic shows.

The grounds of the Sands Point Preserve have beautiful lawns and gardens, like the Great Lawn. It has formal gardens with native plants and fountains, a freshwater pond, and a mile-long beach with cliffs that look out over the Long Island Sound. The preserve also has a network of trails that are generally shorter — between 0.5 and 1 mile long. These easier walks are nice to stroll through the woods, fields, and around the pond. If you want a longer route, you can take the Sands Point Park and Preserve Loop, a 1.86-mile path that goes around the mansions and through forests, as well as along the coast.

The preserve also keeps a healthy environment for a variety of wildlife you might see during your visit. The North Shore Audubon Society considers it a prime birding spot to see the Juvenile Bald Eagle, Cedar Waxwing, and Wood Ducks. If you spend time near the pond, you may see Red-Eared Slider Turtles and bullfrogs, as well as deer, foxes, and coyotes in the area.

Since the zoning codes don't allow businesses, you won't find any hotels or restaurants inside Sands Point. Over in Port Washington and Glen Cove, there are places like The Mansion at Glen Cove and The Roslyn, Tapestry Collection by Hilton. After a day of exploring the Sands Point grounds, Port Washington has a couple of foodie spots like Louie's Prime Steak & Seafood and Nino's Beach. For coffee and quick bites, you can stop at Fora Cafe or For Five Coffee, both in Port Washington.