ABOUT YOUR VISIT: is at the "There could be no healthier and pleasanter THE HOUSE ON COVE NECK: When Roo­ end of Cove Neck Road, Oyster Bay, Long place in which to bring up children than in sevelt was 15, his father established the Island, N.Y., and can be reached by the Long that nook of old-time America around Sag­ family's summer residence at Oyster Bay, Island Railroad from City's Penn­ amore Hill. Certainly I never knew small and the boy spent his vacations exploring sylvania Station at Seventh Ave. and 33d St. people to have a better time or a better the fields and woodlands on Cove Neck. Taxis meet all trains. If you choose to training for their work in afterlife than . . . Three years after graduating from Harvard, travel by car, the easiest route is over the at Sagamore Hill." young Roosevelt purchased the hill on Expressway to exit 41 (N.Y. 106 Cove Neck where his home now stands. A north). This road leads directly to Oyster Sagamore Hill was built by Theodore Roo­ barn was the only building on the tree- Bay. Upon arriving, turn right at the third sevelt during 1884 and 1885 and remained barren hill. For this property he paid traffic light and follow the signs to Sagamore his permanent home the rest of his life. $10,000 in cash and assumed a 20-year Hill. Please check with the park staff for days After its completion, the young Roosevelt mortgage for the $20,000 balance. The and hours of operation. The rights of prop­ moved in with his sister, Anna, and his total area of the property was 63 hectares erty owners around Sagamore Hill must be daughter, Alice. His first wife, Alice Lee, (155 acres), of which he kept 38 (95), respected; please do not climb fences or had died only hours after their daughter selling the rest to relatives. walk beyond the site boundaries. was born. In December 1886 Roosevelt married Edith Kermit Carow, a childhood The New York architectural firm of Lamb A WORD ON SAFETY: Poison ivy is common friend. The following spring they arrived at and Rich drew up the plans for the home, in the area; please keep to the established Sagamore Hill, and here, except for ab­ but before the final agreement for its con­ paths and walkways. Pets running loose are sences imposed by his public career, the struction was signed, Theodore's wife and bothersome to everyone; carry or keep your (D Roosevelts spent the rest of their lives. mother died on the same day in their New pet leashed. Heat exhaustion is not uncom­ Here were born three of their five children: York City home. Determined to have a suit­ mon in the summer, so please judge your Theodore, Jr., Kermit, and Ethel. Here to able home for his infant daughter, Roose­ limits. Many park fences are historic and the "Summer " came national velt contracted with John A. Wood & Son of their age makes them unsafe for climbing. and international figures from every walk of Lawrence, Long Island, to build for $16,975 First aid is available at all buildings. life. Here on January 6, 1919, Theodore the house that was to become known as O Roosevelt died peacefully in his sleep at Sagamore Hill. the age of 60; and here Edith Roosevelt The National Park Service is introducing metric measure­ ments in its publications to help Americans become lived until her death in 1948 at the age of 87. Roosevelt had originally planned to name acquainted with the metric system and to make interpreta­ the property "Leeholm," for his first wife. tion more meaningful for park visitors from other nations. "I had perfectly definite views what I wished But within two years he had begun seeing

SAGAMORE HILL NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE in inside matters, what I desired to live in Edith Kermit Carow. He soon called the es­ The park, which is located in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New E and with; I arranged all this, so as to get tate "Sagamore Hill ... from the old Saga­ York, is administered by the National Park Service, U.S. what I desired in so far as my money per­ more Mohannis, who as Chief of his little Department of the Interior. The superintendent's address is Cove Neck Road, Box 304, Oyster Bay, NY 11771. mitted; [the architects] put on the outside tribe, signed away his rights to the land." cover with but little help from me. I wished As the Nation's principal conservation agency, the Depart­ a big piazza . . . where we could sit in rock­ "After all, fond as I am of the White House CD 03 ment of the Interior has responsibility for most of our nationally owned public lands and natural resources. This ing chairs and look at the sunset; a library and much though I have appreciated these includes fostering the wisest use of our land and water with a shallow bay window looking south, resources, protecting our fish and wildlife, preserving the years in it, there isn't any place in the world environmental and cultural values of our national parks and the parlor or drawing room occupying all like home—like Sagamore Hill, where things historical places, and providing for the enjoyment of life the western end of the lower floor... big are our own, with our own associations " through outdoor recreation. The Department assesses our energy and mineral resources and works to assure that fireplaces for logs. ... I had to live inside I their development is in the best interests of all our people. 03 and not outside the house, and while I The Department also has a major responsibility for Ameri­ 6 can Indian reservation communities and for people who should have liked to express myself in 9 live in Island Territories under U.S. administration. both, as I had to choose, I chose the National Park Service (0 former." U.S. Department of the Interior HOME OF A GREAT AMERICAN FAMILY: they tramped, they boated, they coasted THE HOUSE AND ITS FURNISHINGS: items used and loved by the family. On every For more than 30 years Sagamore Hill was and skated in winter, they were intimate Sagamore Hill is a rambling, solidly built, hand are crowded bookshelves, the contents one of the most conspicuous homes in friends with the cows, chickens, pigs, and 23-room Victorian structure of frame and revealing the wide range of Roosevelt's in­ America, talked about in crossroad stores other livestock. . . ." brick. Today it is little changed from that terests. Indeed, many were from his own hand. and lonely farm kitchens, at church socials time, a half-century ago, when it was the and family dinners, on city street corners HOME OF A GREAT AMERICAN: In 1889, home of a distinguished American and On the south and west sides of the house is and beside roundup fires on far-flung West­ after a short two years of writing and play­ his family. On the first floor are a large the spacious piazza from which Roosevelt ern ranches. People talked about a man ing host to scores of visitors attracted to center hall, the library that served as looked out over Oyster Bay Harbor and Long never too busy being President to be a the young squire of Sagamore Hill, Roose­ T.R.'s private office, the dining room, Mrs. Island Sound. On the grounds are land­ devoted father to his four boys and two girls, velt was named a member of the U.S. Civil Roosevelt's drawing room, the kitchen, and scaped gardens and, nearby, the Old Or­ and a boon companion to countless friends. Service Commission, the first major step in the spacious north room, added in 1905. This chard Museum, formerly Gen. Theodore a life of distinguished public service. room was designed by Roosevelt's friend, Roosevelt, Jr.'s, home, containing displays "At Sagamore Hill we love a great many Through his career—as President of the C. Grant LaFarge, son of the artist John relating to the "Conservation President" and things—birds and trees, and books, and all Police Commission of the City of New York, LaFarge. The 9- by 12-meter (30- by 40-foot) his family. things beautiful, and horses and rifles, and Assistant Secretary of the Navy, lieutenant room is built of Philippine and American children and hard work and the joy of life." colonel of the famed , Gover­ woods: mahogany, black walnut, swamp In 1950, two years after the death of Mrs. nor of New York, Vice President, and Chief cypress, and hazel. Filled with hunting Roosevelt, Sagamore Hill, its contents, and The doings of the Roosevelts and their kin Executive—Sagamore Hill was the house trophies, books, paintings, flags, and furni­ 34 hectares (83 acres) of land were pur­ filled reams of copy filed by correspondents to which he always returned. It was on the ture, the North Room vividly reflects the chased by the Associa­ who maintained a vigil at the "Summer White wide piazza of Sagamore Hill that Roosevelt spirit of Theodore Roosevelt. tion, a nonprofit corporation founded in 1919 House." The President himself was an ardent was formally notified of his nomination as to recall "to the American people Mr. Roose­ advocate of the "strenuous life," and he in 1898, as Vice The second floor contains the family bed­ velt's personality and achievements, and the could frequently be seen joining the children President in 1900, and as President in 1904. North Room rooms, the nursery, guest rooms, and the ideals of individual and national life that he in their games and taking the boys for a hike room with the great porcelain bathtub. preached and practiced." In 1963 the asso­ or swim, chopping wood, riding horseback, Not only was Sagamore Hill the center of Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., once recalled that ciation presented Sagamore Hill, along with or striding across the fields and through the the day-to-day administration of the coun­ the tub's wastepipe made "the most aston­ Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace in New York woods he loved. Occasionally there would try's affairs during the summers from 1901 ishing series of gurgles" when the water ran City and a $500,000 endowment, to the be a mournful procession of children, led by to 1909, but it had an abundance of drama­ out. "We were told by our Irish nurse that American people as a gift. President and Mrs. Roosevelt, to the small tic events of national and international im­ these were the outcries of the 'faucet lady' animal cemetery to lay away a family pet. portance. One occurred on the August day and we watched with care to see if we could OLD ORCHARD MUSEUM: This Georgian in 1905 when Roosevelt separately met the catch a glimpse of her head in the pipe." home was built in 1938 as the home of Gen. "Speaking from the somewhat detached envoys of warring Russia and Japan in the Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. After his death and point of view of the masculine parent, library at Sagamore Hill, and then brought The Gun Room, housing Roosevelt's collec­ that of his wife in 1960, the house was in­ I should say there was just the proper mix­ them face-to-face to inaugurate the confer­ tion of hunting arms, is on the top floor. cluded in the 1963 gift of the Theodore ture of freedom and control in the manage­ ence that resulted in the Treaty of Ports­ Here, too, he sometimes went to write or to Roosevelt Association. Opened to the public ment of the children. They were never mouth, N.H., on September 5, 1905, ending entertain his friends, away from the bustle of in 1966, the museum today includes exhibits allowed to be disobedient or to shirk les­ the conflict. the household. Other rooms include quarters relating to Theodore Roosevelt's political sons or work; and they were encouraged to for maids and a cook, a sewing room, a career, family life at Sagamore Hill, and to have all the fun possible. They often went school room where some of the children the lives of his six children. Film programs barefoot, especially during the many hours were tutored, and Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.'s, are presented on a regular schedule all year. In 1903 the entire posed passed in various enthralling pursuits along for the camera at Sagamore Hill. From bedroom as it was in his precollege days. and in the waters of the bay. They swam, left to right they are: Quentin, age 5; Theodore, 44; Theodore, Jr., 15; Archie, 9; Alice, 19; Kermit. 13; Edith, 41; and Furnishings throughout the house are orig­ Ethel, 11. inal Roosevelt pieces. In every room are

Roosevelt in 1916