Sagamore Hill

Our location in New Jersey allowed us to leave the trailer and make the drive into New York for a few days.  First stop was Sagamore Hill, the home of Theodore Roosevelt from 1885 until his death in 1919.  It is located on the North Shore of Long Island in Cove Neck, near Oyster Bay.

Teddy Roosevelt spent many summers of his youth on extended vacations with his family in the Oyster Bay area.  In 1880, 22-year-old Roosevelt purchased 155 acres of land for $30,000 (about $925.000 today) on Cove Neck, a small peninsula roughly 2 miles northeast of Oyster Bay.  In 1881, his uncle, James Roosevelt, had an estate home built several hundred feet west of the Sagamore Hill property.

We arrived at the property several hours before our scheduled tour so we took the opportunity to visit the museum.

Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (Ted) and his wife, Eleanor Alexander Roosevelt, built the house they called "Old Orchard" in 1937-1938 on four acres of land purchased from Ted's mother in the Sagamore Hill apple orchard and about 1/4 mile north from the Roosevelt home.  The Georgian style home was designed to Ted and Eleanor Roosevelt's satisfaction by their son-in-law, Baltimore architect William G. McMillan, Jr.  Ted Jr. lived in the Old Orchard House until his death in 1944 and his wife, Eleanor, lived in the house until her death in 1960.

The house now serves as the visitor center and museum.

Before Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt left New York City for San Antonio to join the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry - better known as the Rough Riders - he ordered a custom uniform made to his exact specifications.  Unlike the nearly worthless woolen uniforms worn by the Army National Guard units sent to Cuba during the Spanish-American War, Roosevelt's uniform had no woolen components and was made of canvas.  The uniform is on display in the Museum.

The sword on the bottom was given to Roosevelt by his neighbors in Oyster Bay in September, 1898 on his return.  He was greeted at the train station by a crowd of 3,000 people.  The entire village had been decorated with flags and banners and a brass band played.  His neighbors' enthusiastic welcome reflected the popularity that he held in the public's imagination.

The Rough Riders, 1899 Roosevelt's magazine articles on the war, were so popular that they were collected and published as a book (seen on the right).  News writer Finley Peter Dunne observed that Roosevelt used "I" so often that the book should have been titled "Alone in Cuba".

It was interesting to see this - especially since our next stop was the cemetery.

Since we had plenty of time, we made the journey several miles to see the grave.  Over the last 20 years or so, we have visited every presidential gravesite except for two - and Theodore Roosevelt was one of those.  It was no coincidence that we planned this visit to New York.

We followed the route the funeral procession took on January 8, 1919.  

It's quite a hike to the burial site.

We made it!

A beautiful view of the bay from the burial site - I'm sure it's even better when the leaves have fallen.

Since we still had some time, we took a walk through the charming town of Oyster Bay.

We found a nice little spot for lunch.  I wonder if TR ever ate here?

Teddy is present everywhere in town.

And now it was time to go back to the house for our tour.

We walked up to the porch......

...to meet our guide, Bethany.  We'd met her in the museum so felt like we were old friends.

Building commenced in May, 1884 of the 22-room house and was completed the following March for $16,975 (about $575,641 today).  Roosevelt stayed in the home that summer with his sister and daughter for the hunts and moved into the house with second wife, Edith, in March, 1887.  Roosevelt had originally planned to name the house "Leeholm" after his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt.  However, she died in 1884 and Roosevelt remarried in 1886 so he decided to change the name to "Sagamore Hill".  Sagamore is the Algonquin (subfamily of the Indigenous languages of the Americas) word for chieftain, the head of the tribe.

About 90% of the items inside the home are original.  Roosevelt was an avid hunter and nearly all of the animal "trophies" were game that he hunted and brought home for display.

Right inside the front door is Roosevelt's study.  The room is filled with personal keepsakes and taxidermy.  Here TR would tend to his duties as president and wait for guests to arrive.  He was the first president to govern away from the White House for extended periods of time.

Across the hall was Edith's sanctuary.  When TR was president, he used this room to entertain visitors.

I can't even imagine having this in my sanctuary, let alone any room in my house.

In 1905, Roosevelt expanded the house adding the largest room, called the North Room, for $19,000 (about $678,000 today).  The North Room is furnished with trophies from his hunts and gifts from foreign dignitaries, alongside pieces of art and books from his collection.  The home then had 23 rooms, including a water closet with a porcelain tub, which was a luxury at the time of construction.

 

A plaque at the entrance to the North Room notes that despite its big-game trophies and animal skin rugs, the room exemplifies the spirit of Roosevelt, who was an ardent conservationist.

North Room

Notice the wastebasket at the desk of an elephant's foot.

The hat and saber Roosevelt used in his service with the Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War were hung on the antlers of an elk he took at Two Ocean Pass, Wyoming, in 1891.  

You might wonder why he put the saber and hat on the elk.  TR didn't like to bring up his service with the Rough Riders but he was only too happy to talk about it if someone asked.  So by putting these items on the antlers, visitors might be prompted to ask why they were there.

Roosevelt's taxidermist, James L. Clark, fashioned this set of chimes from elephants tusks TR took in Kenya in 1909.  The chimes were used to call the family to dinner.  Every dinner at Sagamore Hill was formal and most of the food served came from the property.

 

Theodore Roosevelt's taxidermist, James Clark, cast this bronze in 1912.  It was a gift to TR by his younger sister, Corinne.  Family lore is that Edith Roosevelt did not care for it and hung her gardening hat on the horn.  She also encouraged the Roosevelt children to post phone messages on the tick birds on the back of the rhino.

We moved on to the dining room and kitchen.

We were able to go upstairs but didn't stay long since there is no cooling system and it was hot!

This was the water closet which was considered a luxury in TR's day.

TR was renowned for his engagement in physical activities and challenges.  He exercised, led tropical expeditions, played water sports, boxed, and practiced martial arts.  His keen interest in staying fit prompted him to introduce regulations that imposed fitness requirements on sailors in the US Navy.

His pursuit of fitness did not stop when he became President.  He brought his training equipment into the White House so that he could continue his training on his downtime away from leading the country.

We didn't see any training equipment but, apparently, he kept track of his weight while he was at Sagamore Hill.

On the night of January 5, 1919, Roosevelt suffered breathing problems.  After receiving treatment from his physician, he felt better and went to bed.  Roosevelt's last words were "Please put out that light, James" to his family servant, James E. Amos.  Between 4:00 and 4:15 the next morning, Roosevelt died at the age of 60 in his sleep of a blood clot in his lungs in this bed.

After Roosevelt's death, Edith stayed in the home for 29 years until her own death.  At that time and in accordance with Edith's wishes, the entire estate was turned over to the Theodore Roosevelt Association and opened to the public.  A decade later, the National Park Service was granted the deed to the estate and determined it to be a National Historic site.