The Lindens

Max and Julius were the two sons of Charles Fleischmann, a Jewish distiller who emigrated from Austria-Hungary to Cincinnati in 1866 but was so disappointed by the poor quality of the bread he found there that he began manufacturing yeast. The commercial methods applied by the Fleischmann family to the production of yeast revolutionized baking and the way we mass produce and consume bread today. The by-product was used to create alcohol from which they made gin and while the Fleischmann Yeast Company became the world's largest producer of yeast, it was also the worlds's second largest producer of vinegar. When Julius died in 1925 he was worth $60-million and when Max died without children in 1951 he put his separate $75-million fortune into the Max Fleischmann Foundation for, "the well-doing and well-being of mankind".

Gatsby, the "Gentleman Bootlegger"

Considering that gin made up a large part of their income, it is not surprising to learn that the Fleischmanns - including their sister who built her own speakeasy at The Chimneys - were among the country's most outspoken opponents of Prohibition. Not only that, but they also continued to make alcohol illegally and were often mixed up in various charges which their millions allowed them to brush off with comparative ease.

F. Scott Fitzgerald drew on several characters including himself when he conjured up his most famous literary creation, Gatsby, but it may surprise a few that Max Fleischmann was among them. The Fitzgeralds moved to the area in 1922 when his wife wrote, "I have unearthed some of the choicest bootleggers"; and, in a play by his great friend, Bunny Wilson - with whom he had already discussed his plan for The Great Gatsby - a character who bares a strong resemblance to Fitzgerald describes the protagonist for his new novel: "He's a gentleman bootlegger; his name is Max Fleischman. He lives like a millionaire".

Dolly and the Prince - "A Sportsman Never Would"

If Max lived like a millionaire, Julius lived like a multi-millionaire. Having already indulged in horse racing (he kept a stud farm of 30-thoroughbreds in Kentucky) and sailing his 138-foot yacht Hiawatha, in 1922 he laid out a polo field at The Lindens with a stable complex for 24-polo ponies next to the kennels that housed a pack of 50-pedigree Sealyham Terriers. In the following year (1923), a well-known playboy by the name of Jay O'Brien was among those who Julius invited up to The Lindens for a polo tournament. But, it wasn't the ball on which O'Brien became fixated, it was his host's wife.

Dolly was twenty years younger than her husband, and Julius fell for her hook, line, and sinker. They married in 1920 just two days after he divorced his first wife of 23-years and the mother to his three children. Dolly was said to have cost him a million dollars a year, but Julius couldn't care less, to him she was, "the most beautiful woman I ever met". Unfortunately, for her, his bald head, broad stomach, and short, unsteady legs didn't evoke quite the same appeal. By the end of 1923, O'Brien's affair with Dolly wasn't just common knowledge on the North Shore, it had spilled over into the gossip rags.

The final straw for the business-minded bigwig was when he discovered that O'Brien had persuaded his wife to give him $20,000 so that he could 'invest it for her' on Wall Street. What her looks had made up for over those few short years were now laid bare. The divorce cost Julius $5-million, but he seemed eager to put the embarrassment behind him. Shortly before Dolly and O'Brien tied the knot in Paris the following October (1924), Julius was back at The Lindens with the Prince of Wales who he was hosting along with all the other English polo players who'd come over for the international matches. Mrs Fleischmann's absence was never questioned - "a sportsman never would".

Broken up by Brokaw

At the end of 1924, George T. Brokaw paid $250,000 for the "Julius Fleischmann estate". He had apparently intended to make the house his summer home but clearly had a rapid change of heart. In 1926, he sold the lion's share of the estate which included its 9-hole golf course and polo field to Julius Fleischmann's nephews, Carl and Jay Holmes, who promptly flipped it on for a handsome profit to a New York-based syndicate who wanted the land for the new Sands Point Club. At the same time, Brokaw sold the house itself with 6-acres to Mrs Moses Schwartz - the mother of one of the syndicate members.

Sands Point Golf Club

The syndicate behind the Sands Point Club included W. Averell Harriman; Thomas Hitchcock Jr.; Herbert Bayard Swope; Robert Lehman; A. Charles Schwartz; and, other local estate owners. They doubled the size of the existing 9-hole golf course and maintained the polo field, renaming it Fleischmann's Field in honor of Julius who - although he wasn't very good at it - adored polo but ironically dropped dead of a heart attack after a game in Miami in 1925. The syndicate completed their purchase of the estate from the Holmes brothers in 1945 when the club was reported to contain, "tennis courts, clubhouse with locker rooms and restaurant, large stable, cottage for club members, cottage for employees and other improvements". A new clubhouse was built and the Sands Point Golf Club (as it is now known) is still going as strong as ever today.

Perfectly Tilt for a Vanderbilt

In the meantime, the 23-room house itself was left with 6-acres and outbuildings that included a large garage, cottages for the chauffeur and superintendent, a bath-house and tennis court. Jennie Schwartz died here in 1935 and three years later (1938), The Lindens was purchased by Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, Jr., which suited him down to a tee, adjoining not only the estate of his brother George, but also that of their mother's, Cedar Knoll. Vanderbilt bought (and improved) the property as a home for his first wife, Manuela. But, after he was remarried in 1945 (three years after their divorce), he sold up and moved to Brookville in the same year that his brother sold his estate to Henry Lustig.

"Glitter Sneakers and Spandex... Pearls before Swine"

If the early history of The Lindens is 'complicated' then its latter history might well be termed as 'elusive'. Who lived here after the Vanderbilts is not clear, but certainly by the 1970s and 80s, the owners preferred to lease the house rather than live here themselves, and it had clearly come on to the radar of someone in the music industry.

In 1973, music's most famous albino rocker, Edgar Winter, paid $30,000 a year to lease the, "13-bedroom white clapboard mansion... overlooking Long Island Sound". Edgar was then at the top of his fame and he was quoted as saying, "this is a pretty nice time. I guess I must be doing something right". He lived here not only with his wife, but all of the Edgar Winter Band too. In his memoirs, Twentieth-Century Boy, artist Duncan Hannah recalled a visit: "When the front door opened, I could see straight through to the back, the sunset over the Sound. Gatsby! Yet inside the mansion was a rock band, dressed in their glitter sneakers and spandex, playing pinball machines and watching crap TV. Oblivious to their surroundings. Pearls before swine, I thought to myself".

The Rolling Stones

The Edgar Winter Band broke up just three years later in 1976 when the lease was taken over by the former Rolling Stones guitarist, Mick Taylor. By 1983, Taylor had moved to more modest surroundings and the lease was picked up by one of the Rolling Stones' companies. In an attempt, "to try and provide some stability" while his longtime ex-girlfriend, Anita Pallenberg, was coming off heroin, Keith Richards gave her the house and she lived here with their son and daughter, Marlon and Angela.

Don't Be a Stranger, Shine a Light...

How long Anita lived here isn't clear, nor is it clear who - if anyone - renewed the lease or bought the house. But, it still stands and remains a well-maintained private home. If you can help fill in any of the gaps to this storied old home, to quote two Stones' songs, "Don't be a Stranger," "Shine a Light," and please add a comment below.