Estate (house)

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For other uses, see Estate.

An estate comprises the houses and outbuildings and supporting farmland and woods that surround the gardens and grounds of a very large property, such as a country house or mansion. It is an "estate" because the profits from its produce and rents are sufficient to support the household in the house at its center. Thus "the estate" may refer to all other cottages and villages in the same ownership as the mansion itself. An example of such an estate is Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire, England.

The "park" is specifically the inner part of an estate that is enclosed by walling, hedges or fencing.

"Estate", with its "stately" connotations, has been a natural candidate for inflationary usage during the 20th century, much as the "landscaping" that can be effected in a front or back yard.

Common usage in the United Kingdom sometimes applies the term in a humorous fashion to the land attached to any property, such as a back garden.

In the US, Long Island and other affluent East Coast enclaves had strong traditions of large agricultural estates rivaling those of Europe; however after the 1940s many were lost and today large houses on a few acres are commonly referred to as "estates".

Some traditional American estates:

Meadowfarm, East Islip, New York - Estate of H.B. Hollins (demolished)
Westbrook, Great River, New York - Estate of Wm. Bayard Cutting
Coe Hall, Oyster Bay, New York - Estate of W.R. Coe
Indian Neck Hall, Oakdale, New York - Estate of F.G. Bourne
Inisfada,Manhasset, New York - Estate of Nicholas Brady
Idle Hour, Oakdale, New York - Estate of Wm. K. Vanderbilt
Oheka Castle, Cold Spring Harbor, New York - Estate of O.H. Kahn

Estate (house)

See also