I enjoy visiting Presidential homes.  Visiting a Presidents home lets you go back in time and a get a personal glimpse of the person.  Several of these homes have been preserved as National Historic Sites.  So far, I’ve been to nine Presidential homes.

Theodore Roosevelt’s home on Long Island, called Sagamore Hill, has been on my bucket list for some time.  The home is located in Oyster Bay, NY.  It’s somewhat awkward to get to.  It’s located about 40 miles from New York City.  You can get to it from there if you’re willing to drive through the highway jungle that is NYC, the Bronx, Queens, and then onto the LIE (Long Island Expressway).

I decided on a more adventurous route and approached it from the other end of Long Island.  We took the Cross Sound Ferry from New London over to Orient Point, which is at the far eastern end of Long Island.  We drove part way down the north side of the island and used Wildwood State Park as our overnight base.  From Wildwood, it was a pleasant 54 mile drive to get to Oyster Bay.

Some History of the Home

Oyster Bay was a summer gathering place for one of the Roosevelt clans.  Theodore Roosevelt’s uncle owned land in Oyster Bay and it was a place his family often visited.  In 1880, Roosevelt bought 155 acres adjacent to his uncles property for the purpose of building a home.  He was just 22 years old and had recently married his first wife, Alice Lee.

Work on the home started in 1884.  He hired an architect to build a rambling three-story shingle style Queen Ann home.. He planned to call it Leeholm in honor of his wife.  When it was complete, Roosevelt and his wife Alice would make it their home.

Before that happened, tragedy struck in February 1884.  Alice, who was only 22 years old, died on February 14th, two days after giving birth to their first child.  Roosevelt’s mother also died that same day.  The grief-stricken Roosevelt asked his sister to raise his daughter.  He then fled to North Dakota to seek solitude and grieve.  He was just 26.

The home at Oyster Bay was not competed until 1886. Upon his return to New York in 1886, Roosevelt rekindled a relationship with child hood friend and Manhattan neighbor Edith Kermit Carow.  The two were married in 1887 and moved into the completed home at Oyster Bay.  This house would be Roosevelt’s home until he died in 1919.  Three of their children were born at Sagamore Hill.  Edith lived there until her death in 1948.

Some Interesting Facts

I learned some interesting facts during my visit and tour of Sagamore Hill.

• Roosevelt called the home Sagamore Hill naming it after Sagamore Mohannis, a local Algonquin chief who had signed away his tribes rights to the land where the house sits.
• The property was a working farm and they grew most of their own food.  There was no electricity to the home until the early 1900’s.  There was no telephone until 1902.
• Edith ran the home and the farm.  She conducted all the business of the farm, planned the meals, and paid the staff.  There was a farm staff of 6-10 workers and a house staff of 6-8 woman.  Most of the house staff were single young Irish woman who lived on the third floor of the home.
• Roosevelt was a writer throughout his life.  He wrote 45 books.  There are over 8,500 books on the shelves in Sagamore Hill.
• The house is decorated with numerous animal parts.  Roosevelt was a prodigious hunter.  There are several mounted heads, animal skins, and elephant tusks on display in the rooms.  Unique items include a rhinoceros horn, a rhino foot ink well, and an elephant foot waste basket.
• The negotiations for the Russo-Japanese treaty of 1905 were conducted at Sagamore Hill. This treaty ended the Russo-Japanese war.  The treaty was signed in Portsmouth, NH.  Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to establish the treaty.
• Sagamore Hill was used as the Summer White House during Roosevelt’s presidency (1901-1909).
• Roosevelt died at Sagamore Hill in January 1919.  During his trip to the Amazon in 1914, he had contracted several illnesses, which included fevers and inflammatory rheumatism, that plagued him during his later years.  He has been hospitalized in Oyster Bay during December 1918.  But, he was released so he could be with his family over Christmas.. He appeared to be doing well while at home, but died in his sleep on January 6, 1919.  He was 60 years old.
• Edith lived at Sagamore Hill in her death in 1948.  The home was run as a private museum for some time.  In 1962, the national park service took it over and Congress designated it a National Historic Site.

Sagamore Hill Today

Sagamore Hill is a beautiful place to visit.  The Oyster Bay area is quaint and secluded with narrow winding roads.  The home is set of the crest of a hill with green open fields surrounding it.  The grounds are free to tour and there is ample parking for cars, buses, and RVs.  It is not a heavily visited site. About 80,000 people visit Sagamore Hill each year.

There is a visitor center on site as well as a small museum in what was once Theodore Roosevelt Jr’s home.  You can view the inside of the house by taking a scheduled guided tour.. Tours of the house are run Wednesday through Sunday.  They take approximately 90 mins and go into great detail about Roosevelt’s life.  The tour cost $10 per person, but are free with a National Parks Pass.

There is no photography or video allowed inside the house.  Here’s a video I made of the grounds of the Sagamore Hill NHS.

Sagamore Hill is a great place to visit.  It is a very impressive home that conveys the character and stature of the man who lived there.  Theodore Roosevelt still ranks as one of our most popular Presidents.  I knew some of his Presidential achievements but not much about his personal life prior to my visit.  The park service volunteer who gave our tour did an excellent job telling the story that is Theodore Roosevelt.

Roosevelt and his wife Edith are buried in Youngs Memorial Cemetery in Oyster Bay.  The cemetery is about 1.5 miles from Sagamore Hill.  The cemetery was established in the 1600’s and is a local cemetery for the early residents of Oyster Bay.

If you’re willing to brave the driving experience to get there, Sagamore Hill is a worthwhile place to visit.