A look at the Chandler Estate, once a popular haunt for Marilyn Monroe, other celebrities
From left, County Legis. Sarah Anker, Mount Sinai Civic Association president Ann Becker and Brookhaven Town Historian Barbara Russell at the trail at Mount Sinai United Church of Christ on Friday. Credit: John Roca
Legends and myths abound at the Chandler Estate in Mount Sinai.
The 40-acre property once was a farm, a summer camp and later a resort that catered to Broadway and Hollywood stars.
Local lore is filled with stories about the time Marilyn Monroe visited with future husband Arthur Miller. The estate also was at the center of a 2001 bid-rigging scandal that led to the resignation of a Suffolk County real estate director.
But for a place that is so prominent in the community, there is much that remains unknown about the estate, which today is a county park with walking trails. On Friday, local officials and volunteers launched an effort to find the missing pieces in the Chandler puzzle, with plans to research the estate's history and consider future uses of the county-owned property.
The heavily wooded park once included a main house and was dotted with summer bungalows. They're all gone.
The site is open to the public, but it's hard to find: Like something out a Mark Twain tale, the only way in is through the adjacent Mount Sinai United Church of Christ cemetery.
Little is known about the Chandler family, who owned the property for about five decades.
Pictures of the main house. which was destroyed by a 2004 fire, are rare to the point of being nonexistent.
“There’s a little bit of a mystery,” Brookhaven Town Historian Barbara Russell said recently.
County Legis. Sarah Anker (D-Mount Sinai) on Friday met at the church with a dozen residents and local historians to start gathering more information about the property's history. There are no plans to develop the park beyond the trails already there, she said.
She said now is the time to research the property while there still are people around who remember it in its heyday.
“I’ve heard stories, but they’ve never been documented,” Anker said.
“If we don’t gather the information now, we will lose it forever.”
Ann Becker, president of the Mount Sinai Civic Association, who took part in Friday's gathering, said residents think something more could be done with the site to honor its legacy.
“We’re just sort of in the process of gathering information and trying to figure out what makes the most sense,” Becker said.
Some things about the estate are well documented.
Ernest and Elizabeth Chandler, who lived in Greenwich Village and were in the canvas manufacturing trade, bought the property overlooking Mount Sinai Harbor as a summer getaway around World War II.
The Chandlers built a small theater and cottages that were rented to summer vacationers and other visitors.
“There were little cabins," said Mount Sinai resident Edna Davis, 76, who remembers meeting some of the children who stayed there with their families. "One of the airlines from Europe rented the house for their staff who had to spend a night overnight. They stayed there and went swimming and had parties.”
But that didn't cause nearly as much of a stir as when a certain movie star came to town.
Around 1955, Monroe and Miller came to Mount Sinai to visit their friend Norman Rosten, a poet, novelist and playwright who was staying at the estate with his wife, Hedda.
Photographer Eve Arnold had Monroe pose for photos there, Becker said. And the star attracted a crowd when she went swimming at nearby Cedar Beach.
“She was mobbed by people and someone had to pick her up in a boat because she couldn’t get back to shore,” Becker, 66, said.
Davis said her older brother couldn't resist getting an up-close look at the screen icon.
“My brother met her because he was dating a girl back there. He got her autograph and stole a towel from her,” Davis said. “He was going to charge a dollar for anybody who wanted to look at her signature.”
Her family used the towel for years afterward “until it was a rag,” she said.
After Elizabeth Chandler died in 1995, the house sat vacant. She had been predeceased by her husband. Anker said the empty buildings may have contributed to speculation that the site was haunted, hence its nickname: Satan's Trail.
“It was the perfect scene for a scary, spooky place,” Anker said. “You’ve got a lot of owls and you’ve got a lot of wildlife … it has a unique energy about it.”
Developer Robert Toussie acquired the site after Chandler died and proposed a housing development, which was rejected when neighbors objected.
Suffolk and Brookhaven Town agreed to buy the site for a combined $5 million in 2000, but after a 2001 Newsday investigation found the purchase price was double what appraisers had said was the land's market value, the county real estate chief resigned and reforms were implemented.
The 2004 fire destroyed one of the last remaining buildings on the property.
Anker said she hopes to unearth more information about the estate and locate people who can help piece the tale together. Amid many questions, she said, the estate should be allowed to tell its own story.
“It’s always important to preserve those stories," she said. "It’s living stories, it’s a living example.”
Legends and myths abound at the Chandler Estate in Mount Sinai.
The 40-acre property once was a farm, a summer camp and later a resort that catered to Broadway and Hollywood stars.
Local lore is filled with stories about the time Marilyn Monroe visited with future husband Arthur Miller. The estate also was at the center of a 2001 bid-rigging scandal that led to the resignation of a Suffolk County real estate director.
But for a place that is so prominent in the community, there is much that remains unknown about the estate, which today is a county park with walking trails. On Friday, local officials and volunteers launched an effort to find the missing pieces in the Chandler puzzle, with plans to research the estate's history and consider future uses of the county-owned property.
The Chandler Estate
- Set in Mount Sinai, it was named for the family that once owned it, and about whom very little is known.
- The 40-acre estate once was visited by Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller.
- Volunteers are launching an effort to research the estate's history and consider future uses of the property, which is owned by Suffolk County.
'A little bit of a mystery'
The heavily wooded park once included a main house and was dotted with summer bungalows. They're all gone.
The site is open to the public, but it's hard to find: Like something out a Mark Twain tale, the only way in is through the adjacent Mount Sinai United Church of Christ cemetery.
Little is known about the Chandler family, who owned the property for about five decades.
Firefighters battle flames at the main house on the 40-care Chandler Estate in Mount Sinai in 2004. Credit: Ed Betz
Pictures of the main house. which was destroyed by a 2004 fire, are rare to the point of being nonexistent.
“There’s a little bit of a mystery,” Brookhaven Town Historian Barbara Russell said recently.
County Legis. Sarah Anker (D-Mount Sinai) on Friday met at the church with a dozen residents and local historians to start gathering more information about the property's history. There are no plans to develop the park beyond the trails already there, she said.
She said now is the time to research the property while there still are people around who remember it in its heyday.
Stories have 'never been documented'
“I’ve heard stories, but they’ve never been documented,” Anker said.
“If we don’t gather the information now, we will lose it forever.”
Ann Becker, president of the Mount Sinai Civic Association, who took part in Friday's gathering, said residents think something more could be done with the site to honor its legacy.
“We’re just sort of in the process of gathering information and trying to figure out what makes the most sense,” Becker said.
Some things about the estate are well documented.
Ernest and Elizabeth Chandler, who lived in Greenwich Village and were in the canvas manufacturing trade, bought the property overlooking Mount Sinai Harbor as a summer getaway around World War II.
The Chandlers built a small theater and cottages that were rented to summer vacationers and other visitors.
“There were little cabins," said Mount Sinai resident Edna Davis, 76, who remembers meeting some of the children who stayed there with their families. "One of the airlines from Europe rented the house for their staff who had to spend a night overnight. They stayed there and went swimming and had parties.”
When Marilyn Monroe came to town
But that didn't cause nearly as much of a stir as when a certain movie star came to town.
Around 1955, Monroe and Miller came to Mount Sinai to visit their friend Norman Rosten, a poet, novelist and playwright who was staying at the estate with his wife, Hedda.
Photographer Eve Arnold had Monroe pose for photos there, Becker said. And the star attracted a crowd when she went swimming at nearby Cedar Beach.
“She was mobbed by people and someone had to pick her up in a boat because she couldn’t get back to shore,” Becker, 66, said.
Davis said her older brother couldn't resist getting an up-close look at the screen icon.
“My brother met her because he was dating a girl back there. He got her autograph and stole a towel from her,” Davis said. “He was going to charge a dollar for anybody who wanted to look at her signature.”
Her family used the towel for years afterward “until it was a rag,” she said.
The heavily wooded park is open to the public, but the only way in is through the adjacent Mount Sinai United Church of Christ cemetery. Credit: John Roca
'A scary, spooky place'
After Elizabeth Chandler died in 1995, the house sat vacant. She had been predeceased by her husband. Anker said the empty buildings may have contributed to speculation that the site was haunted, hence its nickname: Satan's Trail.
“It was the perfect scene for a scary, spooky place,” Anker said. “You’ve got a lot of owls and you’ve got a lot of wildlife … it has a unique energy about it.”
Center of a land scandal
Developer Robert Toussie acquired the site after Chandler died and proposed a housing development, which was rejected when neighbors objected.
The 2004 fire at the Chandler Estate as it was covered in the pages of Newsday. Credit: Newsday
Suffolk and Brookhaven Town agreed to buy the site for a combined $5 million in 2000, but after a 2001 Newsday investigation found the purchase price was double what appraisers had said was the land's market value, the county real estate chief resigned and reforms were implemented.
The 2004 fire destroyed one of the last remaining buildings on the property.
Anker said she hopes to unearth more information about the estate and locate people who can help piece the tale together. Amid many questions, she said, the estate should be allowed to tell its own story.
“It’s always important to preserve those stories," she said. "It’s living stories, it’s a living example.”
Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.
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