Mansion that inspired "The Great Gatsby" to be razed

Rising taxes and maintenance costs supposedly made the Gold Coast estate too expensive to preserve

Published March 9, 2011 12:52PM (EST)

A 25-room mansion some scholars believe inspired "The Great Gatsby" is to be razed for a subdivision.

Randy Bond, village clerk in Sands Point on New York's Long Island, says it will be replaced by five houses priced at $10 million each. The location faces the Long Island Sound.

Some F. Scott Fitzgerald experts believe the author used the sprawling 1902 property as a model for the home of character Daisy Buchanan, though the current owner believes the mansion's "Gatsby" link has been overstated.

David Brodsky says his family bought it in 2004, but says the house is beyond repair.

Historians tell Newsday, which reported the deal Sunday, that hundreds of the mansions have been lost in the past 50 years because of rising taxes and maintenance costs.


By Associated Press

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