The Manor House.
A 34-room Tudor Revival masterpiece, set on 86 acres of Long Island's Gold Coast — and the historic home of our mission since 1949. Today, the Mill Neck Manor House serves as a venue for private events, film and television productions, photography shoots, public tours, and the meaningful work of Mill Neck Center for the Deaf.
An American Gold Coast estate, still beating with purpose.
In the early 1920s, when Long Island's North Shore was the most exclusive enclave in America, Lillian Sefton Dodge — the highest-paid female executive in the United States and president of the Harriet Hubbard Ayer cosmetics company — commissioned a home that would stand among the most ambitious private residences ever built on the Eastern Seaboard.
She retained the celebrated New York architectural firm Clinton & Russell, Wells, Holton & George in 1923, took her inspiration from St. Catherine's Court in Somersetshire, England, and spent more than $2 million — roughly $35 million in today's dollars — to bring it to life. The estate, completed in 1925, was named Sefton Manor.
In 1949, the Lutheran Friends of the Deaf purchased it for $216,000 — a fraction of what it had cost to build — with the intention of transforming a Gold Coast mansion into a school for Deaf children. They did. And ever since, the Manor House has carried two identities at once: a magnificent landmark of American architectural heritage, and a working home of a public mission.
A masterpiece of Tudor Revival craftsmanship.
Where every detail was made by hand.
The Manor is a two-story residence of rusticated Westchester granite blocks trimmed in limestone. Its solid oak doorway — reported to be between 400 and 500 years old — is studded with iron details and unusual hardware made by Samuel Yellin, the legendary Philadelphia ironworker whose pieces are now in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum and the Smithsonian.
Within: carved oak paneling running floor-to-ceiling, hand-wrought wrought-iron gates by Yellin, plaster ceilings molded with grapevines and roses, leaded diamond-paned windows by the Connick stained glass studios of Boston, and a great hall fit to host a coronation. The home was, in every material sense, built to last forever.
Light, color, and the work of Boston's finest.
The diamond-paned leaded windows that run across the Manor's principal rooms are the work of the Charles J. Connick studios of Boston — among the most celebrated American stained glass artisans of the early twentieth century, whose work also adorns the Princeton University Chapel and St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York.
Eight decades after their installation, they still cast the same dappled light across the floors that they did when the Dodges first walked through the home in 1925 — and now, that light falls on Deaf students, on wedding parties, on film crews, and on visitors taking in the artistry of an era that no longer exists.
Walk the Manor House from anywhere.
Take a self-guided walkthrough of every public room in the Mill Neck Manor House — captured in high-resolution Matterport 3D. Move from the Great Hall through the carved oak corridors to the formal dining room, the chapel, the staircases, and beyond. Pinch, drag, click — explore at your own pace, day or night.
Hollywood's Long Island home — since 1954.
The earliest known production at Mill Neck was in June 1954, when 20th Century Fox filmed scenes here for A Woman's World. Seven decades later, the Manor House and its nine additional buildings continue to serve as one of the most distinctive filming locations in the New York metropolitan area.
Motion Pictures
- A Woman's World (1954)
- Death Wish
- Trading Places (1983)
- After Life
- A Little Help
- Winter Dreams Great Gatsby documentary
- Freakshow
Television & Commercials
- Royal Pains
- Pan Am
- Homeland
- 7-Eleven
- Coca-Cola
- Lotto
- Mercedes Benz
- Avis
Still Photography
- Modern Bride
- Macy's
- New Jersey Bell
- Johnnie Walker Black
- Ernst & Young
- Ralph Lauren
- Newsday's Bridal Section
A one-stop shop for production companies.
In addition to the Manor House, Mill Neck Manor offers nine additional buildings across its 86-acre campus that can be used for a variety of scenes — interiors, exteriors, period pieces, and modern settings. All proceeds from filming directly support our school, services, and the preservation of this historic landmark.
An unforgettable venue for the moments that matter.
Picture yourself standing on the grand front steps of a Tudor Revival mansion, surrounded by 86 acres of lush greenery and overlooking the sparkling waters of the Long Island Sound. This is Mill Neck Manor — a prestigious venue on the North Shore of Long Island that transforms ordinary occasions into extraordinary ones.
The Manor House hosts weddings, corporate gatherings, anniversaries, fundraisers, holiday celebrations, milestone birthdays, and the kinds of intimate dinners that benefit from a setting of true grandeur. Our team partners with top caterers, florists, and event designers to deliver a singular experience.
Most importantly: every event you host at Mill Neck Manor supports our mission. Your celebration becomes a gift to the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing community.
Inquire About Your Event
Step inside an American landmark.
Since 2011, Mill Neck Manor has opened its doors to the public through guided monthly tours — an invitation for the broader Long Island community to experience the architectural and historical significance of one of the most extraordinary surviving Gold Coast estates.
Our tours move through the Great Hall, the original dining room, the John of Beverley Chapel, the carved oak corridors, and the formal gardens. Knowledgeable guides share the story of Lillian Sefton Dodge, the Tudor Revival movement, the architects, the artisans like Samuel Yellin and the Connick studios — and the ways in which the home has been continuously cared for since 1949.
Tours are held monthly. Group tours, school field trips, and historical society visits can be arranged separately upon request.
A century of stories within these walls.
Glimpses of Mill Neck Manor across the decades — from its construction in the 1920s, through the early years of the school, to the present day.
A landmark of American architectural heritage.
On July 22, 1979, the Lillian Sefton Dodge Estate was added to the United States National Register of Historic Places — formal recognition by the National Park Service of the Manor House's architectural and historical significance to the nation.
Every event. Every film. Every tour.
All proceeds from events, filming, and photography at Mill Neck Manor go directly to support Mill Neck Center for the Deaf's programs and services — and to preserve this historic Manor House and its beautiful grounds for the generations to come.