Mill Neck's 'The Chimneys' hits the market for $20 million

A historic waterfront home in Mill Neck owned by the family of one of New York’s biggest real estate tycoons has gone on the market for $20 million.

The 1928 house, known as The Chimneys, was designed by Hart & Shape. The New York architectural firm also designed Hillwood, the Tudor mansion at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University.

The 17-room home is on Mill Neck Creek.

There are seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms and three half-baths at the house, as well as a 38-foot grand salon and a wine cellar. The 24-acre compound also has a carriage house, two garages (one for 10 cars and one for five cars), a three-bedroom guest cottage, a six-stall stable, a tennis court and a greenhouse.

That greenhouse inspired author Amy Goldman, one of the owners, to garden. In fact, her book “The Heirloom Tomato: From Garden to Table: Recipes, Portraits, and History of the World's Most Beautiful Fruit” (Bloomsbury USA, $35) talks about the greenhouse and the gardens she first grew there.

“It was a place we loved for 40 years and where we had the times of our life,” says Goldman, who often appears on TV's "Martha Stewart Living" and "The Victory Garden.” “It’s a very special place. I hope it goes to a family who will appreciate it.”

Goldman owns the house with her siblings through a corporation. Their father, the late Sol Goldman, was once described by Dottie Herman, Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate president and chief executive officer, as a real estate “icon.” He owned many New York buildings at one point or another, including the Chrysler Building, and was considered one of the city’s largest landlords. His wife, Lillian, was a philanthropist who helped build the library at Yale University Law School.

“Mother decorated it over the years with TLC,” says Amy Goldman. “It’s really in beautiful condition.”

The house is listed with Bonnie Devendorf at Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty.

Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty photo