Oakdale campus of long-closed Dowling College up for sale
The Vanderbilt mansion, part of the Idle Hour estate at the former Dowling College campus, all of which can be had, for a hefty price. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
The roughly 25-acre Idle Hour estate in Oakdale, reborn in the late 1960s as long-shuttered Dowling College's main campus, is up for sale.
The vacant property, anchored by the 125-year-old Vanderbilt mansion, hit the market through Woodbury-based Tigar Realty.
The 45,000-square-foot, 110-room mansion includes a ballroom with “a 24-karat gold leaf ceiling” and “an oak-paneled library imported from a French chateau,” according to the listing.
Other buildings along the waterfront parcel include a conservatory, a performing arts center, a former residence hall and a trio of buildings that served educational and other purposes.
Dowling, a liberal arts college that opened in 1968 on a bank of the Connetquot River, closed a decade ago this June after declaring bankruptcy. The property was purchased in 2017 for $26.1 million by Delaware-based Mercury International, Newsday previously reported. Beijing-based China Orient Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a majority stake in Mercury in 2021 for nearly $42 million.
China Orient Asset Management Co. Ltd. "always intended to sell the property" as part of its strategy to "liquidate" Mercury's portfolio, listing agent Tim Williams told Newsday on Thursday.
While the property has already attracted "tremendous interest" from potential buyers, including schools nationwide and abroad, "there are several options," Williams said.
"It currently is zoned for residential and educational. It's perfect for potential hospitality, for health care such as a nursing facility," he added. "There's a wide variety of areas that it could be used for."
Tigar Realty is soliciting offers on the property through June 30, he said, adding that the sales price has not been listed publicly.
"I think the market is going to tell us what it is worth," Williams said. "I think different users are going to have different pricing models in mind. I think that's going to pay a big role in what the ultimate successful buyer pays for it."
The Idle Hour estate is "a unique property," perhaps only comparable locally to Oheka Castle in Huntington, and will attract a broad cross-section of potential buyers, Williams said.
"We think we're going to expand beyond the typical Long Island developer group who would be interested in it," he said. "I don't think there are any specific target buyers we are looking at."
