North Shore Long Island: Country Houses, 1890–1950 covers 40 of the region's most noted homes, representing the breadth and variety of architectural design and the social and sporting life that characterized the North Shore in its golden age. Each estate covered in the book was carefully chosen; many are written about in detail for the first time. Scarce source information, much of it provided by heirs of the original estate families, clarifies incomplete or misleading information offered by other books on the subject.
Each estate is illustrated with both exterior and interior views of the residence, the outbuildings for service and sport, and lushly landscaped grounds that made Long Island famous.