If you grew up watching Batman, you might have fallen in love with Wayne Manor, but was this
a real house? Hi everyone, ken here welcome to this house. Today we are exploring the Braes,
make sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an exciting episode of this house.
Our story starts with Herbert Lee Pratt. He was born into money as his father had founded
the Astral Oil company which was later acquired by Standard Oil. The Pratts continued to work
for Standard Oil’s owner, John D Rockefeller throughout the years. Herbert made quite the
impression on the executives and was named the President of the Standard Oil Company. With this
title came immense wealth, so he naturally set out to build a mansion fit to impress.
In 1902, Herbert and his wife Florence found an ideal lot on Long Island,
New York to build their dream house. In the likeness of George Washington’s estate,
Mount Vernon they planned a main home flanked by 2 outbuildings connected with rounded breezeways.
It was constructed in the Colonial style and surfaced with shingles.
A grand home demanding respect from the end of its long drive. But the Pratts were unsatisfied,
they found it wasn’t as impressive as they had hoped it would be, so they had it demolished.
In its place, they constructed a 40,000 square foot brick and stone mansion with
sprawling estate gardens. The 4 story home was finished out in the neo-jacobean style with
limestone accents found around the arches and windows. Quoins capped off the corners
leading to an elaborate balustrade concealing the low pitched roof of the fourth story.
Oversized brick chimneys twisted towards the sky, puncturing the roof line in even intervals.
The Pratts were finally satisfied with their monumental mansion,
sure to impress even the most sophisticated of guests. They named their estate, The Braes.
Walking inside, you would arrive in the stair hall with a Jacobean ceiling dramatically
contrasting against the dark wood grain of the millwork. The stairs cascaded through an arcade,
turning out of site as they continued upward.
The drawing room was reminiscent of gilded age glamour with elaborate
paneling separated by pilasters below an intricately carved relief.
The coffered ceiling was ornamented with plaster leaves twisting about in neat rows.
In 1913, the dining room was reassembled inside the Braes. It had been salvaged from a 17th
century building in England which was planned for demolition. The wood relief work featured people
and animals set against arches and vines with a crest protruding from the upper mantle.
The family dining room was finished out in a complimentary fashion with
board and batten wall treatments and a large,
albeit, simplified version of the same fireplace found in the main dining room.
The most well known scandal to have taken place at the Braes was in 1930 during prohibition. Herbert
had purchased 240 cases of champagne and had hired smugglers to sneak it into his cellars,
but he was caught! The champagne was seized by the authorities and the pratts had to pay
a fine of 16,000 dollars or the modern day equivalent of about 284 thousand dollars.
The Pratts enjoyed their home until Herbert’s passing in 1945. In his will, he stipulated
that the dining room was to be disassembled once more and donated to Amherst College,
where it currently stands reassembled in the Mead Art Museum at Amherst. That same year, In 1945,
the Board of Trustees at the Webb Institute purchased The Braes to use as their new campus,
renaming it to Stevenson Taylor Hall. They added dormitories, a cafeteria,
and a gymnasium to the former estate. But it wouldn’t gain international recognition
for several more years until it appeared as the backdrop of Wayne Manor in the 1995 film,
Batman Forever. It was again used in the 1997 Batman and Robin movie. Fast forwarding to 2014,
both the interior and exterior were used to film the hit television show Gotham and again
in 2019 for the Joker movie. You can enjoy cinematic shots of the mansion
in both Gotham and Joker knowing that it was filmed in the Braes and not in Hollywood backlot.
Which room was your favorite? Let me know down below in the comments section. And while you’re
there, make sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an exciting episode of this house.
I would also like to take a moment to say a special thank you to our this house supporters
whose names you can see on screen right now. If you would like to see your name on this screen
please consider joining our membership program today. I’ll see you next time on this house!