Oakdale campus of long-closed waterfront Dowling College up for sale

The roughly 25-acre Idle Hour estate in Oakdale, reborn in the late 1960s as Dowling College's main campus, is for sale.

The vacant and vandalized 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. 

Although the future of the property remains unknown, the exterior of the mansion is protected under an Islip Town planned landmark preservation overlay district and will remain intact.

"They could gut it and paint it purple inside, but the outside would have to remain the same," Maryann Almes, president of the Oakdale Historical Society, told Newsday on Friday. "It doesn't prevent building around it, but it does prevent taking down parts of the exterior, or its entirety."

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.

Zoned for residential, educational

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 said. "There's a wide variety of areas that it could be used for."

Oakdale residents have wanted a new owner to acquire, maintain and protect the abandoned campus from vandalism, Oakdale Civic Association president Ray Carta said. Next month, he plans to poll civic members to learn what type of entity they hope will buy.

"I think the general opinion is they would look for it to be a school again, as opposed to a hospital or some kind of hospitality [business]," Carta, 59, of Oakdale, told Newsday in a Friday telephone interview. There are "a lot of properties in Oakdale that are abandoned," he added, especially on Montauk Highway. The transformation of the property into another educational facility "might very well help" fill other vacancies, he said.

Mansion remains sturdy

The mansion, and other facilities on the property, have been "attacked by vandals" who have spray painted graffiti, shattered stained glass windows as well as sawed and smashed doors, according to Almes. She said Oakdale had been "waiting with bated breath" for a new owner to transform or care for it. While the mansion remains sturdy, letting it be is not an option.

"The way to preserve something in today's world is to reappropriate it for today's world," Almes, 61, of Oakdale, said. "It's not even a consideration that it would remain as is. It's never going to be a museum. If it's going to survive it has to find a place in today's world."

Tigar Realty is soliciting offers on the property through June 30, Williams said. The sales price has not been listed publicly. 

"I think the market is going to tell us what it is worth," Williams said.

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."