Harrison, Wallace K., Estate
Why it's listed
This 11.5-acre estate on a wooded slope along Round Swamp Road in West Hills was built between 1929 and 1931 by New York architect Wallace K. Harrison as his own home and working retreat. The rambling one-story concrete house has a two-story circular living room, bands of windows and sliding glass doors. The grounds also hold a circular concrete studio, a concrete and aluminum garage, two guest cottages and a circular swimming pool. One cottage is the Aluminaire House, a prefabricated aluminum-clad building designed by Albert Frey and A. Lawrence Kocher in 1931 and assembled in ten days for an architectural exhibition. The estate is regarded as an early and outstanding East Coast example of the International style, with flat roofs, smooth walls, cantilevered levels and large expanses of glass. It also marks the close of Huntington's era of large estate construction before the Depression. Harrison later worked on Rockefeller Center and the United Nations buildings.
Significance in brief: The estate is argued to be an outstanding example of the International style, designed by Harrison and by the team of Kocher and Frey. The main house is described as one of the earliest International style buildings on the East Coast. The prefabricated aluminum Aluminaire House, built 1931, was recognized in Hitchcock and Johnson's book on the style. The estate also marks the end of Huntington's major estate-building era.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 85002531, listed September 26, 1985. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 140 Round Swamp Rd., West Hills |
|---|---|
| County | Suffolk County |
| Listed | September 26, 1985 |
| Reference number | 85002531 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Wallace K. Harrison (architect); A. Lawrence Kocher and Albert Frey (Aluminaire House); builder unknown |
| Architectural style | International style |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Described as in excellent condition on the original site, in residential use, with no known threats. |
| Acreage | 11.5 |
| Coordinates | 40.80705, -73.44151 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 85002531.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7962833
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.