Challenges To Private Ownership
Owing to the high cost of upkeep, in 1937, the island was put up for sale but was bought at the last minute by a relative, Sarah Diodati Gardiner, for $400,000. Upon her death in 1953, the island passed in trust to her nephew, Robert David Lion Gardiner, and his sister, Alexandra Gardiner Creel. Their aunt had also set aside a trust fund for upkeep of the island, but it was exhausted by the 1970s. When Creel died, her rights passed to her daughter, Alexandra Creel Goelet. The two were to have a highly publicized dispute over ownership and direction of the island.
Gardiner accused Alexandra of wanting to sell and develop the island. She accused him of not paying his share of the estimated $2 million per year upkeep and taxes of the island. Gardiner said he would not oppose ownership by the government or a private conservancy group. The case went to court in 1980 and Gardiner was initially barred from visiting the island, but in 1992, courts ruled that he could visit the island (although the Goelets and Gardiner were not on the island at the same time).
Gardiner, who claimed the title "16th Lord of the Manor of Gardiner's Island" and lived in East Hampton, married in 1961 but had no children, leaving him with no direct heir. In 1989, Mr. Gardiner attempted to adopt a middle-aged Mississippi businessman, George Gardiner Green, Jr., as his "son." Green was a descendent of Lion Gardiner. Upon Gardiner's death in 2004, total ownership passed to Alexandra. Shortly before Gardiner's death he said:
We have always married into wealth. We've covered all our bets. We were on both sides of the Revolution, and both sides of the Civil War. The Gardiner family always came out on top.
The Goelets offered to place a conservation easement on the island in exchange for a promise from the town of East Hampton not to rezone the land, change its assessment or attempt to acquire it by condemnation. The Goelets and East Hampton agreed upon the easement through 2025.
Read more about this topic: Gardiners Island, History
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