CHASE HOME AT 54 FORT SALONGA ROAD, FORT SALONGA, NEW YORK
Construction on the 40 acre Estate started in 1890 and finished in 1895. The Estate was owned by the beautiful 25 year old Lily Duchess of Marlborough. Lillian (Jane) Warren Price of Troy New York was married in 1879 to Louis Carre Hamersley, a very wealthy New York Real Estate Millionaire. After Mr. Hamersley's death in 1883, she met and married the 8th Duke of Marlborough George Charles Spencer-Churchill on June 29th 1888. In 1892, the 8th Duke of Marlborough died. Lily then married again on April 30th 1895 to Lord William Beresford, one of the bravest British officers, becoming Lady Beresford, but retained her title Duchess of Marlborough. It was said she married a man for his money, a Duke for his title, and a hero for love. Her stepson walked her down the aisle when she married Lord William Beresford. Lily had much to do with arranging her stepson's, the 9th Duke of Marlborough Charles Richard John Spencer-Churchill, meeting with Miss Consuelo Vanderbilt and, when they got married November 6th 1895, Lily gave the home as a wedding gift to them. Lily still spent many summers at the Fort Salonga Estate and Winston Churchill's grandmother, Lady Frances (Fanny), had a rose garden she tended here. Lily was respondsible for Etiquetteers love for summer whites. During her first marriage, she would dress completely in white and, after some time, so would everyone else. In the early 1900's, the home became a boarding house called "The Beresford Lodge" named after Lady Lily Beresford, Duchess of Marlborough. It was owned and run by Alfred Harned and his mother Adeline A. (Brush) Harned. Around the 1940's it is rumored that one of the engineers that created the Astrodome lived here. Judge Fred J. Munder, who served the Suffolk County Courts and State Supreme Court, lived here between 1960's and 1980's. During this time the land was split up and sold off. The Donovans, who were in Real Estate, lived here between 1980's up to 1992. Bill and Cindy Chase, and their two daughters Ashley and Courtney, have lived in the home since 1994.