House Historian: Orin Z. Finkle

A wonderful service for those interested in America's great estates.

All areas of the U.S. are searched to locate data on grand manor houses. Some of our recent findings have been in : Long Island, NY ... Greenwich, CT ... Palm Beach, FL ... Lake Forest, Ill ... Coastal California ... Chestnut Hill, PA ... Bloomfield Hills, MI. Plus many other territories.

The "Gatsby Era" (circa 1900 - 1940) was a fascinating period in American history. For over twenty years, our dedicated research has been focused on this interval of American architecture when elegance and grandeur reigned.

Utilizing an organized detailed approach to explore and uncover long forgotten architectural and social lifestyle information, has led to finding amazing pictures, maps, floor plans and text from thousands of old source documents. We are now able to assemble and computerize estate data and locate interested parties who wish to have history compiled on specific properties. This is an ongoing process and our "dig" can yield many important facts for years to come.

Components found on various properties can be from:

Old photos
Magazines
Books
Floor plans
Post cards
Atlas diagrams
Auction catalogs
News articles
Letters, etc.

Our founder, Orin Z. Finkle, has written over 150 published articles devoted to the mansions, gardens, owners and architects during this period. These articles have appeared in The New York Times, Town & Country magazine, Gold Coast News, North Shore, & Goodliving. He has appeared on national television as a historian on "America's Castles" and on cable news programs to discuss various estates.

Over the years, many grand manor houses designed to endure for centuries, have been demolished or abandoned. To make way for "progress", beautiful architectural masterpieces which can never be replaced are now gone forever. We are committed to keep the elegance alive so that future generations will appreciate "a time that won't return."