Historic Homes With Tennis Courts
The Court Has Its Own History
An estate earns the word historic through its architecture, its age and the people who lived there. The tennis court can tell a different story entirely, and three estates in our selection show how far apart the two can sit.
In East Hampton, the West End Road Compound is a Shingle Style estate from the 1890s; its red clay court was added only in recent years. In Beverly Hills, James Cagney built his home around 1939, and the tennis court was added later by the current owner. At the Hitchcock Estate in Millbrook, New York, the story runs the other way. The estate once had a clay court on its front lawn, until the fields crept over it, and by 1981 only the tennis pavilion remained.
So with any historic estate, ask when the court was built, and by whom. The answer tells you whether it belongs to the original story or to a later chapter, and sometimes whether it is waiting to be restored.
Our Selection
West End Road Compound East Hampton, United States · For sale
A Shingle Style estate on Georgica Pond, designed in the 1890s by J. Greenleaf Thorp, the architect of Grey Gardens. Its tower was added in 1899, and a boathouse sits on the pond. Read Red Clay on the Dunes.
Villa Lake Como Lenno, Italy · For rent
A lakefront estate of about three hectares near Lenno, with a heated infinity pool, a gym and a cinema room. Gianni Agnelli, La Provincia di Como reports, once pressed to buy it.
The Hitchcock Estate Millbrook, United States · For sale
A Gilded Age estate in Dutchess County named Daheim, German for "at home", with a guest bungalow designed by Addison Mizner in 1912. The original clay court sat on the front lawn. Its pavilion survives, and in the 1960s it was known as the meditation house. When a court is worth saving.
Represented by Heather Croner, William Pitt SIR
Casa del Ensueños Palm Beach, United States · For sale
A landmarked Addison Mizner estate in Palm Beach's Estate Section, one of only two Venetian-style residences he built in town. It sits on nearly 1.5 acres with 200 feet of frontage on the Intracoastal, and a multi-year restoration has just been completed, down to the tennis pavilion and the sunken red clay court.
Paço da Glória Jolda (Madalena), Portugal · For rent
An eighteenth-century Baroque manor in northern Portugal, reworked in the early twentieth century with neo-Victorian details. It is classified as a Monument of Public Interest, and its 3.6 hectares hold an indoor and an outdoor pool alongside the court.
The Former James Cagney Estate Beverly Hills, United States · For sale
A stone residence from around 1939 on just over five acres, with a guest house, a pool and the studio where Cagney painted. Architectural Digest featured the estate in 1990. Why that lighting matters.
Represented by Timothy Di Prizito, Christie's International Real Estate View property
A Historic Estate of Your Own
For the longer history, read The History of the Private Tennis Court, and for more estates, The Art of Living Well: Historic Tennis Homes. If you own a historic home with a court, or are searching for one, we would like to hear from you.
