At the close of the 19th century, wealthy
industrialists who made vast fortunes during the
Gilded Age began to construct large "baronial" country estates in Nassau County communities along the North Shore of Long Island, favoring the many
properties with water views. Proximity to Manhattan attracted such men as
J. P. Morgan,
William K. Vanderbilt, and
Charles Pratt, whose estates led to this area being nicknamed the
Gold Coast. This period and the area was immortalized in fiction, such as
F. Scott Fitzgeralds
The Great Gatsby, which has also been adapted in
films.