Rhiannon Promotions The Universal Cavalier Special Issue 2013 | Page 29

development. He also started the Great Neck Bank and was the vice president of the Great Neck Trust Company. (Continued from page 28) the family holdings. The Udall estate included a large Georgian house named Saddle Rock and a Grist Mill which is the oldest continually operating tidal grist mill in the USA. The Saddle Rock Grist Mill has been restored to its original shape and is in working operation as a historic site. The Eldridge mansion Eldridge proceeded to live the life of a genteel gentleman; trips to Europe, sailing his yacht Kehtoh, joining the Racquet Club and New York Yacht Club, riding saddle horses and he was an active member of the Westminster Kennel Club. The Saddle Rock Grist Mill He liked the English village atmosphere and attempted to freeze development of Great Neck. In a precedent setting move to isolate his holdings from the effects of nearby development he turned his estate into a separate village. This required a change to the incorporation laws in the New York state legislature which reduced the minimum required residents from 250 to 50 people but with an agreeable governor and legislature Saddle Rock became a separate village and Eldridge became its first mayor. The residents of Saddle Rock In 1910 Eldridge built a sprawling multi -columned mansion on the new land which he called Udallia, which he located near an offshore large boulder in the shape of a saddle. He transformed the property into an elegant estate of perennial and rose gardens which also included a stable of riding horses, recreational houses, vegetable gardens and milking cows and 26 houses for employees. He continued to find opportunities in Great Neck to expand his fortune including purchasing some land which he later sold off for a golf course (Continued on page 30) 29