Hendrickson says he will not sell larger Whitney estate to state
By Gwendolyn Craig
John Hendrickson, the widower of socialite and philanthropist Marylou Whitney, is selling the couple’s former summer residence called “Camp on a Point” on Little Tupper Lake in Hamilton County. On 58 acres of land, the five-bedroom and four-bath home will be listed for $5.25 million and is separate from the 36,000-acre Whitney estate Hendrickson listed in 2020, which is still for sale.
Hendrickson said he no longer used “Camp on a Point,” in a message to the Explorer on Thursday.
The Whitney and Hendrickson former summer home boasts over 7,000 feet of Little Tupper Lake shoreline, said Nicholas Politi, owner and associate real estate broker at Merrill L. Thomas in Lake Placid. Hendrickson and Whitney had commissioned the contemporary and modern structure about 26 years ago. It is a year-round residence that is off-grid, running off a generator and batteries.
Politi said “this is one of the most unique properties that we’ve had the opportunity to list for sale.” Aside from the fact that it is nearly surrounded by forest preserve that cannot be developed, the property has views of the lake and mountains.
“It’s a real opportunity to get back to nature,” Politi said.
There are two other residences on the 2,300-acre Little Tupper Lake aside from the former Whitney Headquarters, Politi added, which is now a state administrative site. In addition to the 58 acres of land, Politi said, the listing includes 71 acres of Little Tupper Lake. The property has road access via Sabbatis Road.
View the listing here: https://www.adirondackestates.com/properties/575-sabattis-road-long-lake-ny-12847/.
The property is separate from Whitney Park, a coveted estate in the central Adirondacks, that Whitney and Hendrickson sold a portion of to the state in 1997. The approximately 15,000 acres, including most of Little Tupper Lake, was dubbed the “crown jewel of the Adirondacks,” by former Gov. George Pataki. But about 36,000 acres remain privately owned by Hendrickson through Whitney Industries, a logging company.
36,000 acres
Environmental organizations in the Adirondack Park have been longing for the full Whitney Park–listed for $180 million–to become part of the Adirondack Park forest preserve, 2.7 million acres of constitutionally protected lands that cannot be sold or leased. Whitney Park is one of the largest private inholdings left in the 6-million-acre mix of public and private lands in the largest park in the lower 48 states.
Whitney Park is named for William C. Whitney, secretary of the U.S. Navy under President Grover Cleveland, who purchased thousands of acres in the Adirondacks in 1897. Marylou Whitney married William C. Whitney’s grandson, C.V. “Sonny” Whitney. After C.V. Whitney’s death in 1992, Marylou Whitney married John Hendrickson. Marylou Whitney died in 2019.
Whitney was a devoted seasonal resident to Long Lake, but after her death, Hendrickson said visiting the area was not the same. “I have to create my own memories now,” he had told the Explorer three years ago.
Hendrickson listed the 36,000-acre Whitney Park, which has more than 20 water bodies and hundreds of miles of roads, for $180 million. It also included the 17-bedroom Camp Deerlands, which overlooks Little Forked Lake. Hendrickson told the Explorer that he recently purchased another Great Camp, Camp Togus, which is on Forked Lake. Previous owners had called it Camp Buttercup. That building is now part of Whitney Park, too, he wrote.
Hendrickson has been actively marketing the property. It has been featured in the August issue of “Quest Magazine” and the spring issue of “The Land Report.”
When the listing was announced in 2020, its price tag spurred several local leaders to criticize the $5,000 per acre. Basil Seggos, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Conservation, had called it a “stunning purchase price.” Hendrickson believes it is a fair price and pointed to the Florida developer Pritam Singh, who recently purchased the 945-acre former Crossett Lake Boy Scout Reservation in Washington County for $9.5 million. That’s about $10,000 an acre, Hendrickson noted.
In the spring of 2021, Hendrickson said he planned to subdivide the property into 11 parcels, about 3,200 acres each. In total, he had expected the sales to bring in $238 million. In order to subdivide, Hendrickson would need a permit from the Adirondack Park Agency, which oversees public and private development.
But Hendrickson said he is still getting “bites” on the full 36,000 acres, though he said subdividing could be an option. The subdivision process, he wrote, is going slowly. In response to the Explorer’s Freedom of Information Law request for any pre-application materials for a subdivision of the Whitney estate, the APA said it could find no such records.
Open Space Plan
The state lists the property in its 2016 Open Space Conservation Plan as one it would hope to acquire. The DEC and state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation announced on Wednesday that they were updating the plan.
With $650 million for open space land conservation and recreation designated in the $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act, as well as a charge to conserve 30% of the state’s lands and waters by 2030, the property could help the state with its climate goals.
But Hendrickson said he will still not sell the historic property to the state. He wrote “not” in all capital letters. After the 1997 sale, someone introduced bass into the lake, which caused damage to the native trout population. The experience has given Hendrickson a poor view of the state’s stewardship capabilities.
A spokesperson for the DEC said the department “does not comment on potential land negotiations. In general, DEC is always open to conversations with landowners who are interested in exploring conservation outcomes for their properties.”
It remains to be seen if the state will continue to list the rest of the Whitney estate in its open space plan.
So far, the state has organized nine regional councils to provide recommendations. The Adirondacks have their own council. The new version of the plan will take about two years to complete, according to a news release. A public comment period is expected in the summer of 2024.
“Land conservation is an essential tool in New York State’s comprehensive actions to address climate change and protect our natural resources,” said Seggos, in a news release. “As work begins to revise the New York State Open Space Plan, DEC and our state and local partners will look to both preserve our lands and waters for future generations while ensuring priorities and projects help to advance New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act and align with the State’s efforts to conserve 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with the real estate listing for Camp on a Point, as well as additional photos.
NYS should take the 36,00 acres by eminent domain, and pay a fair market price. End of story. In this world, no single individual should control the fate of this much pristine wilderness.
Why should no one individual own this much property???
Why not?
Yes, why not. See no issues with one person owning this much property
Having the State owning it and opening it up to the public is not protecting the property. It would be destroyed. Selling it to an individual owner would provide better protection. End of story!
An individual owner intent on developing it? I agree with the antipathy toward State/Taxpayer ownership, but how do you make sure the next owner actually PROTECTS the property? There is really no insurance either way. Land trusts and such can be a good interim option, but they usually can’t afford to manage the lands long-term. There are few perfect options.
It would be nice if SLMPs could be employed that would severely restrict vehicle and even foot access on certain unique properties, but that just won’t happen. Current SLMPs tend to assume any State acquisitions will be open to vehicle/foot access in varying amounts. This thinking isn’t always in the best interest of the land itself. As usual, it is all a compromise from which Nature and Wilderness don’t always benefit.
Just put deed restrictions on it, simple. Wouldn’t be surprised if there already are some.
Simple, but likely to devalue the property significantly. Sometimes a non-starter for the seller.
If I owned that property I would start the subdivision today just because of statements like that. Its his land and he can do as he pleases with it. Personally I would make it into an ATV park just because I could .
Good publicity here for the sellers!
Last I knew, we were still the United States of America, where property rights were one of the most protected rights under our still in existence Constitution. Mr. Hendrickson OWNS this piece of property, and he can do with it AS HE PLEASES. He is under NO OBLIGATION to cede it to the state. As of yet, we are NOT the Soviet Union (God willing).
If the state bought the land, no doubt there would be petitions from powerful environmental groups in the Adirondacks lobbying to turn the entire tract into Wilderness, raze the existing camps, and close the dozens of dirt roads throughout, which would effectively shut out all usage by ordinary outdoors enthusiasts. Look at the Essex Chain of Lakes tract bought from Gooley Club as an example of what would happen. All but one of those dirt roads in that tract are now overgrown with pricker bushes and going back to nature and unusable, despite still being listed on the map, and despite foolhardy attempts by the state to bill it as equestrian riding trails. No one is riding horses there! Same thing would happen to Whitney Tract! It should not be sold to the state for that very reason!
NYS needs to reassess how they view future acquisitions. Historically, land was added to the Preserve that was at risk of being developed by a private buyer. In other words, preserving and protecting forests and other resources. Increasing motorized access/usage does not fit this philosophy.
For every parcel being considered, there are groups advocating for increased motorized access, and groups advocating for “wilderness” or Wilderness classifications that allow foot access including hunting/fishing and other traditional usages. Perhaps NYS should just stop purchasing these parcels and allow them to continue to be virtually inaccessible to the general public, and embrace the ubiquitous “Posted” sign. Some people consider virtually unlimited “foot and water access” to be better than no access. Other groups consider motorized access via roads as the only reasonable form of access. Not likely either group will concede, and the State needs to consider these opposing views before a purchase.
But as we know, politicians want to do both while adding feathers to both their “environmental” and “recreational” caps at the same time. The thought that the two opposite camps will compromise rarely produces a peaceful compromise, and more often simply increases antipathy between opposing forces, with taxpayers footing the bill. This is the enigma and paradox of the Adirondack “Park” – how to balance preservation, recreation, and development. These considerations should be reviewed and re-balanced every so often by taxpayers to determine an over-arching philosophy for management and acquisition of new lands. Until then, private lands will usually remain off-limits behind “Posted” signs.
There are only a few remaining large parcels that the state has to even worry about, anyway. Things like the large river corridors the state spent million on in places like the Santa Clara Tract so that a handful of people can explore them was ridiculous. The private owners were paying taxes and creating a few jobs and it was all super well protected. It still is but now the state (us) pay the taxes and the tax base will never really improve, the few jobs are gone – not good for the towns, that are basically dying and clearing out. But that is good for the environment right?
The Feds should seize the property, turn it into an artillery range, and host an annual North Country Burning Man…
… winners all around!
I am 63 years old and an avid outdoorsman and licensed guide. I have also worked for the state in an environmental role with responsibilities. I left this job to the ineptness and incompetence that I witnessed first hand.
The state took over the Essex Chain Lakes from the Gooley club via the Nature Conservancy who provided huge tax incentives to the owners of Finch paper. The states involvement, maintenance since has been virtually non existent. Ok yes they built some new lean-to’s but that’s it. One current example of state incompetence is the inundation of milfoil in the channels between the lakes. Another issue is the state allowing the lake levels to rise over 1.5ft which is still causing numerous mature trees to die and drop into the lakes. This flooding was being caused by beavers at 2nd lake. Consequently, culverts between lakes which once allowed passage via canoe are now impassable. I actually spoke with a DEC technician regarding this matter and this person’s rebuttal to this was that the DEC didn’t know any trappers!
My opinion is if you want your property destroyed, give it to the state.
No!! NYS (tax payers) Shouldn’t buy it. And there is no reason why any one person should have a limit on the amount of land they can purchase. And once New York State gets their hands on land, no one gets to use it for anything!
A hideously decorated home in a perfectly decorated landscape…
That is your opinion
This does not look like a pre 1973 building, how were they allowed to build this so close to the mean high water mark? Was there a giant old camp there before?