The George Jay Gould Estate

The George Jay Gould Estate
(now the site of Georgian Court University)

"Situated in the famous 'pine belt' of New Jersey, nine miles from the ocean, is Lakewood, a noted winter resort [in Ocean County]. Combining all requisites for health and pleasure, it is within easy distance of New York and Philadelphia. The difference in quality between the climate of this charming health resort and the neighboring cities is apparent to the most casual visitor..."

--as quoted in the 1914 booklet Village Improvement Association of the Bureau of Information, Lakewood, New Jersey.

The health benefits of Lakewood enticed George Jay Gould, son of railroad magnate Jay Gould, to build Georgian Court in 1896. The construction began ten years after his marriage to a lovely young actress named Edith Kingdon. Edith and George Gould believed Lakewood would be an ideal spot in which to rear their two sons and four daughters.

George Gould engaged the famous New York architect, Bruce Price, to transform his newly purchased property into a lavish country estate. He had in mind something on the order of the great estates in England and Scotland, the comforts of which he had often enjoyed. Price drew upon his extensive experience in designing country homes. The two men soon agreed upon the style of an English estate of the Georgian period, which would substitute a gracious order for the wild terrain. Consequently, the name Georgian Court seemed appropriate.

After George Gould's death, his heirs decided to sell the estate to the Sisters of Mercy. The Gould family could not have imagined the delight that the beauty of Georgian Court and its myriad treasures would afford an endless stream of visitors. The splendor of the Gilded Age has influenced and nurtured graduates of Georgian Court College since 1924, continuing the marvelous legacy of George Jay Gould.

--excerpts from Georgian Court, An Estate of The Gilded Age by Sister M. Christina Geis