King Zog was the king of Albania before World War II. As the Italians invaded Albania he and his Queen fled with the national treasure. Living as a jet setter in exile he dreamt of setting up a feudal kingdom outside his former homeland. He eventually, in 1951, bought the Knollwood estate, in Muttentown. Knollwood was a gold coast era estate built for Wall street mogul Charles Hudson. It was a huge 60 room castle of marvel and splendor. The Albanian King never did move into the mansion. As it sat in abandonment rumors of hidden treasures King Zog hid in the walls started to spread. It wasn't long before the estate was tarnished by vandals. This eventually led to it being torn down rather then restored. Luckily for us Long Islanders some of the ruins from this estate still exist.
The entrance to what was the walled garden.
The former front gate to the estate.
Inside wall of the garden.
Old stairway in the woods leading to nothing.
Outside of the walled garden.
Fountain in center of stairways leading to what would have been the back part of the mansion.
Mansion stairways.
One of two Greek style gazebos.
Outside of the walled garden.
  
 
Close-up of the fountain.
This was a loggia in a garden it served as a sitting area and tea house. Thank you Ken Thalheimer for this info.
The other gazebo.
The basement under the loggia.
Stairs leading to what was once the loggia.
Loggia basement.
(c) 2004 Copyright John Leita all rights reserved.