OLANA
He called it Olana, which means
“treasure house” in ancient Persian,
and designed every last detail in
Persian-Moorish style—right down
to mixing the paint colors himself.
period European furniture and artwork
from such painters as Corot, Courbet and
Bouguereau. Robber barony, obviously,
had its rewards.
Of course, so did tycoonery, and just
north of Lyndhurst you’ll find the Rocke-
feller estate, Kykuit. “It’s what God would
have built,” the saying goes, “if only He
had the money.”
Kykuit (pronounced KIE-cut) is Dutch
for “lookout,” and the six-story Georgian
mansion looks over the Tappan Zee (and
on a clear day, the Manhattan skyline)
from the high point of the Pocantico Hills.
Perhaps the best part of Kykuit is
the artwork. Nelson Rockefeller, New
