Great Gatsby, a book by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, depicts New York City and Long Island during the city’s prime era, known as the Jazz Age.
The iconic 2013 movie from the genius director Baz Luhrmann, starring Leonardo DiCaprio (as Jay Gatsby), Tobey Maguire (as the narrator) and Carey Mulligan (Daisy), made the book and its story even more popular.
Jay Gatsby’s mansion doesn’t really exist, but from the book we know exactly where it should have been located. And consequently we know where Daisy’s house should have been for Gatsby to be able to stare at the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock, “stretching out his arms towards something he can’t reach.”
As huge fans of both the book and the movie (my daughter read the book at least three times, and we spent many more evenings watching the movie together as a family), we set our sails to the Manhasset Bay where both the houses were located.
As we were entering the Manhasset Bay from Long Island Sound (passing the Sands Point Light to the left of us), we could see lots of Gatsby-era gold coast mansions meeting us from the coast. Any of those could have easily belonged to either Jay Gatsby or Daisy. Behind, there was a dreamy NYC skyline barely seen against the blue sky:
Gatsby’s house was located in what was referred to in the book as “West Egg” and what is actually called Kings Point. Daisy’s house was located right across the bay in so-called “East Egg”, which is actually “Sands Point:”
In the movie, Daisy is looking from the window to see a sailboat and NYC skyline in the background. This may have very well been our sails there:
While there’s no real Gatsby’s house in Kings Point, they say that Fitzgerald was renting a house there (in Great Neck) when he found his inspiration for the book. So there’s a mansion that inspired the Great Gatsby’s house. There are a few more mansions in Kings Point that are said to have been inspiration for Jay Gatsby’s house, so just driving around the waterfront properties there will give you a good idea.
Just be sure to stop by the coast by sunset. The sunset is gorgeous in Kings Point (as well as Sands Point!): You get to see the sun slowly hiding behind NYC skyscrapers, and you will feel totally magical in those minutes. This is the view Gatsby and Daisy could have been witnessing from their houses:
Where is the house from Great Gatsby?
It is a fictional house, so there’s no actual house depicted in the book or movie. But you can access the area on Long Island where it should have been located (Kings Point) and find the house Scott Fitzgerald rented in Great Neck when he got inspired to write the book.
Where is Gatsby’s mansion located East Egg or West Egg?
Gatsby’s house is located in West Egg (in reality the area is called Kings Point).
