For years, visitors to Westbury House at Old Westbury Gardens asked what lay past the door at the end of the first-floor corridor. The Secrets of the Service Wing Tour takes them through it, and the tour now adds something the gardens marks as new: a walk through the house's formal Dining Room itself, seen up close rather than from behind a rope and stanchions.

The next tours are on Sunday, Nov. 15, and the gardens is open on weekends only through November, which makes the late-autumn weekends the time to go before Christmas at Westbury House takes over the season.

What the tour covers

The guided tour runs about an hour and focuses on the labor it took to run the house for the Phipps family and their guests in the early 20th century, especially the formal dinners. The route follows the corridors to the butler's pantry and the silver cleaning room, then goes down 17 steps to the ground floor, where the kitchen, the scullery and the wine storage rooms are.

The addition this season is the Dining Room. Rather than viewing the room from the doorway, tour groups now walk through it, closer than before to the art and the historic furnishings that fill it.

Who the tour is for

Old Westbury Gardens notes that the tour is physically demanding. It is not recommended for people with limited mobility or for children under 8, because it requires walking down a narrow staircase of 17 steps to the ground floor. No one, including children and infants, may be lifted or carried during the tour.

Tour tickets include admission to Westbury House and the gardens, and all tickets are non-refundable. Registration is through the gardens' event page.

November at the gardens

Through November, the gardens and Westbury House are open for general admission on weekends only. Final admission is at 3 p.m. for non-members and 4 p.m. for members. Other programs on the calendar include a Trees of Thanks tour and workshop on Saturday, Nov. 21, in which participants receive a field log and learn the trees that grow on the property.

The gardens has also put tickets on sale for Christmas at Westbury House, its December holiday program in the decorated mansion.

About Old Westbury Gardens

Old Westbury Gardens preserves an early 20th century American country estate, including its landscape, gardens, architecture and collections. Westbury House was the home of the Phipps family, and the service wing tour is one of the ways the gardens shows the household staff's side of that life alongside the formal rooms.

Where: Old Westbury Gardens, 71 Old Westbury Road, Old Westbury
Next tour date: Sunday, Nov. 15
November hours: Weekends only; final admission 3 p.m. (non-members), 4 p.m. (members)
Phone: 516-333-0048
Tickets: Secrets of the Service Wing Tour

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