Long before White Plains became one of Westchester County’s busiest suburban centers, two of Broadway’s biggest stars were escaping Manhattan summers here.
Hungarian-born identical twins Rosie and Jenny Dolly — better known as the Dolly Sisters — became sensations of the vaudeville and Broadway circuits in the 1910s and 1920s, building an international celebrity that extended well beyond the stage.
At the height of that fame, the sisters commissioned a grand summer residence at 215 Soundview Avenue in White Plains, roughly 25 miles north of Midtown Manhattan.
Built in 1924 and modeled after the grand “cottages” associated with Newport’s Gilded Age summer colony, the house gave the performers a decidedly quieter counterpart to their glamorous Manhattan life.
Now, more than a century later, their former summer escape is on the market for $2.795 million.
The seven-bedroom residence spans approximately 6,254 square feet and sits on 1.12 landscaped acres. Stacey Pinkas and John Oliveria of Douglas Elliman hold the listing.
The timing of the house’s construction coincided with an especially busy chapter for the Dolly Sisters.
In 1924, Rosie and Jenny appeared in the Greenwich Village Follies, part of a career that saw them perform at major New York venues including the Palace and Riverside theaters. When they weren’t onstage, the sisters were living in a grand duplex on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
White Plains offered an escape from all of that.
Their summer home was built on a substantial scale, with the formal rooms, elaborate woodwork and service spaces expected of a country residence from the period.
Even the porte-cochère reflected another era of transportation: it was large enough to accommodate a horse-drawn carriage.
Much of what the Dolly Sisters would have encountered inside remains intact today.
Wide-plank floors on the main level date to their ownership, as do detailed woodwork and original windows. Coffered ceilings appear overhead, while substantial fireplaces anchor some of the principal rooms.
An imposing central staircase provides one of the home’s strongest architectural focal points, rising through interiors characterized by tall ceilings and generously proportioned rooms.
The layout also offers a glimpse into how a large 1920s estate operated behind the scenes.
The third floor was originally designed as living quarters for the sisters’ housekeeping staff, physically separating household operations from the main family and entertaining spaces below.
That history makes the house an unusually tangible connection to the lifestyle that accompanied the Dolly Sisters’ celebrity.
Born in Hungary as Rózsika and Janka Deutsch, the twins immigrated to the United States as children and eventually became known professionally as Rosie and Jenny Dolly.
Their synchronized performances, glamorous wardrobes and highly publicized lives made them major entertainment figures on both sides of the Atlantic.
Their fame stretched beyond Broadway and vaudeville into film and European nightlife, while newspapers eagerly chronicled their fashion, romances and extravagant spending.
The White Plains property survives from the period when the sisters were near the height of that celebrity.
Despite its historic character, the house isn’t isolated in a distant corner of Westchester.
Downtown White Plains is only minutes away, along with the city’s Metro-North station, restaurants and shopping, while major parkways provide connections throughout the region and toward New York City.
The contrast is striking.
What was built in 1924 as a summer escape from Manhattan now sits within easy reach of one of Westchester’s largest urban centers. Yet behind its landscaped grounds, the house still carries many of the architectural details installed for two of the Jazz Age’s most famous performers.
A century after Rosie and Jenny Dolly headed north from their Upper West Side duplex to spend summers here, their former White Plains estate is ready for another owner.
The seven-bedroom home at 215 Soundview Avenue is listed for $2.795 million with Stacey Pinkas and John Oliveria of Douglas Elliman.
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