Adapted from the 1986 House Tour Guide

Very early in the 19th century William Valentine (1781-1863), a papermaker, bought the original Onderdonk-Remsen-Gaine Paper Mill (1773) from Hendrick Onderdonk, and built the Federal style house which is now the Roslyn Village Hall (T.G. 1963). Along with the paper mill he acquired considerable land, including all of the present day Roslyn Park with the additional land now occupied by the Roslyn Presbyterian Church, the Bryant Library and three houses on Main Street, i.e., the Presbyterian Parsonage (T.G. 1978-1979), the Obediah Washington Valentine House (T.G. 1971-1972) and the Myers Valentine House (T.G. 1963-1964, 1979-1980).

William and Phoebe Valentine had several children including three sons who had considerable local importance. These were William M. Valentine (b. 1809), a substantial general merchant who acquired his father's house and whose name it now bears; Obediah Washington Valentine (b. 1811), who ran the family paper mill until his death in 1854, and Myers Valentine (b. 1818), the subject of this article, who took over the paper mill after his brother's death. It is likely that Myers learned the paper making trade (L.W.) in a small mill, also owned by his family, at Littleworth. This mill stood between the houses of Jackson and Benjamin Mott "along the stream which runs west into Mott's Cove."

Myers Valentine married Caroline Searing in June 1840 and it seems likely that their house was built within the next few years. It is indicated on both the Walling Map (1859) and the Beers-Comstock Map (1873). The house was exhibited on the Landmark Society tours of 1963 and 1964. Myers Valentine died on September 9, 1891, and is buried in the Roslyn Cemetery. During his life he apparently was a public-spirited man. He was a sponsor of highway petitions during the 1860's and 1870's and, on August 23, 1862, he signed a proposition, with thirteen others, to provide for the raising of $15,000.00, through taxes, to be used as bounties to stimulate enlistment in the Union Army. The Landmark Society owns an ambrotype (glass positive plate) of the family of Myers Valentine which was donated by Mrs. Arthur Bunnell, a descendent. It was exposed about 1860 and, probably, is the earliest surviving local group portrait. In it are shown Myers (1818-1891) and Caroline Searing Valentine and their children, Phoebe Louise (b. 1847), Mary Amelia (b. 1851), Eugene (b. 1853), Theodore Searing (b. 1844) and Ann Augusta, the oldest. All are dressed in their very fashionable, Sunday best.

The Myers Valentine House remained in the ownership of the Valentine family until well into the present century. However, it was not a part of the parcel purchased by William Warnock in 1911, a large part of which was conveyed to the Town of North Hempstead for development as Roslyn Park (T.G. 1971-1972).

While we do not have the complete title chain for the house it was owned by Clayton and Katherine Sturgis Knight between 1926-1932. Katherine Knight developed most of the landscape plan east of the house. The pond was set with stone borders and most of the large trees and shrubs were planted. Mrs. Knight also painted murals on the walls of the present summer room and master bedroom. Unfortunately, these have not survived. During the period of Knight ownership, the house was illustrated in "House & Garden." Mrs. Knight was photographed for this article seated in front of one of her murals. The Knight's son Hilary sent the first six years of his childhood in the house before the family moved to Manhattan in 1932. Hilary Knight (1926- ) became the prominent illustrator of Kay Thompson's Eloise and its sequels and created several of his own books.

Subsequently, the house was owned by Mr. & Mrs. Delvalle Goldsmith between 1932 and 1948. Between 1948-1968 the house was owned by Mr. & Mrs. Jay Kaufmann. After 1968 it was owned by Mr. & Mrs. Donald Horn until it was sold again in 1976.

In 1981, Hilary Knight paid tribute to his parents and Roslyn roots in his book "The Twelve Days of Christmas".