The estate's owner was a descendant of an old Colonial family from Long Island. His cousin, George von L. Meyer, was Secretary of the Navy under President Theodore Roosevelt and served as an ambassador to several countries. Henry von L. Meyer was a prominent businessman, and after a number of years in the paper manufacturing business, he entered the drug manufacturing field and became vice president of Health Products Company in New York City. He later founded White Laboratories in Newark, New Jersey, which manufactured many nationally known drug products such as Feenamint, Aspergum and a number of cod liver oil concentrates.