The Forgotten Stories of Baldwin’s Tinney Estate and Its Mysterious Neighbor

Many people in Baldwin, Long Island, still recognize the name of the Tinney Estate, once owned by the famous vaudeville comedian Frank Tinney. In 1928, the sprawling estate was sold off and subdivided into 300 residential lots, forever changing the landscape of the area. The Tinney home itself once stood proudly at Foxhurst Road and Gardner Street—the latter now known as Grand Avenue.

But fewer people know the intriguing story of the grand Spanish villa that stood directly across from Tinney’s estate. In 1927, this impressive home went up for sale under bittersweet circumstances: its prominent female owner was preparing to return to California. While she waited for a buyer, she decided to auction off much of her lavish lifestyle—including a stunning collection of fur coats.

Above photo: August 26, 1928 - ""New York Times; For Release Sunday, August 26, 1928: Dwelling in Foxhurst Road, Baldwin, Long Island, directly opposite the 300 "Tinney Estates" lots which will be sold at auction by major William Kennelly on Saturday September 8th at 2 pm on the premises"

Prior to the home auction, the 1927 classified ad captures a vivid slice of that moment in time:

FOR SALE — Lady returning to Hollywood, Calif., offering at a big sacrifice a number of most beautiful fur coats, which were bought for studio use only, and positively not worn on street. They are the finest selections: squirrel-trimmed caracul, fox-trimmed, leopard-trimmed with seal, beaver, etc. Also two gentlemen's fur-lined overcoats. Please call 10 a.m. Spanish Villa with for sale sign outside, opposite Frank Tinney Estate, Foxhurst Rd., Baldwin.

It makes one wonder: could this Hollywood-bound lady have been Mary Imogene Robertson, better known as Mary Nolan—a.k.a. the infamous Ziegfeld girl “Bubbles” Wilson? Nolan’s scandalous affair with Frank Tinney was a nationwide sensation in the 1920s. The two shared a tempestuous relationship that included public fights, physical abuse, and ultimately heartbreak.

The Tragic Tale of Mary Nolan

Mary Nolan was born Mariam Imogene Robertson on December 18, 1902, in Louisville, Kentucky. As a teenager she moved to New York City, where she was discovered by Florenz Ziegfeld and transformed into the dazzling stage personality Imogene “Bubbles” Wilson. She quickly became one of the most talked-about showgirls in America.

Her fame skyrocketed—but so did scandal. Her highly publicized affair with the married Frank Tinney ended her Broadway career after she attempted to press assault charges against him. Blacklisted by the Ziegfeld Follies, she fled to Europe and reinvented herself as a film star in Germany.

When she returned to America in 1927, she tried to bury her old reputation under a new name: Mary Nolan. She landed film roles at Universal and MGM, appearing alongside stars like Lon Chaney and John Gilbert. But a string of abusive relationships, battles with drug addiction, and run-ins with the law caused her once-glittering career to dim. By the 1930s, she was working in low-budget “Poverty Row” films and eventually found herself performing in nightclubs just to survive.

Nolan’s final years were marred by hospitalizations and poverty. In 1948, at just 45 years old, she died from an overdose of sleeping pills, alone in a small Hollywood bungalow. Her tragic story faded quickly into the shadows of Hollywood history.

A Whisper of the Past

Standing on Foxhurst Road today, you’d never guess the storied past of this peaceful Baldwin neighborhood. Where once grand estates loomed—one home to a famous comedian, the other possibly to his notorious lover—the streets are now lined with modest family houses.

Yet if you listen closely, perhaps you can still hear the faint echoes of laughter from Tinney’s parties or imagine the elegant lady at her Spanish villa across the way, selling off furs that had only ever brushed studio lights.

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