Aerial Tours of Mansions and Estates

On the south shore of the far (eastern) end of Long Island in New York there's a string of small town and villages known collectively as the Hamptons.  With improvements in transport, the Hamptons have become in effect the summer playground for the world's wealthiest city.  Houses which are used perhaps 6-8 weeks per year routinely change hands for many millions of dollars.  In this video by AeroVision, you'll get a bird's eye view of some of the mansions which line up on this fabled stretch of beach.  

Summit Avenue in St. Paul is lined with hundreds of historic homes and some of Minnesota's most impressive mansions. Five buildings on Summit Avenue are on the National Register of Historic Places, and three more — including the 36,000-square-foot James J. Hill House — are National Historic Landmarks. This drone footage from pilot landof10000drones shows parts of the street that boasts the longest stretch of Victorian-era homes in the U.S., where writer Sinclair Lewis once lived.

Wild & Free Travel created this amazing video in connection with marketing of one of the most expensive properties in California.  The Warner Brothers Estate was the home of Warner Brothers co-founder Harry Warner, the older brother of the better known Jack Warner.  Located in Bevery Hills, the it was once the home of Marilyn Monroe and much later it "played the role" of the OJ Simpson estate in Brentwood for the FX TV series "The People vs. OJ Simpson".  The property was recently listed at $36 million.

Lemon Hill is a historic mansion located in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park, the city's largest.  The landmark was built in the early 19th century by Henry Pratt, one of the city's leading merchants.  It sits on a site overlooking the east bank of the Schuylkill River, near Boathouse Row.  The mansion was extensively restored in the early 20th century and in 1972 it was placed on the USA's National Historic Register.  You can see this historic site in this drone video by contributor and pilot Chris Dantonio.  

Contributor Droneworldflights used a DJI Phantom 4 drone to create this beautiful video of a ruined mansion in Worcestershire, England.  Witley Court was originally built in the 17th century, and converted in the 19th century into a mansion of the Italianate style.  It's in the town of Great Whitley, a small West Midlands town.  The building was damaged by a major fire in the 1930's, and it fell into ruined status when the ownership was broken up via inheritance.  

Without doubt, the most flattering view of a $32 million mansion on California's Pacific coast is an aerial one.  Contributor Douglas Thron put together this epic drone video of an extremely high end residential property located on Pebble Beach golf course in northern California.  It's on the southwest-facing side of the Monterey Peninsula, opposite the city of Moneterey.  The bird's eye views of this gem, tucked in close to one of the world's most famous golf courses, is simply spectacular. 

Just off of Miami's South Beach (which is the name for the southern end of the island of Miami Beach), you'll find a much smaller man-made island called Star Island.  The island was completed in 1922 and was initially owned by the developer of Miami Beach, Carl Fischer.  Contributor and drone pilot Travel Lifestyle takes us on an aerial tour of the island that's full of extravagant mansions.  Many of these properties are owned by celebrities who seek a somewhat more secluded environment compared to the mainland of Miami Beach.  

Known for his cinematic work profiling natural disasters and bringing attention to worthy causes, cinematographer Douglas Thron also uses his skills to shoot incredible properties throughout his home state of California. This piece features a $4 million home in the appropriately named town of Pleasanton, California. Like other talented pilots, he’ll fly his UAV both inside and outside of the luxury property, giving potential buyers some of the best angles money can buy. 

Minneapolis, Minnesota is notable for its large Scandinavian population, principally from Norway and Sweden.  Not surprisingly, the city is home to the American Swedish Institute, an entity devoted to Swedish-American culture.  Its original building is in the Turnblad Mansion south of downtown, which was built by a wealthy Swedish immigrant who donated it to start the museum in 1929.  Contributor dave drone created this drone video of the Institute, which added an additional building in 2012.

Burton Agnes Hall is a well-known English manor house in the East Riding of Yorkshire, a county in the Yorkshire and Umber region of the UK.  Seen in this drone video by AirVuz contributor Mickey Moo, the Elizabethan style mansion is located near the market town of Driffield about an hour's drive northeast of the city of Leeds.   Burton Agnes Hall was built at the beginning of the 1600's adjacent to the Burton Agnes Manor House (also seen in the video), which dates to the Norman period.  The video was filmed with a DJI Mini 3 Pro drone.  

Here's an aerial view of a well-known manor in the Baltic republic of Lithuania, compliments of contributor Arturas Orlauskas.  It's called Rokiškis Manor, and it's located in a town of the same name in the northeastern part of the country.  While the original structure here dates to the 15th century, the current Classicist style palace was constructed in the early 19th century. When the Soviet Union took control of Lithuania in the early months of World War II, the estate was nationalized.  

Check out this drone video of Queen Victoria's summer retreat, compliments of AVEA - Alta Vista Epic Aerials.  It's called Osborne House, and it's located near the northern shore of the Isle of Wight in southern England.  It was built over a half decade in the middle of the 19th century for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, designed by the latter in the style of an Italian Renaissance chateau.  After the Queen died here in 1901, Osborne House was donated to the state.  It's now open to the public.  

AirVuz contributor and pilot Jumis Visuals brings us this excellent drone video of the Cesvaine Palace in Latvia, an important historic landmark in this small Baltic republic.  It's located in its namesake town in the Vidzeme region, which covers the northeastern part of the country.  The palace was built at the end of the 19th century, on the site of an older castle (which remains standing).  Cesvaine Palace was built for a German nobleman, part of a long legacy of German influence in the Baltic region.  

Rye House was a substantial manor in the countryside near the town of Rye in Hertfordshire, England.  The house dated to before the Hundred Years' War and had undergone numerous modifications.  In 1683, it became forever associated with a plot to murder King Charles II of England and his brother James.  Discovered before the plans could come to fruition, over a dozen of the plotters were executed and many more imprisoned.  You can check out this historic location from above in this drone video by oszibusz.

Building upon the success and visibility he created with his landmark first person view (FPV) tour of the Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis, Minnesota, top contributor Jay Christensen headed to the northern part of the North Star State to make this epic FPV tour of a famous landmark: the Glensheet Mansion on the North Shore of Lake Superior in Duluth.  Dating to the early 1900's, the mansion was the site of the murder of wealthy heiress Elisabeth Congdon in 1977 for which her son-in-law was subsequently convicted in a celebrated trial.   

Check out this drone video of one of the United Kingdom's most famous manors, compliments of new AirVuz contributor STEEL CITY DRONE PILOT.  Chatsworth House is located in Derbyshire, a county of the English East Midlands Region.  The seat of the once-powerful Cavendish family, the house dates to the 16th century.  The house has 126 rooms, although most are closed to visitors.  Frequently cited in surveys as the most popular English manor, Chatsworth appeared in Jane Austen's 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice and later in over a dozen movies.

For a first upload to AirVuz, brand-new contributor Mickey Moo brings us this excellent drone video of Wykeham Abbey, a well-known Georgian style country house in North Yorkshire, England.    The house was built in the 18th century on the site of a Cistercian nunnery called Wykeham Priory, which which dated to the 11th century and had been dissolved in the 1500's.  Since 1909, the home has been the seat of the Viscounts of Downe.  The surrounding estate covers 2.5k acres (a bit over 1k hectares).  

Contributor Viacheslav brings us this excellent drone video of a well-known Russian manor on the outskirts of Moscow.  It's called the Vorontsova-Dashkova Estate, and it's located in the village of Bykovo, southeast of central Moscow and between its first and second ring roads.  The estate was originally built in the 18th century for the Vorontsov family, a noble family of Tsarist Russia, whose power and wealth once rivaled that of the ruling Romanovs.  Nationalized after the Russian Revolution, a renovation for the estate is being planned.