The most beautiful McDonald's in America is in a former mansion on Long Island
- A 19th-century mansion in New Hyde Park, New York, is the most beautiful McDonald's in America.
- The location is a historical landmark that has been a home and a few other restaurants.
- Today it has some details reminiscent of its glamorous past but it's still just a fast-food chain.
The most beautiful McDonald's in America is a pristine white mansion nestled alongside auto shops and warehouses.
Located in New Hyde Park in Long Island's Nassau County, the 19th-century Georgian-style mansion is more than a fast-food franchise - it's also a historical landmark.
Keep reading to learn more about the famous McDonald's location and see what it's like visiting it today.
The building started as a home of a locally prominent family before housing different restaurants
Historians say the house, built as a farmhouse in 1795, was home to the family of Joseph Denton, a descendent of one of the founders of the town of Hempstead.
The Denton family owned a farm on several thousands of acres of what is now New Hyde Park, one of Hempstead's villages.
Denton's family lived in the house for generations, but much of the property left the family's hands around World War II.
The home was then transformed into a few different restaurants - most recently one called Dallas Ribs - until McDonald's bought it in 1986.
In 1986, McDonald's bought the run-down Denton house and property for $1 million
At this point, the Denton house was damaged and boarded up, so McDonald's planned to raze the building and build a standard fast-food location.
That prompted a community outcry, and concerned neighbors fought for years to save the house, one of the oldest buildings standing in the area and one of few historical buildings left.
In 1988 the site was designated a historic landmark, which persuaded McDonald's to pursue restoration.
The company had previously done a similar project in 1984 when it built a restaurant in a historical landmark in Freeport, Maine, which allowed the chain to move in provided it retained the small seaside town's aesthetic. Complete with fireplaces and mahogany booths, that 170-year-old colonial mansion still houses the Maine town's only McDonald's today.
The town eventually approved of the restaurant with a few conditions, and the location opened in 1991
McDonald's was determined to get this location under its belt because there were no similar restaurants in the area. It eventually agreed to a multimillion-dollar restoration plan and to neighbors' conditions to prevent noise and smells.
In 1991, its opening marked the world's 12,000th McDonald's and the only one in the US in a wholly restored building.
"When we took over this building, it was a disaster, a real eyesore," said McDonald's New York regional vice president at the time. "There were pigeons all over. We had to gut the building, take it down to the rafters."
On opening weekend, The New York Times reported that traffic backed up Jericho Turnpike as dozens of cars tried to enter the jammed parking lot.
The surrounding town eventually came to appreciate the McDonald's as a local landmark. And one local auto-body shop owner told Newsday in 1998 that his property value increased by 30% after the eatery opened.
Today, the exterior of the building is generally the same as when it first opened 30 years ago
The McDonald's looks peaceful and beautiful, but it's still along the busy Jericho Turnpike, where the traffic never seems to stop. It looks like a piece of history transplanted in an otherwise metropolitan strip of Long Island.
Looking closely, the building still has distinctive gingerbread ornamentation, which was added around the 1860s when it was converted to a Georgian-style mansion. McDonald's restored the ornate external trim from the original templates.
The building doesn't seem to have changed much over the past few decades, which isn't surprising.
As a historical landmark, the franchise is barred from making significant changes to the building. But the shutters' original sea-green shade was replaced with black at some point.
The front exterior was restored to match a 1920s photograph of the house before it became a restaurant. That photo still hangs inside the restaurant, next to the cash registers.
The vestibule at the main entrance features some minimalist window designs and two black, high-backed wooden benches. It resembles a farmhouse-style restaurant, not a fast-food chain.
The entrance has a spiffy welcome sign and an imposing double staircase that leads to a second-floor gallery
When the restaurant first opened, the decor was a blend of both old and new elements, with wood and tile floors and floral wallpaper similar to what was in the house in the 1920s.
Today, the floors are ordinary hardwood and the wall colors are a nondescript palette of sage, slate, and greige. The double staircase is still quite grand, though.
Historical photos of other area businesses from the late 1800s and early 1900s hang beside the main entrance
The photos give a sense of how much this spot has changed in the past 150 years and adds to the historical mood of the place.
Walking around, I was struck by how upscale this McDonald's felt - the color palette, light fixtures, and furniture could have come straight from an industrial-chic café or coffee shop.
It was also spotless, perhaps because the dining areas were still closed to the guests amid a pandemic.
I could easily imagine how certain spaces in the restaurant were previously used - this area, for instance, might have been a reading or breakfast nook in a past life.
On a wing farthest from the kitchen is the original circular portico, now enclosed in glass
The house underwent many changes over the years, but it's believed that the portico, a structure with a roof supported by columns, and the front screened porch on the opposite side (now closed up, where the kitchen is) are original features.
To me, the portico is one of the eatery's most memorable features, the one that seems least like a typical McDonald's.
The abundance of natural light also creates a lovely ambiance for dining. Unfortunately, the view overlooks the parking lot and the towing shop across the street.
It's hard to believe that newlyweds had their wedding pictures taken here at some point. In fact, when this location first opened, the franchise owner told The New York Times that he wanted the "historic treasure" to be considered "upscale."
"I eventually want to put tablecloths and little battery-operated candles on the tables on Friday and Saturday nights," he said, "so young people can come here on dates."
I ate a meal here before the coronavirus pandemic. It was delightful and, if you could ignore the drive-thru line below, almost peaceful.
The floor-to-ceiling windows don't provide the best view today, but this must have been mostly farmland some hundred years earlier. Back then, this was probably a nice date-night spot with a great view.
I wished I could have sat in a rocking chair on the open portico with a jar of lemonade. Today, I can see why the area is closed off - the glass serves as a divider between the dining area and the sounds of cars and the smell of exhaust.
The main dining area opens up into a high cathedral ceiling with wooden rafters
These ceilings in the main dining area definitely provided a "whoa" moment for me, when I again couldn't believe this was a McDonald's and not a hip restaurant built in a former barn.
Upstairs, on the second-floor mezzanine, you can get a closer look at the ceiling, which used to house an attic and nods to the building's provenance as a farmstead.
These second-floor spaces are more tranquil, farther away from the bustling kitchen and cashier.
One room even used to have an old-fashioned soda fountain
When the franchise first opened, a dining area on the second floor was done up as an old-fashioned soda fountain, complete with a star-studded blue ceiling nook overhead with Ronald McDonald and Mac Tonight (a character with a giant crescent moon for a head) reclining inside.
Today only the counter with stools hints at this area's former glory.
The kitchen and cashier area still feels like a standard McDonald's
Around 2017, this location and 359 others underwent a $6 billion modernization aimed at transforming the customer experience.
McDonald's added new furniture and decor, self-order kiosks, digital menu boards, and remodeled counters.
The cashier area looks like a typical McDonald's, complete with digital menus, two touchscreen kiosks, and a soda fountain.
Overall, the food here is the same as it is at any other McDonald's, but the experience just feels special
The location was not allowing indoor dining at the time I visited in order to comply with safety guidelines amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
But even as I left, I noticed beautiful details surrounding the door.
This Denton House location didn't have any special menu items, but I was able to order the chain's fairly new crispy chicken sandwich. It was crispy and tender and featured Southern-style fried chicken on a potato roll.
I also had spicy McNuggets and a Shamrock Shake, a seasonal, creamy offering in honor of St. Patrick's Day that tastes of mint and vanilla.
This McDonald's location feels pretty glamorous, even though it's surrounded by hustle and bustle and serves the same old quarter-pounders you can find at any location.
When the location first opened in 1991, the Newsday restaurant critic Joan Reminick praised the "dandy architectural details" and history of the building but noted the food was "exactly the same" as it is at any other McDonald's.
Still, the critic mused about how the quarter-pounder with cheese was a "potent memory-trigger" that brought her back to the many times she and her family stopped at the chain for a quick bite.
"Perhaps my next Interstate burger will transport me to a cathedral-ceilinged room with brass sconces and period-reproduction floral wallpaper," she wrote.
Maybe my next burger will transport me to this beautiful McDonald's that's unfortunately surrounded by not-so-glamorous drive-thrus and industrial buildings.