A McDonalds in a Mansion

This is a McDonalds outlet in New Hyde Park, Long Island, New York. McDonalds didn't set out to make one of their restaurants this beautiful. The Georgian mansion called The Denton House is over 200 years old -or at least parts of it are. It's been passed around and used as everything from a restaurant to a funeral home. 

By 1986, it was abandoned and on the verge of falling down.

McDonalds purchased the property with the intention of tearing it down and replacing it with a standard McDonald’s restaurant. Thank goodness for the citizens of the New Hyde Park, who worked to secure landmark status for the building in 1987.

McDonald’s had no choice but to restore the property and work within the parameters of the landmarks commission, which ultimately resulted in their most beautiful restaurant in America (if you know of a better example, please let me know).

You can read more about the history of the Denton House, and see lots of pictures, both historical and the gorgeous interior of the present McDonalds at Scouting New York here.