Sixty years ago, Tom Carvel, the soft-serve ice cream magnate, purchased large tracts of land in Pine Plains and Milan for the purpose of creating a golf-centered resort community. Unlike his substantial ice cream empire, the project did not go as planned.
The story began in the summer of 1960, when Milan farmer Art Heiser died while chasing a calf. His farm had been split in two six years earlier when the Taconic State Parkway expanded north from Route 199 in Lafayetteville. Heiser’s wife, Ann, held onto the land for a few years before putting it up for sale — just as Tom Carvel was searching for property.
In 1965, Carvel purchased the Heiser farm along with a neighboring land owned by the Sidoli family, who had relocated to the hamlet of Pine Plains. By the end of the year, Carvel had amassed approximately 850 acres, split evenly between Milan and Pine Plains on either side of the Taconic State Parkway.
A Grand Vision, A Doomed Resort
Carvel moved swiftly to plan, develop, and market his new venture, which he named All American Sports City. In 1966, he dredged a swamp on the Pine Plains portion of his property, building a long earthen dam to create Lake Carvel. Around the lake and surrounding land, approximately 230 home sites were mapped out, with individual deeds filed. The Town of Pine Plains, which at the time had no zoning laws, approved the subdivision. Infrastructure was installed to provide water and wastewater management, along with fire hydrants. Some roads were built to offer access to future homes.
Despite these preparations, the acreage remains an unrealized project to this day. Even the Durst Organization, which purchased the property in 2001, has been unable to develop it and listed it for sale in October 2024.
But, in the summer of 1966, work began to transform rolling cow pastures into an 18-hole, 7,030-yard golf course. The Carvel Golf Course opened to the public in 1969. To mark the entrance, Carvel installed large illuminated pillars along Ferris Lane, just east of the Taconic State Parkway, welcoming visitors to the property. That fall, he announced plans for a 3,400-foot airstrip for commercial and private use. The runway, however, was never built.
A 1968 brochure and press kit projected that All American Sports City would eventually feature 500 homes on lots of half an acre or more, with prices starting at $3,500. The promotional materials promised a 60-room health spa to complement year-round outdoor activities, including boating, fishing, skiing, tobogganing, horseback riding, and tennis. Prospective residents were also enticed with the prospect of limousine and helicopter service.
Carvel enlisted several high-profile figures to serve on All American Sports City’s board of directors. Among them were European-trained hotelier Eugene Tyszkieweicz, pop singer Vic Damone, bandleader Sammy Kaye, comedian Jan Murray, and transportation executive William Fugazy — all connected to Carvel through a shared passion for golf.
The development’s golf course and residential community were planned for the east side of the parkway, while the west side was set to feature a shopping plaza and an attraction called the Children’s Dream World of Ice Cream — a vaguely defined concept that included a small lake and a beach. Neither the shopping plaza nor the Dream World was ever built.
Big Promises, Bigger Obstacles
Despite its high-profile endorsements and promised amenities, Carvel struggled to attract buyers. As the 1970s began, rising interest rates further dampened prospects. In an effort to revive the project, Carvel expanded his vision. According to the Kingston Freeman, by 1969 the plan had grown to include a 72-unit condominium complex and a chalet-style hotel.
In January 1973, Carvel presented a revised proposal to the Pine Plains Town Board, calling for the construction of condominiums or rental units totaling up to 2,500 living spaces. News reports noted that, if fully realized, the development would have quadrupled the town’s population. The plan did not move forward. A year later, Carvel submitted another proposal for 1,904 housing units. To facilitate approval, he requested that the town line between Pine Plains and Milan be shifted by 50 acres, ensuring the entire development fell under the jurisdiction of Pine Plains — where no zoning laws existed — rather than that of Milan, which had zoning regulations in place. Both towns rejected the request.
The Golf Course That Outlived the Dream
The Carvel Golf Course was intended, and did become, the main attraction of All American Sports City. Entertainer Perry Como was among the first to play the course, completing a nine-hole round in the fall of 1968. Throughout the 1970s, the course hosted numerous successful tournaments, including the 1974 New York State High School Golf Championships and the 1975 Girl Talk LPGA Tournament, a 54-hole event with a $50,000 purse. Several charity tournaments were also held, and Stissing Mountain High School formed a golf team, using the course for several years.
A white wooden sign spelling GOLF, styled after the iconic HOLLYWOOD sign in Los Angeles, was erected on a wooded hillside overlooking the Taconic State Parkway. It stood as the only commercial sign along the parkway’s 167 scenic miles.
In an effort to bring credibility and publicity to All American Sports City, Carvel established the All American Collegiate Golf Hall of Fame. Housed in a scaled-down replica of the Parthenon, the hall was built in a wooded area along Woodward Hill Road — known as Ferris Lane in Milan. Carvel assembled an impressive roster to lead the initiative: Bob Hope served as honorary chairman, while Arnold Palmer chaired the selection committee. The board of directors included renowned golfers Ken Venturi and Dave Marr, alongside notable figures such as Como, auto executive Lee Iacocca, sportscaster Chris Schenkel, and New York Lieutenant Gov. Malcolm Wilson.
The first artifact displayed at the hall of fame was a putter used by President Dwight Eisenhower. The building was demolished in the early 2000s and the golf course was shuttered in 2010.
As the 1980s began, sales of building lots remained sluggish. Despite plans for hundreds of homes, only six were ever built — one of them for Carvel himself. All American Sports City was on the brink of decline, entering a decade of uncertainty.
In another attempt to revive the project, Carvel expanded his vision once more. In the spring of 1983, The News (now The Millerton News) reported that a promotional flyer outlined a range of new features beyond the golf course, including polo fields, stables, fishing, hiking, and cross-country skiing. Plans also called for a conference center with seating for up to 200 people, small and large audio-visual and television production rooms, recording studios, and a 150-seat theater. All of these amenities were to be housed in Heiser’s former dairy barn, which had been converted into a clubhouse.
Many of these planned features never materialized, and the project suffered further setbacks due to two fires. In the summer of 1983, Carvel’s home burned down but was later rebuilt. Then, in January 1984, the clubhouse was destroyed in a fire of unknown origin, though arson was suspected.
Undeterred, Carvel introduced a new proposal in September 1986, according to the Pine Plains Register-Herald. The plan called for 677 townhouses on the Milan portion of the property and a corporate conference center. Neither project advanced, but in 1989, a rebuilt clubhouse was completed, and the golf course was rebranded as The Pine Plains Country Club.
At the end of 1989, at age 83, Tom Carvel sold his controlling interest in his ice cream company to Investcorp, a Bahrain-based global investment firm, for $80 million. He had little time to enjoy his retirement. On the morning after a round of golf, Carvel was found dead at his Pine Plains home on Oct. 21, 1990.
But the story did not end there.
A Legacy Clouded by Controversy
In the years following his death, a series of unusual and unexpected events unfolded, casting a shadow over the legacy of the self-made ice cream magnate.
Thomas A. Carvel, born Ἀθανάσιος Καρβέλας (Athanassios Karvelas) in Athens, Greece, in 1906, immigrated to the United States at age 5. In 1934, after working a series of odd jobs, he borrowed $15 from his future wife, Agnes, and began selling ice cream from a truck in Westchester County. On Memorial Day that year, his truck broke down, causing the ice cream to melt — but to his surprise, customers preferred the softer texture. Recognizing an opportunity, Carvel turned the mishap into a business. Two years later, on that same site in Hartsdale, he opened his first retail shop.
Carvel refined his ice cream-making machinery and deepened his understanding of refrigeration during World War II while working as a food concessionaire at Fort Bragg (now Fort Liberty) in North Carolina. After the war, he patented a soft-serve ice cream machine — the first of 16 patents he would eventually hold.
In 1947, Carvel began selling his Custard King machines, and by 1949, he had pioneered a new retail model — selling soft-serve ice cream makers along with Carvel franchises. Often regarded as the father of modern franchising, he reportedly allowed McDonald’s to use his franchise contract as a template for its own.
Near his corporate headquarters in Yonkers, N.Y., Carvel purchased a motel and converted it into a training school for franchisees. Dubbed the Carvel College of Ice Cream Knowledge — or Sundae School — the facility reflected his hands-on approach, as he frequently visited stores to inspect operations and promote the brand.
Carvel’s innovation extended beyond franchising. He created signature ice cream cakes like Fudgie the Whale and Cookie Puss, giving staff a way to stay busy while boosting sales. He was also among the first CEOs to personally produce radio and television commercials, ad-libbing his way to regional fame. By the mid-1980s, Carvel had expanded to over 800 shops along the East Coast, with annual sales reaching approximately $300 million.
Tom and Agnes had no children, but in 1976, they established the Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation. After his death, and following the distribution of 83 modest bequests outlined in his will, the foundation was designated to receive the remaining $67 million of his estate upon Agnes’s passing. However, Carvel had appointed seven executors to oversee his estate, a decision that ultimately benefited lawyers more than his intended philanthropic efforts.
One of the executors, Carvel’s niece Pamela Carvel, aggressively sought a larger share of the fortune beyond the $20,000 she had been granted in his will. After Agnes’s death in 1998, Pamela continued her legal battle for a greater portion of the Carvel fortune, filing lawsuits against Carvel Foundation as well as judges in New York, Delaware, Florida, and the United Kingdom.
In 2007, Pamela alleged that Tom had been murdered in Pine Plains by two former employees who had embezzled from the Carvel Corporation and later served on the Carvel Foundation board. She hired retired New Jersey police detective Fred Welsh, who claimed there was evidence that Carvel’s heart medication had been tampered with. Welsh also alleged that guests at Carvel’s home were contacted on the day of his death and asked to remove all his medications from the medicine cabinet. Pamela even petitioned to exhume Tom’s body to test for poisoning, but the request was never granted.
By 2007, the two former employees Pamela had accused were deceased and could not testify. In 2012, a Florida court dismissed her case and ordered her to sell properties in New York City and Florida to cover her legal fees, as well as those incurred by the Carvel Foundation. Even after the property sales, the court ruled that she still owed hundreds of thousands of dollars. Pamela then disappeared. Her whereabouts are unknown to this day.
Despite the long and contentious battle over Tom Carvel’s estate, his philanthropic legacy endures. The Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation remains an active charity, with assets of approximately $45 million. In 2023, a typical year of giving, the foundation awarded 159 grants totaling more than $3 million to nonprofit organizations focused on health and education, primarily in Westchester County.
Carvel spent 25 years trying to bring All American Sports City to life, gradually expanding his land holdings to 1,900 acres. In 2001, the Durst Organization bought the property for $7.78 million. After three unsuccessful attempts to secure approval for a recreation-centered residential community, Durst listed the land for sale in 2024 — with an asking price of $36 million.