Wednesday, July 29, 2009

When 'Forker House' Was For Sale

The following is a brochure advertising 'Forker House', originally the Henri Bendel residence designed by Henry Otis Chapman in Kings Point c. 1916, with landscaping by Charles Leavitt. The house was sold to Walter P. Chrysler in 1923 and eventually acquired by the U.S. Government in 1938 to be used as the administration building for the United States Merchant Academy (established on site in 1943), and given the new name 'Wiley Hall'. My guess is that this brochure is from when the house was for sale before the federal government purchased it. Click HERE to see 'Forker House' on google earth.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

What is it with these twin beds?? You see it here, at Winfield Hall and else were during this time frame. It's not The Lucy Show and the 50's. Was this the norm for LIGC society or America in general???

Anonymous said...

Also - At wikimapia just east of Forker House - you can find 2 of the 22 "eagles" that graced the original Penn Station in NYC.

Anonymous said...

elsewhere - elsewhere - elsewhere

Anonymous said...

the sale pictures must have been done not too long before the gov got it cause that car in the drive of the garage is either a 35 or 36 something.

Anonymous said...

i thot those eagles got dumped in a landfill in nj. if not where are the rest of them and what's the signifigance of the "tallest flagpole"? the eagles were from stonington, maine

Anonymous said...

Two granite eagles from Penn Station facade placed on pedestals at
Seventh Avenue entrance, one to each side of the new station; other eagles are disposed
of as follows: one to Cooper Union, NYC where sculptor Adolph A.
Weinman studied, one to National Zoo Wash. DC, near the Bird House, four to Fairmount Park
Commission for installation at four corners of Market Street
Bridge in Philadelphia, two to O'Hara Gymnasium at U.S. Merchant Marine
Academy at Kings Point, LI, one to LIRR station at Hicksville on LI, one
to Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pa., one to Vinalhaven,
Maine, site of quarries - but not quarries that produced the eagles, and one to Hampden-Sydney College in Va, 2 more are upstate at Ringwood State Park. One of the Clock/ Day/Night Maidens and 2 eagles are in Kansas City, minus the clock, now being used as a Eagle Scout memorial. You can find these all tagged with photos and more info at wikimapia.org. If you read a article attached to the Vinalhaven Maine tag it states the eagles came from "Massachusetts stone."

Karena said...

Treasure indeed, I love to see your posts on Old Long Island. Always so much fascinating history. I love to learn of these histoic propeties!

Karena
Art by Karena