Now this is very funny; it was built by my daughter's godmother's grandfather or great-grandfather. (I was the anonymous from before but couldn't get signed on properly.)
and they just let this incredible fairy tale place sit vacant for 37 years until it was too far gone to save - the rich are different but not smarter i guess
My favorite estate. I was there the week they were tearing it down. It was a fantastic house and property. It is almost always said that these properties are falling down and beyond disrepair and it is almost never true. There was some rot, sloping stairs etc, but the house still had utilities, was completely sealed to the elements, was kept clean and was quite restorable. Also, Judge Garvan was living in Bagatelle (Hastings) next door and another family member was living in a cottage on the property. While the new development is an improvement over the days when even garden ornaments were bulldozed (Mackay Estate) the loss of this property so late in the game was a real shame.
Did you have a chance to get inside? Family friends of mine were the purchasers in the '70s, they technically bought the house though there was a preexisting agreement with the developer that the house had to be taken down. My friend's mother refused to go to the second floor as she was certain that she was going to fall through the floor. They spent quite a bit of time (and money) restoring the formal dining room which was incorporated into the new house. I wish the house was still standing.
Yes -floors had mild slope but were fine. Many of the family's books (also,lots of racing and kennel related periodicals) were still sitting out and there was a large room full of vintage gowns. There is no quetsion the house could have and should have been saved. J
6 comments:
Now this is very funny; it was built by my daughter's godmother's grandfather or great-grandfather. (I was the anonymous from before but couldn't get signed on properly.)
and they just let this incredible fairy tale place sit vacant for 37 years until it was too far gone to save - the rich are different but not smarter i guess
My favorite estate. I was there the week they were tearing it down. It was a fantastic house and property. It is almost always said that these properties are falling down and beyond disrepair and it is almost never true. There was some rot, sloping stairs etc, but the house still had utilities, was completely sealed to the elements, was kept clean and was quite restorable. Also, Judge Garvan was living in Bagatelle (Hastings) next door and another family member was living in a cottage on the property. While the new development is an improvement over the days when even garden ornaments were bulldozed (Mackay Estate) the loss of this property so late in the game was a real shame.
J
Did you have a chance to get inside? Family friends of mine were the purchasers in the '70s, they technically bought the house though there was a preexisting agreement with the developer that the house had to be taken down. My friend's mother refused to go to the second floor as she was certain that she was going to fall through the floor. They spent quite a bit of time (and money) restoring the formal dining room which was incorporated into the new house. I wish the house was still standing.
Yes -floors had mild slope but were fine. Many of the family's books (also,lots of racing and kennel related periodicals) were still sitting out and there was a large room full of vintage gowns. There is no quetsion the house could have and should have been saved.
J
And this is exactly the reason why we don't want these irreplaceable structures to fall into the hands of developers.
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