Thursday, August 20, 2009

When 'Still House' Was For Sale

A brochure advertising 'Still House', the Paul Cravath residence designed by Bradley Delehanty in Locust Valley c. 1920. This was Cravath's fourth and final residence in the area, choosing to build in brick after he lost his first two houses to fires. He chose this location as it is around the corner from the Piping Rock Club. Click HERE to see 'Still House' on google earth.



Brochure courtesy of SPLIA.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello Zach, It appears as if this wonderful house survives and is nicely maintained, is that correct? In the black and white photos, I'm especially fond of the library!
-Robert

Zach L. said...

It does survive and the formal rooms are still in good original shape but the rest of the house has been renovated. The library's wood paneling was salvaged from the RMS Mauretania.

Anonymous said...

The Library was widely published and was originally decorated in Chinese Art Deco style, much more high style and dramatic than the furnishings shown here. The decoration has been credited to McMillen and Ruth Withington and from what I've read the architect of the library was Samuel H. Hughes. I have not read of any period reference to the paneling having been reused from the RMS Mauretania.... but it sounds very possible and a great story.

Zach L. said...

The bit about the Mauretania I got from the brochure on the house when it was for sale recently via Coach Realtors in conjunction with Christie's Great Estates. They write, "The library was taken off the Cunard Line cruise ship, SS Mauritania [sic], sister ship of the Lucitania and is constructed of tiger maple, is two stories high (22 ft) with balcony catwalk and clerestory windows on the second level, perimeter lighting at the ceiling, beautiful inlaid hardwood floors, entry from the second floor and marble fireplace".

Anonymous said...

Hello,

From these images, that is not Mauretania 1907 of the Cunard Line. Most often this wood is simply misidentified for the obvious reasons. The room was not tiger maple for one thing; it smust be silver sycamore. The height also rules this out. There are plenty of period and modern references to wood purchased at the 1935 Hampton and Sons auction at Berth 108 and the subsequent shed auctions, but this is not one of them. In my own work I have served to identify wood from these ships for museums and collectors. I would look at this but expect the results to be negative.

Eric k. Longo
Mauretania Researcher

RSSanders said...

It is currently listed for sale on Zillow with photos of the interior.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/492-Duck-Pond-Rd-Locust-Valley-NY-11560/31155502_zpid/