Tuesday, June 15, 2010

'The Creeks'

'The Creeks', the Albert Herter estate designed by Grosvenor Atterbury c. 1899 in East Hampton. Herter was a known muralist and son of Christian Herter who made his fortune decorating the homes of the likes of J.P. Morgan, William H. Vanderbilt and Mark Hopkins. Albert and his wife Adele were both artists and spent much of their time in East Hampton partaking in arts related philanthropic activities and entertaining. Following the deaths of the Herters the estate went through two subsequent owners, both imposing their will on the house. Since 1993 the estate has been owned by Ron Perelman. Click HERE to see 'The Creeks' on google earth and HERE on bing. Click HERE for more on Christian and Albert Herter's artwork.



Click below to see 'The Creeks' in a 1954 aerial shot. 'The Creeks' is also featured in a chapter in Gary Lawrance and Anne Surchin's book Houses of the Hamptons. Pictures from American Architect and Architecture.

5 comments:

The Down East Dilettante said...

When this place was owned by Alfonso Ossorio, it was a marvelous strange sight, quite wonderful in it's way, purple, black, amazing sculpture in the grounds, surrealist gardens---so much more interesting that good taste, and the architecture was left alone, for another round of 'good taste' repaint later. Perelman undoubtedly has changed it more.

Side note: Herter's brother, Christian, had a summer house, also by Grosvenor Atterbury, up near here in Seal Harbor, across from the Ford (now Martha Stewart) estate. The Herter place in Seal Harbor has never been altered, and includes original decoration inside. Most recently owned by James Murphy, Happy Rockefeller's first husband, who I believe was Herter's grandson?

The Down East Dilettante said...

*groan*, I type too fast. I don't believe I used an apostrophe in the possessive form of 'it'. E.B. White would be very annoyed.

Turner Pack Rats said...

bad DED whup him soundly with a book of english grammar

do my eyes deceive me. did someone actually design a house on li that wasn't a classical european pile. not that i don't like those grandiose piles but this one shows some initiative anyway. except for that strange but wonderful chimney piece, the interior in these pix is a bit bland but if DED sez it was better later, i'll believe him.

security word def - "mudenti" - archaic Italian word referring to a cows quality by looking at her teeth

The Down East Dilettante said...

Bland? No, no, no....perhaps it's because they're being seen in black & white---they actually have a Whistleresque quality to them....serious artistic decoration of the time

Gary Lawrance said...

The house was very unconventional, The Herter's were great artists and it is the home of an artist. It was a very colorful house, inside and out. Had extremely elaborate gardens. But, yes, not your typical grand house. There is a chapter in the " Houses of the Hamptons, 1880-1930, book that tells all about it.