'Sunridge Hall', the Devereaux Milburn estate designed by Peabody, Wilson & Brown c. 1916 in Old Westbury. A large portion of the house was torn down but the western wing still stands and can be seen above and below (with the entire house seen below that). The additional parts of the house seen today seem to have been tacked onto the remaining wings. The estate functions as the Old Westbury Equestrian Center. Click HERE for more on 'Sunridge Hall'.
12 comments:
interesting to see then and now together...great pergola...
The before and afters are wonderful to see. I love the row of columns.
Karena
Art by Karena
Sabrina{1954} - I was telling Zach that I've watched North by Northwest untold times but had never seen the Billy Wilder movie "Sabrina". Zach told me about the anniversary edition which has a 2nd disc that has extras including Monica Randall outside Weylyn. Some nice background history of the area with new and old photos - including a colorized post card of Winfield Hall's front gate.
It appears that the involvement of Glen Cove and one of the Pratt houses is more a myth then fact. No doubt the train station was used{minimally} but the house portrayed in the movie was a drawing and the interior and terrace scenes were Hollywood sets. In some material reference is made that the Long Island home of then Paramount Pictures head Barney Balaban was used. He actually lived across the way in Greenhaven{Rye} were the waterfront scenes were shot. http://www.bing.com/maps/explore/?org=aj#/vot2scf0p4okl3r2
http://www.ryehistoricalsociety.org/documents/RHS-GreenhavenScript.doc
{Microsoft Works Word - page 20} Heres a still shot of Audrey Hepburn outside Balaban's home - http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2507511808/tt0047437
One other interesting bit of info - the extras from disc2 mention the the pool and yard{not the indoor tennis court} of Bill Paley's place were used - Magnus???
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=16295&category=Notes
One scene I've yet to figure out - as Bogart is being driven to the city - through the back window the car passes between stone gate posts with a gate lodge off to the left???
Background on the troubles making the movie here - http://books.google.com/books?id=e9Q7KYfnJYsC&pg=PT171&lpg=PT171&dq=Barney+Balaban+long+island,ny&source=bl&ots=7YXvlcORNF&sig=gVda3I55vZ-HGrcAS2Mpjxv6nZo&hl=en&ei=3ixDTJnxFoiCsQPynMT1DA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CCkQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q&f=false
HPHS, I don't know why, but for some reason I seem to recall a connection between both the original & remake of Sabrina sharing something in common with Salutations, the Junius Morgan estate. I know scenes from the remake with Harrison Ford were filmed there.
Also, I know Zach has posted info about Bill & Babe Paley's Kiluna Farm before but I don't recall ever seeing the pool in the film.
Kiluna Farm was joined to Babe's sister Betsey Whitney's (two of the three "Fabulous Cushing Sisters") estate, Greentree, by what was claimed to be the shortest boulevard in Nassau County at the time –––– Baragwanath Blvd., named after the husband of Neysa McMein, the artist responsible for the cover art for McCall's magazine from 1923 thru 1937; I know Neysa was an Algonquin Round Table member, but don't know how the Whitney's & Paley's knew her well enough to name the connecting road after her husband, nor why.
I was privileged to dine at Greentree when Betsey hosted a luncheon for the NYS Preservation League, but was so in awe after seeing Van Gogh's self-portrait in the hallway outside of the library that I forgot to ask Emil, her majordomo, about the anecdote.
BTW, I see you like to share links with us: I emailed Zach with the syntax you can use in the comment box to create one:
{a href="http://www.whatever website you want to link to.com"}link word or words here{/a}
Just replace the french braces with angle brackets (shift comma, shift period) to create a link like the ones I did here.
Of course, movies set designers mix and match locales and sets to create an idealized version of the time and place they're shooting, and Sabrina is a perfect example---a gate here, a vignette there. Even movies that use real houses completely will sometimes shake it up---you see the character entering one houses front door, but once inside, a different house completely. Very disjointing to those of us who know the locations well, and amazing to contemplate how all that moving around must push up the cost of the movie.
Sam Taylor, author of Sabrina, was a friend, and told me once that Sabrina was an accurate picture of life as he found among the country house set.
Here I thought "cut and paste" was such a revelation.
You really have to watch the special features disc to get were these questions come from. The pool is shown next to the indoor tennis court. The indoor court is if anything Gothic in style, matching the house in the movie. There is a view of a lawn/terrace area as AHepburn gives the opening monologue. If the information about using the Paramount house on LI or any of the Pratt houses is wrong the Paley connection could also be. Did you get to see indoor court at Kiluna Farm?
The movie itself is timeless. Hollywood set or not the cinematography is noteworthy for a B/W film. Watching the Liberte sail down the Hudson outside Bogart's river view office is spectacular. Plus you get Jane Hathaway from the Beverly Hillbillies.
Does anyone know - did Manor House have a farm complex?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Europa_(1928)
http://www.historicaerials.com/?poi=12001
HPHS -
Thanks for the insight into the Sabrina sets. In regard to North by Northwest - wasn't that Manor House?
Westbury House.
If my memory serves me, the original 'Sabrina' exterior shots of the lawn, terrace and back of the house as well as the drive up to the car court were filmed at the Lewis residence on Benedict Canyon Dr in Beverly Hills. It was an imposing early 1920s era English country-style house that was demolished in the sixties, like so many of the old estates on large acreage in and around Beverly Hills. I believe the home was published in an early issue of the Architectural Digest from the 1920s. I'll look through the collection at the Pasadena Public Library on my next visit.
-- CDR from San Marino formerly of New York City
That sounds great. English country-style seems more fitting. Do you have a first name on Lewis? Or who they were? Thanks
I have found some amazing images of the Indoor Tennis Houses of Long Island and its environs. The Ralph Pulitzer court walls had many trophy heads of big game mounted everywhere. I am not sure if Paley kept that same look when he bought it in 1939.
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