Friday, November 5, 2010

'Silvermore'

'Silvermore', the Edward Roesler estate designed by an unknown architect in Kings Point. Roesler was a partner at Laidlaw & Co., bankers. Click HERE to see the brochure from when 'Silvermore' was for sale.


43 comments:

magnus said...

I'm not so sure about the curved pediment over the front door, or the curved roof at the rear of the house- or, for that matter, the monolithic garage and Superintendent's apartment above. But I love the brick and limestone billiard room (blow up the photo in the brochure- have they left the cat's bowl out behind the potted palm to the right?). And of all things to include in your basement- the boilers and ...a barber shop!
Zach: Keep those old brochures coming- I could spend all day going through them. A real window into a vanished world.

HalfPuddingHalfSauce said...

In the for sale brochure 2nd page lower left you can see a burnt-out shell of what I suspect was "Evermore" the Jesse Livermore estate. Can anyone confirm? Zach do you know date of brochure? Lengthly scandal ridden family history described in the Spinzia book. Robbery, murder, suicide and bad finical dealings! They state "unconfirmed" if house still survives???

Anonymous said...

Who has a scandalous history...The Roesler's or the Livermore's?

This house is a dream.....especially the portico and the view.

magnus said...

Jesse Livermore was- and remains- one of the most famous speculators in history, making and losing several enormous fortunes in the years between 1900-1940. Clearly a manic depressive, he eventually shot himself in the cloakroom of the Sherry Netherland in New York. His second wife was a great beauty but a mentally unstable alcoholic. His short selling combined with their high living and generally off kilter behavior caused their more conservative neighbors to look at them askance, as they used to say. Livermore, in their eyes, was no gentleman. They were probably right.

magnus said...

Hey- HPHS- Google Jesse Livermore- go to Jesse Livermore.com. If they're correct, Silvermore WAS Evermore- there's a photo of it on the web,together with a description that says Evermore had a barbershop in the basement- just like Silvermore. Must be the same house.

magnus said...

And if the NYTimes is correct, the house was designed in 1925 by Mrs. Livermore herself, a former Zeigfeld showgirl, who "supervised every detail". The house and contents were sold at auction in June, 1933 to "satisfy her creditors".

Zach L. said...

Magnus,

that all makes a whole lot of sense to me. Plus, just remove the S and swap the I and L in Silvermore and you've got Livermore.

magnus said...

Zach- agreed- "Mystery solved" as they say.

HalfPuddingHalfSauce said...

Link to a totally different home attributed to Livermore. Different roof lines, placement of chimneys etc. Spinzia book has THAT photo for Evermore. Historic Map Works show the two separate properties - re: Livermoore/Roesler. Evermoore had landscaping by Olmsted which you would think would be featured in the brochure for Silvermoore - its not. The burnt-out hulk does match the footprint of the Georgian Revival house in the link above. Perhaps fire destroyed the first house and Livermoore took over Silvermmore?

HalfPuddingHalfSauce said...

YouTube link on Jessie Livermoore.

HalfPuddingHalfSauce said...

NY Times link to Livermore's purchase of "Locust Lawn" from Senator Palmer of Michigan in 1921. Matches info from Spinzia and Historic Map Works.

magnus said...

Zach and HPHS- this is odd. Mystery clearly not solved. But it is perplexing that two contiguous estates with no common familial ownership should bear such similar names- Evermore and Silvermore. And both have basement barbershops. Now how many houses boast that? (according to one source, Jesse's boasted a full time barber). Zach- your the master- what's your call?

magnus said...

Wish I could get this link thing down- NY times reported on Aug 2, 1940 that developers had purchased the former Jesse Livermore estate with the intention of tearing it down and developing the property. The article stated that the estate was called "Silvermore" and that the entrance portico boasted two story columns. Really odd

Zach L. said...

Even more odd. And let us not forget in Spinzia the house is referred to as 'Augustina'.

Kellsboro Jack said...

"[numeral above 1] wife was a great beauty but a mentally unstable alcoholic"

Alas why were so many of the pre-1960's heiress types falling into that cliche description.

lil' gay boy said...

I read those links in the Times as well as the postcard HPHS linked to; apparently Livermore was the fourth owner of the estate, which may very well have changed names more than once.

A good mystery to look into, especially since neither house is very distinguished & therefore has little in the way of historical records to pursue.

I find it highly intriguing that Livermore's third wife was on her fifth marriage ––– all four previous ones having ended with the husband's suicide.

She must have been quite the bitch to attain that track record...

Anonymous said...

But the front and side facades of both homes are very different. They can't be the same mansions. Maybe they were both similar and in close proximity of each other.

Zach L. said...

Here is a viewable clip of the NYTimes article Magnus was talking about:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4038/5149659311_d5fed2b566_b.jpg

HalfPuddingHalfSauce said...

A clue for me from the NYTimes article - "erected by Mr. Livermore" "Evermore" was CONVERTED from a 125-year old farmhouse into a brick structure with twenty-five rooms whereas "Silvermore" was "erected" from scratch???. This Google Book link gives even more confusing info. Plus An Aesthete's Lament posted back in Nov. of 2009 this - "Name of estate as Augustina confirmed by 1934 NYTimes wedding announcement of the Roeslers' daughter Rutherford Roesler to Elliott Conger Baker. The Roeslers had another daughter, Jessie Laidlaw Roesler. And the estate's name apparently was in honor of Edward Roesler's father, August Roesler." Magnus where's the link to the NYTimes article you mention from 1925 about Mrs. Livermore designing place? I was given some names of local historians from The Great Neck Library - I plan to call sometime next week.

magnus said...

HPHS- NYTimes, June 21, 1933, page 19- "Livermore Estate to be sold for debt"

Tracey Livermore said...

This has been a fascinating read!

There are only two of us Livermore's left.. my brother and I. JL III ( my father ) passed a few years ago. Unfortunately he followed in the family footsteps.

The mystery regarding the Evermore estate is of particular interest to me as well. My husband and I are planning on visiting the area in the next couple of months and plan to chat with local historians as well begin working with a real estate agent familiar with local history.

Based on our family records and photos it appears that "Silvermore" & "Evermore" are two separate properties.

That said, there are a number of unanswered questions.. I intend to obtain the answers!

Who knows.. maybe..one day.. the property can be back in the family.

TL Livermore

Anonymous said...

Good luck Tracey...keep us posted. Would you be willing to share your photos of your family estate with Zach?

Tracey Livermore said...

Anonymous

Thanks & will certainly keep everyone posted.

I am in the process of organizing and making hi-res scans of all of the family photos / memorabilia.

There are "mysteries" being discovered about my family even I didn't know.

I am happy to share what I have with Zach!

Tracey Livermore said...

BTW... the comment regarding the property being back in the family at some point... tongue in cheek of course.

I've done fairly well for myself but not that well!

and the family money.... aside from David & I believing it to be cursed.. it was gone long ago.

HalfPuddingHalfSauce said...

Tracey Livermore I'm curious, how did you find this site? Random Google search?

Tracey Livermore said...

Evening HalfPuddingHalfSauce !

My husband and I were researching information for our attorney regarding trademarks and the use of the "Livermore" name.

I am in the process of re-launching one of my grandmother's original brands...

The description in Google caught my eye and included the word "Evermore".

ClaraP said...

Anything new from Tracy Livermore since Dec 2011? I just found this site and am fascinated. Just started googling Livermore because my grandmother worked for them as a maid in the 1920s. That's the only information I have so reading this site has been a revelation!

ClaraP said...

Anything new from Tracy Livermore? I found this site googling Livermore because I believe my grandmother worked for the family on their estate 1920s. This is all just fascinating!

Anonymous said...

Always interested in new information about Jesse Livermore, definitely one of the greatest traders in the first half of the 20th century, I came around this interesting blog. Richard Smitten wrote a very good book about Livermore and also has a website reg. this topic: http://www.jesselivermore.com/

If you go the picture section, you will see that the backside of Silvermore is, in my view, identical to the picture on Smitten's website. Also, the location in Great Neck, Long Island, fits perfectly.

I would love to read more from Tracey Livermore and hope she will tune in soon again.

Anonymous said...

What a great website ! I can spend hours browsing trough its content of magnificent estates... and what a great surprise to me when I stumble upon The Great bear of wall street's mansion in great neck! It is of particular interest to me cause I've been a Livermore's fan and have a lot of respect to what this man was able to achieve in the Stock Market... About Tracey Livermore I've tried to find out something more about her but not very successful at all... I have a feeling of her being a phony,just someone elses joke... also her website seems to be abandoned. Talking about the estate in question it seems to be the one Smitten mentions on one of his books about Livermore... ClaraP do you have any interesting story told by your grandma about the Livermores ? Does she still alive ? Can You share anything with us ? Tks

Tracey Livermore said...

Good morning!

Sorry I havent been back here to respond. My schedule can get a bit hectic. I am actually here in NYC for the Tribeca Film Festival and am planning a trip out to the area on Saturday.

I will stop back in and let you know what I found. I'll try to take as many photos as I can although I'm not sure how close I'll actually get to the property :)

Anonymous said...

Just came upon this site - looking for estate my husband's grandfather was a gardener on - His dad - before he passed at the age of 96 said his dad worked on the Roesler estate and they lived in a house on the estate. Trying to figure out where that was

Anonymous said...

I grew up on Lighthouse Road in Kings Point, which appears to be the site of the former Evermore, Silvermore estates.

Anonymous said...

The Roesler estate was comprised of about 100 acres and was bisected by Kings Point Road. About a third of the estate overlooked the sound and consisted of "the big house", another owner house called "the cottage" and a huge garage as well as a two family house for the groundskeeper and the chauffeur. The other two thirds spread out from Kings Point Rd.to wildwood Rd and was bounded by Redbrook Rd. I was born in the little farmhouse in 1930. My father was the gardener/farm manager until the gardens were abandoned and the stock sold in the mid 40's. The terms Evermore and silvermore are unfamiliar to me. I remember the date, 1888 over the front door of Augustina.

DirtyTed said...

Hi, I'm hoping Tracey Livermore is still checking these messages. Tracy if you are out there I'm wondering if I may be able to interview you, I'd be willing to pay. Email me brad.allen195@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Did the Roesler estate encompass what is now Lighthouse Road?

Anonymous said...

Did the Roesler estate encompass what is today Lighthouse Road?

Unknown said...

Hi, are you a descendent of Jessie Livermore, he was Married to my Aunt Nettie, his first wife. When they divorced, she bought a mansion in Palm Beach, which was in the family from 1920-61. I have a picture of a mansion they oen on Robin s Nest Lane, in Glen Cove.

Unknown said...

Hi, are you a descendent of Jessie Livermore, he was Married to my Aunt Nettie, his first wife. When they divorced, she bought a mansion in Palm Beach, which was in the family from 1920-61. I have a picture of a mansion they oen on Robin s Nest Lane, in Glen Cove.

Anonymous said...

The exact location of Silvermore mansion was at the end of the Soundview Lane: https://goo.gl/maps/km8RMJivQiN2

Matches perfectly with the map in the brochure: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OlaVeajrP30/SvFxjDWaotI/AAAAAAAAEVI/w9mTaOrs9gY/s1600-h/Silvermore+4.jpg

Unknown said...

How about the house was destroyed? In the latest book about Jesse Livermore i THINK i read that the house was demolished to build several houses on the property and sell for profit.

It would make sense because i also found the same location as "anonymous" posted on may 05 2016. The Property apparently was pretty big, but on google earth now there are houses everywhere.

Also Tracey if you read this - what "mysteries" where discovered? any updates?

XS said...

Yeah or maybe she killed him/them :(

ClaraP said...

Hi sorry it’s been years and I hadn’t kept up with this. I only know that my grandmother worked there a very short time in the early or mid 1920s. And she gave me two carved teak side tables that she said were a gift to her from Mrs Livermore. My grandmother passed in 1993.