Saturday, December 18, 2010

Putting a Face to an Estate

Irving Brokaw and wife Lucile. Below, their estate 'Frost Mill Lodge' designed by Walker & Gillette c. 1926 in Mill Neck.


Frederick Gilbert Bourne. Below, his estate 'Indian Neck Hall' designed by Ernest Flagg c. 1897 in Oakdale.


12 comments:

Laura from RI said...

Zach,

Do you know what racetrack this was ?
I'm thinking Saratoga or Havre de Grace...or Kenilworth,ON. I'm stumped..

Turner Pack Rats said...

if the first one is long islands' idea of a "lodge" (ususally a tar paper shack up here in Maine where you tell the wife you are going to stay while you're hunting but usually a place to drink and tell lies with the boys), then i'm on board.
while i am totally in love with the sheer size of indian neck (exhibiting my theory of "if you've got it, flaunt it"), it's too bad the school can't afford a gardener. it's spare to the point of severity which takes away a lot of the grandeur.

security word def - "stlit" - a mode of transportation not to use if dyslexic.

The Devoted Classicist said...

At Indian Neck Hall, were those projecting wings added after it was no longer a private residence?

The Down East Dilettante said...

Devoted Classicist, the wings were there from the beginning---one service, with a squash court, the other with a ballroom, although an even larger ballroom wing was added to the main block a few years later.

Zach, I agree, always fun to see who put the joints up

The Down East Dilettante said...

Oh, and as to Laura's question, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that the Piping Rock Club in the background? Not all that far from Frost Mill...

Anonymous said...

This is great!!! To have faces to go along with the estates...great idea Zach!

Anonymous said...

I'm a bit confused about Indian Neck Hall....on Bing, there seems to be two separate large buildings that look similar. Are both original to the estate?

Old Former Long Islander said...

DED,

I concur. Piping was a much horsier place before the war

The Devoted Classicist said...

Thanks, Zach, and D.E.D. You both are always there with fascinating facts.

An Aesthete's Lament said...

I think it's crucial, actually, to see the people who actually built and lived in the place. So bravo to this glimpse of the Brokaws! By the way, the Brokaws' beauteous daughter Lucile (an artist who became Mrs Richard Derby Tucker and later Mrs Rombout van Riemsdyk) became well known for her appearance in a fantastic photograph by Martin Munkacsi, taken in 1933 at Piping Rock Beach. See it here: http://store.metmuseum.org/posters+prints/martin-munkacsi-lucile-brokaw-piping-rock-beach-long-island-exhibition-poster/invt/80007346/

An Aesthete's Lament said...

sorry, the daughter who was photographed by Munkacsi was Lucile, not Louise.

An Aesthete's Lament said...

Lord, I can't get anything right today. LOUISE married Richard Derby Tucker; Lucile married James D P Bishop and, later, Rombout van Riemsdyk.