Friday, March 18, 2011

'Broad Hollow House' Barn

A look inside the stable and barn of 'Broad Hollow House', the Ambrose Clark estate designed by Rogers & Zogbaum c. 1912 in Old Westbury. Click HERE for more on 'Broad Hollow House'. Click HERE for more on the stable/barn. Click HERE to see the barn on bing.

26 comments:

Doug Floor Plan said...

Here’s my best effort at showing the stable on Bing: http://www.bing.com/maps/Default.aspx?encType=1&v=2&ss=ypid.YN633x11101158&style=r&mkt=en-us&FORM=LLDP but you need to switch to ‘Bird’s eye view’ & zoom in – the stable is just below the upper right-hand corner of the Green Oaks golf course. For those who are better at this linking stuff please feel free to provide a better link.

As for the stable -- it doesn’t take much imagination to imagine what it once was.

Doug Floor Plan said...

*Glen Oaks golf course ... not Green (& I really did proofread before posting ... agghhh!)

Laura from RI said...

The stable/barn closely resembles the Belair Stable of William Woodward Sr. in Bowie, Maryland. Today it is a museum and if you ever get a chance to visit it is well worth it. Nearby is the mansion, which is also worth visiting. The area around the stable is what William Levitt bought up in 1957, save for the stable & mansion. Some 2,400 acres.For housing.

Turner Pack Rats said...

LfromRI - its interesting to note that while he put housing on 2400 acres, the mansion and stable still exist unlike another area we needn't mention.
another "maybe an open flame wasn't a good idea on tar and an extemely dry roof" story. many landmarks here in main have been destroyed by workers using paint stripping heat guns at 900 degrees because it was faster. well, it made it so they didn't have to repaint but it sure is a shame and in this case too.

security word def - "hompers" - diapers for shut-ins

Zach L. said...

For all my issues with Levitt, he was somewhat sensitive to preservation to a certain extent (much more so than other developers).

When building his Strathmore developments in Manhasset starting in the early/mid 30s, he laid the roads according to the contours of the landscape and left much of the landscaping intact. He also restored the Onderdonk Mansion: (http://www.oldlongisland.com/2009/07/onderdonk-mansion.html) and when he purchased the Virginia Graham Fair Vaderbilt estate across Northern Blvd he kept the mansion and converted it into a club house for the development. Obviously very different from Levittown a decade later.

Anonymous said...

Maybe it's me, but I think both Levitt and Moses were Long Islands biggest downfalls.

Zach can I ask, the house that's now used as the Empire University can I assume that somehow that house was part of the
Clarke estate? It being so close to the stable area.

Also I'm a bit confused between where BroadHollow and Longfields were divided. Was that Broadhollows main entrance on Store Hill Road or 107? Then where would have Longfields main gates have been? Both properties seem to blend into each other.

Laura from RI said...

TPR-When I went in 2001 to Belair Stable, they were just beginning to re-furbish the stables. I met the caretaker Russell who told many stories abt Ann Woodward & Elsie Woodward and the shrubbery outside the oval archway to the stables. I forget what type of shrubbery, but I was told Elsie chose it first when the stables were first built. Anyways, abt the time Nashua was 1YO, Ann used to come w/Billy for the w/end. Ann decided to have the shrubs removed & replaced w/something more to her liking. Elsie got wind of it and ordered her landscapers to replace whatever was there. Ann would then order to have her shrubs replaced until it got to point that Elsie told Billy to bar Ann forever from Belair. Elsie would go to Belair to ensure this was done. We're talking 1953-55. After Billy's estate was settled in 1956, she decided to sell Belair for a tidy profit to Levitt, sold the horses (including Nashua alone on a sealed bid of $1,251,000, sold her Manhattan mansion @ 9 E.86th St (formerly the Town Club), today a private residence that sold for $27 million a few years ago, and went to live @ The Waldorf Towers. But the tales abt Ann & Elsie were astonishing. The museum is up & running & looks great. From Gallant Fox to Nashua, everything is detailed and photographed. It really is a must see if you're ever in the area.

Zach L. said...

Anon,

The entrance to 'Broad Hollow House' is/was on Store Hill seen here:
http://www.oldlongisland.com/2008/07/broad-hollow-house.html

The entrance to 'Longfields' is now the SUNY OW access road also on Store Hill seen here:
http://wikimapia.org/#lat=40.7809314&lon=-73.5674143&z=17&l=0&m=h

The 'Longfields' property was shaped kind of like a lightbulb with the thin part towards the bottom in between 'Broad Hollow House' and 'Pickett Farm' next door. It ballooned up where the driveway bends, you can see where it sat here:

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=40.7881451&lon=-73.5689378&z=16&l=0&m=b

I think the difference back in the day was a little more stark but Clark purchased and razed 'Longfields' with the intention of blending the property into his. The two houses did sit rather close to each other given the size of the surrounding acreage.

The Down East Dilettante said...

As to Levitt and Moses being Long Island's biggest downfalls: Moses probably carries more guilt than Levitt. Moses was not terribly interested in impact on communities, he was more interested in getting people there, whatever he had to obliterate in his path.

Levitt, on the other hand, was just the messenger. Development was going to overtake Long Island, no matter what---proximity to one of the world's busiest cities insured that. Far guiltier are the communities that didn't try to foresee the future and take control of their development destinies.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Zach.I think I was so confused because I thought Broadhollows main house sat where the actual college and dorms stand today and that the main gate was off 107 and the gate that stood on Store Hill Road was the service gate. Still odd how they zoned many of the estates back in the day...very strange property lines indeed.

So then was the house that is now used for Empire College a guest house for Broadhollow or not part of that estate at all?

lil' gay boy said...

LfromRI, I'll do a little PR for Zach here ––– Ann & Billy lived for much of their turbulent marriage in the converted Playhouse (the courtyard of which is supposedly paved with cobblestone Marie Antoinette trod on to her execution) at Sunken Orchard here on LI [also the site of one of the (in)famous "Levittowns" ––– where, incidentally, I spent some of my formative years]. The Playhouse is where Ann shotgunned Billy (Life Magazine's "Shooting of the Century") in the hallway between their bedrooms, the incident that became fodder for the book The Two Mrs. Grenvilles by Dominick Dunne and also Truman Capote's Answered Prayers. Ann, Billy, Woody & James all met with untimely deaths.

Anon 1:13, although I can empathize with your views regarding Levitt & Moses, their missteps are the sort of historical serendipity that resulted in the quirks that make Long Island living so unique. As I mentioned I spent some of my childhood in Levittown & have fond memories of the place that have nothing to do with familial ties & more with the houses & neighborhood in general (i.e., it was our first house with a wood-burning fireplace).

And think of the estates we might have lost if the locals hadn't been able to influence Moses to build around them (i.e. "Objectors' Bend" on the Northern State Parkway), not to mention Jones Beach with its campanile & boardwalk. It's follies like these that make Long Island home for me.

Security word - kartions: the cardboard containers automobiles are shipped in; purportedly the true source of that "new car" smell.

Zach L. said...

Anon,

I'm not all that sure what exactly that house was....seems like that is a good guess. I believe the part where SUNY OW is now was just a huge swath of woods know as the Broad Hollow woods. There was another estate knows as simply 'Broadhollow' that did have a main gate on 107 by the way.

HalfPuddingHalfSauce said...

If Mosses had his way it would have meant destruction for Caumsett and every estate along the way for a bridge to Connecticut.

Levitt's "La Colline" -

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=40.8712414&lon=-73.560816&z=17&l=0&m=b&show=/16447265/

Anonymous said...

We could use that bridge to ct now. Don't forget that although Moses wasn't the nicest man, he got things done. We have not built anything since he died. Politicians foresight is now only as long as the next election. Moses is laughing at LI NIMBYISM>

Anonymous said...

We don't need anymore built on Long Island. We live like sardines as it is.

HalfPuddingHalfSauce said...

LIGC tags north of "Evergreens" in Cove Neck have added MyNas photos plus historicaerials links.



http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=40.8841722&lon=-73.5001659&z=16&l=0&m=b

wooded bliss said...

The bridge from Bayville to Ct., was absurdity then and absurdity now. My dad, as one of the local Mayors, fought very hard, alongside many, against it. He also fought hard and lost to Margiotta with the entrance to SUNY Old Westbury, off of 107.
Old man Levitt also lived, before living at La Colline, at what is now Dogwood lane (Brookville), on what was the original estate, (before it was broken up)..he sold to Ebby Gerry.

HalfPuddingHalfSauce said...

wooded bliss - "on what was the original estate" What estate ?

Gary Lawrance said...

Here is a great story in the New York Times about many of the North Shore houses,
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F20B17FD345F13738DDDA80A94DA415B838DF1D3

including Broadhollow. Hopefully everyone can open it here.
I had heard once that the smaller Georgian mansion on the property was built for the man who worked for Mr. Clark and took care of his horses.I'm sure he had an appropriate title.

Kellsboro Jack said...

This is Ambrose's other estate's U-barn in Cooperstown NY as seen today (still owned by the family):

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3142/2647181809_cc44ae9b5c_b_d.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4131/5224189702_0db9540818_b_d.jpg

His stable in Aiken, SC also is a "U" shape with all of the same hallmarks too.

Cattychick said...

LGB, thank you for that link to the 1955 Life magazine article. Although I've read and seen "The Two Mrs. Grenvilles" and read Susan Braudy's fascinating book, I'd never seen the Life story. And Laura, I always enjoy your comments about the antics at Belair!

A big question for all of you "Old" Long Islanders: Was it an accident? Believe it or not, this is still an occasional topic discussed at cocktail parties that are attended by descendants of Old Long Island families.

Zach, I apologize for being very much off-topic. Just curious to get everyone's thoughts.

HalfPuddingHalfSauce said...

I couldn't wait till the 27th to subscribe to HBO to get Mildred Pierce. Pee Wee Herman is on Broadway tonight!!!

wooded bliss said...

HPHS, sorry, I sometimes dont write as clearly as I would like. And I dont know how to link you to a specific site on bing or google maps...aaany waay..Levitt lived at Dogwood Hill in Brookville, before he moved to La Colline. Dogwood Hill, pre sixties subdivision.if you look, the main house still stands. The stables are there too, off Cedar Swamp and the gate house too.

HalfPuddingHalfSauce said...

All here -

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=40.8168785&lon=-73.565762&z=16&l=0&m=b

Which lead to "Enfield Chase} and "Glenby".

One question - Ray Spinzia's book has a picture below his Dogwood Hill entry page 751. It matches Glenby however. Am I wrong?

wooded bliss said...

HPHS,
Thank you..I trust that was you that tagged these on Wikimapia. Enfield Chase, Woodward !. My mum believes thats where Elsie was hanging her hat (maybe with her daughter ??) when the whole thing went down. She sold to George Murnane and Mary McDonnell Murnane and they, to Col. David Wagstaff and he, to the Jolley family..after that, no idea.
Thank you again.
Oh yeah, William Levitt sold to Elbridge Gerry, they lived there a while, I think after it was subdivided.

Unknown said...

Are there any Blueprints of the Broad Hollow Stables????