Wednesday, May 11, 2011

'High Elms'

'High Elms', the Richard Stockton Emmet Sr. estate designed by Peabody, Wilson & Brown c. 1928 in Glen Cove, with landscaping by Ellen Shipman. Emmet was a partner with the law firm of Emmet, Marvin & Martin and served as the United States Minister to the Netherlands in 1933. He was married to Helen Pratt, daughter of Frederic Pratt who resided at 'Poplar Hill'. The house was demolished c. 1960 but stood roughly HERE (where High Elms Lane is today).




6 comments:

The Devoted Classicist said...

Although I find the hyphens a bit odd - four pilasters would have helped - it was a handsome house with a good floor plan. And no doubt the Shipman-designed landscape was good too. Was the house razed for a subdivision?

Doug Floor Plan said...

I agree with Classicist – ‘High Elms’ was a handsome house with a good floor plan. I like the way one of the hyphens was used as a stair hall (I’m showing off because I had to look that term up before I could reference it), taking a lot of traffic flow commotion out of the entry hall; & on the other side it provided the kitchen with windows on opposite walls which I’m sure was nice then & would have been great for a family today who probably wouldn’t need six bedrooms just for servants. It had a ground floor bedroom, which I think is always wise & the master bedroom suite was nicely separated from the guest rooms. [Pssst … but don’t tell DED that the window over the front door is divided for separate bathrooms like at ‘Woodside” – it annoys him … joke DED, joke].

I also noticed on the Bing view that the Richard Stockton Emmet Sr. family at ‘High Elms’ must have been immediate neighbors to the John Teele Pratt Jr. family at ‘Beechwood’ (at High Elms Lane & Old Tappan Road), & the Pratt house has a similar, although grander layout. It makes me wonder what was the timing difference that saved ‘Beechwood’ but not ‘High Elms.’

Anonymous said...

I grew up on high Elms Lane - where exactly was the site of this house?
I know where Beechwood is...

Anonymous said...

I'm confused. Where would the four pilasters go? Do you mean they should replace the two small porch columns on either side of the main block?

BTW, my security word is "derge." How cheerful!

Turner Pack Rats said...

i'll try again as blogger was in screwed mode when i commented.
altho never a fan of neo-cols, i think this place is really elegant and the proportions of the wings and hyphens are perfect. i'm joining the map hall chorus and singing their praises. my grandmother was always a big fan of those wallpapers with big scenes of english country life on them. she had them in every room and while our house is not big by LI standards, they worked really well in these large federal rooms. (most tract houses would fit in my kitchen).
this house, if extant, would probably look denuded today as those trees around it look like elms.
those two different arches are a little odd but my guess is if you owned and lived in this place, you just wouldn't care.
as i've said many times before, no matter what the taxes or condition, i can't imagine walking into a place like this (or lands end or harbor hill or roslyn house) looking around and saying, "ok -drive the bulldozer right through here". i just can't fathom destroying all that beauty and craftsmanship but if you really want to see some destroyed, go to the Brownstoner blog and see his "walkabout" series on the Brooklyn Fox Theater (demo'd in 1971). i love this blog but it's mind wrenching to know this place doesn't exist and all those crappy little houses do.

security word def - "imatc" - latest tech invention which works when you walk up to the door of a house and step on "welcome", it tells you the mood of everone inside. esp. handy if the wife had a bad day and so did you. and it only costs $4000 (if it could read my ex-wife's mind, that would be really cheap)

Turner Pack Rats said...

sorry - ps - two other things about this house i like are those two little quarter round windows on either side of the chimney on the third floor and
floor length windows on the first floor. many old and big houses here in Maine have them. we have many great views up here and windows like that mean you can sit and see all the view without having to move. the ancient version of French or sliding glass doors. i know big windows are bad energy wise but in this case, who cares.

security word def - "goutsary" -rich man's rejoinder to female servant. "You're looking poorly today, sir". "Well, it's the goutsary"