Thursday, May 5, 2011

The John Drew Residence

The John Drew residence designed by James Brown Lord c. 1900 in East Hampton. Drew was a prominent stage actor and uncle to all of the acting Barrymores (John, Ethel and Lionel). The house sat on Lily Pond Lane but was demolished in the 1940s.

9 comments:

magnus said...

Now when I fantasize about my ideal house, this is about it- substantial, but not overly large, a porch and real charm. The Hamptons used to be chock a block full of similar structures. Sadly though, while the ground floors in most of these houses are well laid out and "gracious" by today's standards, the bedroom floors are typically a warren of oddly shaped and placed rooms (sometimes the master is ok, but then the "wheels fall off" as you walk down the hall). And, by present day standards, there is invariably a woeful shortage of closet space and bathrooms- harder to retrofit than you might think, even in a "gut rehab". I've noticed this in many Hamptons' houses of similar vintage, even those designed by accomplished architects.

Anonymous said...

Looks very similar to Grey Gardens.

design elements said...

beautiful house!

deep deep said...

Found this: "John Drew, one of America's greatest actors and dean of the American stage for nearly 50 years, first came to East Hampton around 1892 to visit the Percy Moran family.

In 1900 he built a house on Lily Pond Lane, where he spent every summer until his death in 1927. The family provided many social highlights to the summer resort scene in the first quarter of the century.

Drew's house, called a "villa," was built on what had been the Mulford property. It had a library and a music room and overlooked the ocean. It was demolished in the 1940s. A carriage house on the estate was converted into the house standing on the property today by Dr. James C. Joyner in the early 1950s.

Anonymous said...

I guess this is were Drew Barrymore got her name.

I always associate these wonderful homes with the Hamptons...they all seem very warm, comfortable and homey.

HalfPuddingHalfSauce said...

Lily Pond Road and Drew Lane -

http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=qtqhwk8zgzbb&lvl=19.661910171951554&dir=355.8895172166967&sty=b&where1=Lily%20Pond%20Ln%2C%20East%20Hampton%2C%20NY%2011937&q=-1&FORM=LMLTCC

HistoricMapsWorks show the house that is there now kept the curved drive off Lily Pond and sits in the same spot as the old. Maps show a double lot{empty} towards the beach. Two additional land owners, B. Smith and a Mrs. A. F. Strom{beach front}. Off Drew Lane old maps show drive connecting to garage. If the garage was converted its gone now, moved or demolished.

http://www.historicaerials.com/aerials.php?scale=2&lon=-72.19963697052707&lat=40.942716062922045&year=1954

E. M. Osbourne{?} is the land owner of the property west of Drew running from road to beach.

Turner Pack Rats said...

i'm surprised DougFloorPlan hasn't chimed in on this one as i wonder why those two huge chimneys on the left wing are so close to each other- maybe to burn off all the excess ivy or is that what they use in place of clapboards in the Hamptons? the way the view is and with all the ivy, the house doesn't look that big but i would guess it was pretty good sized - not exactly a tarpaper shack.
anyway, "charm" aside (a hated term up here in the colonies used by "people from away" which we dislike almost as much as "quaint"), this is a very handsome house esp that double gable in the front and i've always liked those little eyebrow dormers even tho they're practically worthless. The porches kind of fight with each other- i think it would have been better if they matched but all a moot point sadly.
thanx zach for an interesting house with an even more interesting tenant.

security word def - "crieses" - the Greek god of those annoying little wrinkles you get in your pants in the humid August weather in the Hamptons.

Turner Pack Rats said...

help me - when i follow the links to the new Historical Aerials site, there's nothing there. how do i make the link appear?

security word def - "fautha" - the way polo playing offspring of Hampton scions refer to their pater.

PB Turgeon said...

I have some personal insight into this. After the old place went, the family ended up around the corner. Their place was on the west side of Drew Lane, second house in from the ocean.

As a boy I was befriended by Jack Devereaux, Drew's grandson. My father had played with Jack in "Life With Father" and they were cronies at The Players, the actors club in New York.

My family summered in Amagansett, but in my late teens I often bicycled over to the Devereaux place to play "golf croquet" on the vast lawn and soak up the ambiance.

I guess you'd call me an ambiance chaser.

Sadly, Jack (or "Chickadee" as he was known) lost all his dough in the market around 1971, and the labor lawyer Theodore Kheel bought the place.

I don't know who's there now, but last time I looked the house was pretty much the same. That may have been a while ago however.

Jack ended up down in the Islands where his second wife Jane's people were from, and passed away some time ago. His children Drew and Lane from his first wife Pauline are still alive, as is Jessica, Jane's and his daughter.

Jack was a gentleman, the kind you don't see out east anymore. He was a gracious host, a brilliant wit and one of the great bodysurfers of Bonac. I miss him terribly.

But I'm glad to find this site.