Friday, May 6, 2011

Putting a Face to an Estate 17

E.D. Morgan. Below, his estate 'Wheatly' designed by McKim, Mead & White between 1890 and 1900 in Old Westbury. Click HERE for more on 'Wheatly'.


27 comments:

magnus said...

I'd love to know where the photo of Morgan was taken. There appears to be a bed in the background and a telephone or intercom on the wall with the phone directory tacked to the wall below it. It looks to me like the sort of cheap hotel in which they filmed those grainy old pornos that they used to show at "smokers".

La Petite Gallery said...

So that's what a rich man looks like. Some gorgeous home. I wonder where he was too.
yvonne

Anonymous said...

While obvoiusly not taken in the main house, it could have been taken in any one of the many outbuildings on the estate. Possibly during a visit with a caretaker or superintendant?

The Down East Dilettante said...

A visit to the caretaker's bedroom? Hmmmm.

Actually, I vote hotel, too, esp. with the phonebook hanging from a house phone. I think it's the age of the photograph that is causing the room to appear cheap----there are actually plenty of indicators of decent quality---the faux Louis quinze chair he sits on, the paneling and hardware of the door----but nevertheless, the first thing that struck me was how very, very unusual. to see a candid shot of someone in a bedroom from that era---totally. European trip, maybe?

magnus said...

Hmmmm..French postcards?

The Devoted Classicist said...

The background for the portrait photo is very curious; it seems that the intention was to give a bit of the setting. So I am agreeing with the theory that it is a hotel room, coming up with no other possible scenario that would be as feasible.

I have always been enthralled with Wheatly, primarily for the remarkable composition of auxiliary buildings to form the quadrangle. It was really genius in estate planning on what must have been an incredible site at the time.

Anonymous said...

If I ever saw an I'm not wearing any pants expression, this is it.

[sorry, long grim week]

Anonymous said...

Mr. Morgan reminds me of an older William Powell. He needs Myrna Loy to make him look better.

The Down East Dilettante said...

Flo, too funny.

Folks, there's an article in today's Times Real Estate Section about yet another Long Island estate owned by yet another egotistical rectal aperture who thought he could get so ridiculous a price that he killed off interest, then sold off outbuildings and land, and now the place is going up at auction after twenty years. It's the fascinating Chateau des Thons at Brookville, and the article is here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/realestate /08lizo.html?_r=1&ref=realestate

It's so too bad---the place was lovely before his interior 'improvements' (the mirrored dining room will make your reach for the barf bag). It was also a relatively manageable size. Where do these idiots come from? Every line of the article makes this guy seem like a prize example of cranial-rectal inversion.

Turner Pack Rats said...

DED - your link is boooogus. Too bad as Chateau des Thons is another on my fave list due to its provenance.
Next to Bayberry Land and that Victorian Frippery you ran last week, Wheatley is my all time fave for its little European enclosed village feel. too bad they butchered it but at least it partly exists.

security word def - "chsolere" - German word for those tasteful sunshades you crank out from the side of the house

Anonymous said...

"(the mirrored dining room will make your reach for the barf bag)"

Keep that bag handy for the emesis-rising Sotheby listing:

"This area – the legendary 'Gold Coast' – was the playground of America’s social and financial elite. Immortalized in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, 'The Great Gatsby,' this was where the Vanderbilts, Astors, Doubledays and other members of Barney's social circle had already built stately mansions of their own. The chateau soon became the scene of innumerable lavish dinner parties and society balls, where the rich and powerful gathered to flaunt their wealth, negotiate dynastic alliances, and marry off their pampered offspring into one another's families."

Anonymous said...

Here's what I found...

http://www.luxist.com/tag/chateau+des+thons/

Anonymous said...

Here's "La Selva"

http://www.luxist.com/tag/upper%20brookville/

Anonymous said...

Is Chateau des Thons on the west side of WoverHollow road, a bit before you come to Chicken Valley Road...and has a mini replica of the home visable from the road? Still has nice gates if this is the place I'm thinking of....

Anonymous said...

Oh...this is so sad...I'm very worried for this place....

http://emailflyers.net/24806

lil' gay boy said...

I have always loved the Chateau des Thons and the romance of it's recreation. But I too worry about this place, especially given its proximity to other parcels crowding it in.

But it really breaks my heart to see it like this; somehow it's too close to seeing one's Nana out at the curb, skirt hiked up & too much lipstick...

Security word - brocruia: an Italian street gang from Calabria.

Anonymous said...

I hope this one doesn't meet the same end as Land's End. Even though I have never seen it in person, I too have always loved this place. It has this charm about it. I wish I could buy all these places and presure them and open them up to the public to see a glimps of history.
I think I said before, I would rather have an old mansion than one of the new ones.

Anonymous said...

OMG!! Thanks LGB....this place is AMAZING!!! I love the first bathroom they show...looks original.

Why don't pool our money together (what little of we have), and turn this place in to some sort of non-profit house museum or some-such...

The Ancient said...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/realestate/08lizo.html?scp=1&sq=Chateau%20des%20Thons&st=cse

Money quote:

“I am not enamored of living in the suburbs,” Mr. Brown said.

sec word -- upperc -- What Mr Brown is not.

The Down East Dilettante said...

Apparently the link to the Times article didn't work, so I'll try again:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/realestate/08lizo.html?_r=1&ref=realestate

Actually, except for that Liberace mirrored dining room, the bones of the interiors seem to be in good shape---lovely rooms, with their seventeenth century boiserie,
Chinese Wallpaper, etc. Vintage photos of the interior may be found in an old book '100 Most Beautiful Rooms in America'. But, it just doesn't look promising for this place--"oh, look at all that old paneling--I just hate old things"

BTW, I actually like industrial lighting, but don't we think that the current owner has perhaps gone just a bit overboard with the factory lights? Hardly a room free of them...

Oh well, the future doesn't look so bright for this place anyway.

The Down East Dilettante said...

Ancient, I was just wondering where you were, and the answer obviously is at your desk typing a comment at the same time I was doing likewise.

How serendipitous is that security word? And how did you come up with a different link to the article than I did?

And as I mentioned earlier, though over than the subdividing when he failed to get his ridiculous 30 million, he seems to have kept a gentle hand on the place. I note that in the Location Company listing, they state that the wiring system is old, therefore one must bring one's own generator. Ripping out all that nasty old paneling will make it ever so much easier to install new systems....

The Down East Dilettante said...

Not the first time the Times covered the place: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/05/realestate/05lizo.html?pagewanted=all

What I wouldn't give for a picture of the 'replica' but 'different' landscaping' in Lake Charles...

The Down East Dilettante said...

FOUND IT! There are three or four pictures of the portion of the Chateau left behind in France on this page: http://mes-photos-57400.over-blog.com/article-29509321.html

There is one photo showing stone sheds attached where one presumes the Brookville portion originally sat.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if the industrial lighting is there because the home was used in a shoot recently. And maybe, just maybe, that might explain the presence of the ghastly leopard runner on the stairs.

The Ancient said...

What I wouldn't give for a picture of the 'replica' but 'different' landscaping' in Lake Charles...

Happy Mother's Day!

Doug Floor Plan said...

Interesting timing: two years ago, May 4, 2009, Zach posted some very nice exterior photos of Chateau Des Thons, see: http://www.oldlongisland.com/search?q=chateau+des+thon
Too bad we can't see what the interiors looked like when it was first reassembled on Long Island -- I suspect it was nice.

As Ancient expressed: Happy Mother's Day to all.

The Down East Dilettante said...

Ancient,

How clever of you to do what I'm usually smart enough to do (mother's day lunch, at her summer house, with my particular mother always leaves me with a few less synapses that I started with). They didn't do a bad job, but fascinating to see that development it's in, with every tree leveled