Wednesday, May 25, 2011

When 'Maple Knoll' Was For Sale

A brochure advertising 'Maple Knoll', the Issachar Cozzens estate designed by Rouse & Goldstone c. 1917 in Lattingtown with landscaping by Charles Leavitt. Cozzens was the head of I. Cozzens & Co., a hosiery manufacturer. The home was subsequently owned by Henry Sturgis Morgan, son of J.P. Morgan Jr., who in 1929 enlisted Roger Bullard to design alterations and add wings to the house. The brochure incorrectly lists 1925 as the build date of the house. I assume the brochure is from when Morgan put this place up for sale after he moved to his massive estate (c. 1949) on Eaton's Neck seen HERE. Click HERE for more on 'Maple Knoll'. Click HERE to see 'Maple Knoll' on google earth and HERE on bing.



Brochure courtesy of SPLIA.

15 comments:

The Devoted Classicist said...

In the photo looking towards the swimming pool, the semi-circular steps are three brick courses high -- tall for a step but low for a seat. Like so many other details and proportions in the house, it seems just a little off.

Turner Pack Rats said...

tsk, tsk, DC - i have to disagree. this place has so many attractive things, the basic outside demeanor just sez "MONEY" but in an elegant way and inside those round topped inset door, the living room altho for myself, i would switch the living room with the library as the pic of the library is a little too "chintzy" for my taste. as far as the amphitheatre pool steps go, at least its not the same old-same old esp. if they're some exotic marble. hell, you couldn't buy a second-hand trailer up here in God's country now for 165. Now, that's probably the annual taxes for this place.
i hope this works better than yesterday as i was having LGB Syndrome. i'll try again.

security word def - "deduals" - Spanish for illness that affected Aaron Burr or was it Alexander Hamilton (Stanley and Livingstone, Bonnie and Clyde?)

jackgreen said...

Looks as if all those great out-buildings and the pond are gone... :(

Also looks as if they got rid of those fantastic wrought-iron gates with flanking griffins...another boo-hoo.

But all in all...looks as if this place survived pretty much intact.

I'm in love with the conservatory....is the original to the house?

Turner Pack Rats said...

OMG - OMG -i didn't look at bing until after i posted but DED will have his usual conniption when he sees the forecourt and what the hell is going on beyond the pool. sure is attractive if bare earth is your idea of landscaping. look like another clay tenney gone to hell also but i do like that wraparound greenhouse/sunroom. still a nice looking place with the addition of about 50 pounds of grass seed.

security word def - "conve" - a short one day seminar with no free food.

The Ancient said...

TPS --

Re that bing pic.

The area of the lawn beyond the pool looks like a Locust Valley Yard Sale.

elonbruno said...

Only one picture at Nassau County property online.

http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/mynassauproperty/viewphoto.jsp?txtSection=30&txtBlock=E&txtLot=212&txtSuffix=0&txtBldg=&txtCondo=&txtYear=2013

Doug Floor Plan said...

‘Maple Knoll’ has had an interesting series of remodelings:
• In Zach’s June 2, 2010 posting there are floor plans that show a basically rectangular house. & I agree with Classicist – it’s not an unattractive house but the details & proportions just seem a bit off.

• In today’s ‘When ‘Maple Knoll’ Was For Sale’ posting in the picture labeled ‘Residence from Pool’ you can see two perpendicular-to-the house wings have been added to the back – from the photographs the wing on the left is a new dining room & the right is a (new?) library. The bedroom picture shows at least two of the original seven bedrooms (not including servants’) have been merged to form this one, large bedroom … probably the master bedroom & probably above the living room.

In the photograph of the front of the house you can see a wing perpendicular to the house has been added to the servant’s wing.

• In the Bing views you can see the two-story wing that once held the new dining room has been removed, the conservatory added, along with a sizeable squarish addition to the rear corner of the original servants’ wing. You can also see the previous addition to the front of the servants’ wing contains a two-car garage.

I think the debris on the ground beyond the pool is construction material from the half-circle addition built to blend into the patio level surrounding the pool – yes, they’re really slow to clean up. All these additions cause me to appreciate the irony of how many LI mansions were torn down because they were too large for anyone to want & this reasonably-sized house has been enlarge by probably fifty percent over a ninety year period – we never know what the future will bring.

Anonymous said...

Several observations-know the house well. The entrance gates on Overlook Road were moved from J.P Morgan's Matinecock Point(they were side gates) after house was demolished. Name Maple Knoll was added in 1970's despite information to contrary in some sources. There is a very nicely done octagonal pool house by the Bentels. The greenhouse wing is a lap pool. The wing to the East of the rear portico was torn down long ago and the outbuildings are extant, to the West along Lattingtown Road. The house had great interior proportions and absolutely stunning views to the Sound. There was a majestic tree in the entrance court which I'll assume (hope) had to be removed.

NSP

wooded bliss said...

Anon 2:31..
you know your area /place..The Bentel's, I am impressed.

lil' gay boy said...

Ratty, did the big "G" disable your account for "unusual activity" too, or just eat your entry? Blogger is gearing up for their next round of changes and quirky results are happening with their test staging. Mac or PC, and what OS? Each has their own dreadful tale to tell; one tip: you know you've strayed into the weeds too far if, when you go to post it asks you to log on again. Flush all caches & reboot. (Sorry, occupational hazard; old soldiers talk of battles, I talk systems).

Pleased as I am that this house survives, especially after having sped through this intersection countless times without a single glimpse, I too find the proportions quite off; probably just the normal result of generational changes as the house has evolved ––– some good, some meh.

There's a lot of traffic at that corner, especially during services across the street, so I imagine that alterations over the years were approached as an inside-to-outside orientation ––– noise & privacy issues would naturally make interior creature features more important than architectural appeal from the exterior.

The pool patio with bathhouse below is fabulous too; in its day the views must have been (are they still?) incredible.

If you scroll & rotate the Bing views you can see that what appears to be, according to sales brochure the superintendent's house to south, on a separate parcel being enlarged to almost three times its original size, and a lovely shade of red (stain perhaps?)

;-)

Security word - sympoli: plural of sympolus, a composer's penultimate draft.

Anonymous said...

I have to agree with the comments that the architecture is not the highest quality. The floor plan is not that great and TDC said it correctly about the details and proportions. I would disqualify it from greatness by the window placement on the entrance facade alone.

VisualNotes said...

Two little "Temples of Venus"? What the yuck?

ChipSF said...

I really like the entrance facade here. The pool facade- not so much. That sheltering tree in the center of the circle drive is lovely - the maple and the knoll?

The Down East Dilettante said...

Okay sorta house---neither horrid nor amazing, terrific living room

In other news, Lil' Gay Boy, it is my humble opinion that the 'white finned beauty in front of the Belmont House (and who the hell names a house Blempton Manor?), which you accuse of being a Chrysler, is actually a Desoto? I was rather car crazy myself...

Doug Floor Plan said...

Since Zach didn’t give us any new fodder today to chew on I'll ask yesterday’s Anonymous 2:31pm who knows this house well a couple of questions:
1. Why did the owner tear down the new wing that held the new dining room? I understand when an owner adds on but I always wonder why they remove – I’m assuming it was different owners that did each (that’s actually a second question).
2. Without invading the owner’s privacy too much – what is in the big, squarish addition on the back of the original servant’s quarters? It has a mostly flat roof but there is one area that has a pitched roof, which I’m guessing is for a cathedral ceiling … which combined with the big windows below it facing the Sound makes me think: artist studio.
I agree with you that the tree in the entrance court was terrific looking & hope as you do that its removal was a necessity & not a whim.

Thanks in advance for whatever information you can provide.