Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Bloomberg to Buy 'Ballyshear'

According to Jennifer Gould Keil in today's New York Post, Mayor Mike Bloomberg is in contract to buy 'Ballyshear', the Charles B. Macdonald estate designed by F. Burrall Hoffman c. 1913 in Southampton. Click HERE to see the brochure from when 'Ballyshear' was for sale and HERE and HERE for more on the estate. Click HERE to see the listing via Prudential Douglas Elliman.

Click HERE to read the story in the New York Post.
Click HERE to read the story in the Huffington Post.
Click HERE to read the story on Curbed Hamptons.
Click HERE to read the story in New York Magazine.
Click below to watch the story on Fox 5's Good Day New York which uses quite a large screen grab from Old Long Island.

11 comments:

The Devoted Classicist said...

It looks like a fabulous house, and Mayor Bloomberg can clearly afford it. But the Shinnecock Hills Golf Course is notoriously snobby; whether he is embraced or snubbed for membership is another story for The Post.

magnus said...

DC- you are so right. It will be interesting to see if either Shinnecock Hills or National like "the cut of his jib", or if the Mayor is relegated to the ...ahem...somewhat less rarified environs of Sebonack or Atlantic. As you say, I am sure that we will be reading about it all in the Post.

The Devoted Classicist said...

Zach, clearly the Media recognizes you as The-Go-To-Guy for facts on historic Long Island architecture. I enjoy your blog, but it must be satisfying to know so many others appreciate your scholarly presentations as well.

Zach L. said...

TDC

Thank you very much...though I think it more so shows that media outlets use a simple Google search first and foremost as their source of information. And apparently Old Long Island is the only place that has any photos of this house.

Which makes me wonder...why did the listing not have any exterior shots?

Kellsboro Jack said...

Zach - nice to see the media coverage and credit to your site! I have to echo your question as to why Douglas Elliman choose not to have any exterior shots of the manor on their listing. Often the omission is at the request of the seller desiring privacy.

What I cannot determine is why there is a considerable bare, dead swath section on the property. It could be horse turnout as anyone with horses know they can strip pasture easily. However the stabling is on the other side and the jumps are visible near the tennis court.

Check it out on google maps - it's to the "left" of the manor with the hedge maze on the southern end.

117 Whites Lane Southampton NY 11968

The Down East Dilettante said...

which makes me wonder why the news story didn't credit OLI, which is the proper thing to do under any circumstances.

The Down East Dilettante said...

PS, I notice that several of the stories say Frederick Law Olmstead designed the grounds. He's second only to Stanford White for projects beyond the grave. The successor firm, Olmstead Brothers, is the correct answer, of course.

It's worrisome how badly researched so many stories are now.

The Ancient said...

KJ --

If you compare the Google and Bing shots, it looks as if the area was reseeded.

Dilettante --

It's worrisome how badly researched so many stories are now.

Yeah, and the spelling ain't so great neither.

sec word: wifyi -- Termagant spouse app.

The Down East Dilettante said...

Ancient, too funny. Although as a child I made it to the county spelling bee (how quaint is that?), as an adult I confess to constantly misspelling 'Olmsted'. Though one side of my brain knows better, the other side just goes on auto-fill and types 'Olmstead'. It's 95 degrees on the Maine Coast (although today I am in Portsmouth, also 95), and the brain is melting, melting....

Kellsboro Jack said...

The Ancient, thanks for the redirect to Bing Maps. Indeed it looks like the snapshot by google was during the lawn's reseeding stage.

It prompts another question though - is the immediate property closely situated on Millstone Brook Rd part of the estate or a newly built and independent residence? It's very close proximity to the manor house seems just so odd.

With Olmsted (FLO and successor firm)I have a spiral bound book of all the firms projects. Unlike Stanford White there is a much better tracking of each project they worked on. No disrespect to FLO but its a sad day when the solo work of a Warren Manning or Jens Jensen is blatantly attributed to Olmsted - just because of the recognition.

The Down East Dilettante said...

Kellsboro, total agreement