Monday, July 11, 2011

The Edward Eldredge Estate

The Edward Irving Eldredge estate, a c. 1850 Greek Revival enlarged by Howard Major c. 1920 in Lattingtown. Eldredge was a partner with Bull & Eldredge, a stock brokerage firm, and president of Frederick Loeser & Co., a Brooklyn department store. He was married to Althea Gibb, daughter of Walter Gibb (who resided at 'Old Orchard' in Glen Cove) who had also been the president of Frederick Loeser & Co. before his death in 1912. Today the house is the Sikh Forum. Click HERE to see the Eldredge estate on google earth and HERE on bing.


Photos from Country Life, 1922.

8 comments:

The Down East Dilettante said...

Quite lovely inside & out. Interesting to see original 1850's mantels with later, more elegant paneling. Gives the place a nice layered feeling.

But speaking of death by a thousand cuts. Unless my eyes (and I happen to be wearing brand new glasses) deceive me, those lovely Ionic columns have been replace with tall skinny (aluminum?) shaftes....

magnus said...

DED: You're quite correct. The columns have been removed and replaced by what at first I hoped was a temporary arrangement to keep the portico from falling down, but now, alas, appears permanent.

Glen Lo is indeed a lovely house. Due, however, to its initial incarnation as a farmhouse, it sits surprisingly close to Lattingtown Road. And although I think that Howard Major did a stupendous job overall, it is very clear that incorporating 20th century neccesities like bathrooms and closets within the limitations imposed by an existing structure was not simple, and the second and third floor have a rabbit warren like feeling.

As an aside, Mrs. Eldredge (later Mrs. Malcolm Dubois Hunter when she remarried after Edward Eldredge's death)) was a noted breeder of dogs, her two most famous being a pair of Great Danes named "Glen" and "Lo". Her son, Edward Eldredge, Jr. was a famous breedder of Irish Setters and a noted dog show judge.

The Down East Dilettante said...

Magnus,

Interesting. As you probably know, Howard Major was the original architect commissioned to remodel the old Cassatt house up here for the Stotesburys. His designs weren't grand enough for Mrs. S. (was anything ever?), and he was replaced by a theater architect named Magaziner, who gave Mrs. Stotesbury an indeed suitably theatrical, but awkward mansion. One imagines that this remodeling shows more the sensibility. Too bad indeed about the columns. Let's hope they saved the capitals.

The Ancient said...

FYI:

http://www.sikh.net/gurdwara/msk/mskcontrbt.htm

magnus said...

By the way, run, don't walk to today's www.nysocialdiary.com, Social History and take a gander at the wonderful photographs that Augustus Mayhew is displaying. A few great ones of the Villa Trianon and Elsie De Wolfe thrown in among many other excellent ones. Mayhew is first rate and very readable guide to the history of Palm Beach residential architecture and is more than worth following.

Security word of the day : Rustess- a woman who entertains infrequently and generally badly.

nycjte said...

My great-uncle Edward Irving died much later than 1912 as I recall. It is possible that it was 1922. Edward, his father Edward Sr. (my great-grandfater), and my grandfather all died (in that order) within around 10 years of each other in the twenties and early thirties. I will check the family genealogy.

Zach L. said...

The dates come from the NYTimes.

nycjte said...

Edward Irving Eldredge Jr. was born in 1887 and died in 1925 at the age of 38 while on his way to California (probably to seek a cure), in Hot Springs, Arizona. His twin daughters were born in 1919 and his son "Ted" (the dog breeder) in 1921. They were my father's first cousins.