Thursday, July 28, 2011

'Maxwelton'

'Maxwelton', the John Rogers Maxwell estate designed by William Tubby c. 1898 in Glen Cove. Click HERE for more on 'Maxwelton'. Photo from Trees for Long Island, 1908.

5 comments:

Doug Floor Plan said...

Only two pictures from which to draw conclusions, but here goes:
• Very nice grounds (surprisingly flat)
• Interesting looking house – sort of Italian villa meets ... I'm not sure what it met (it would have been helpful to see this house in color).

Zach, in your April 11, 2009, posting of ‘Maxwelton’ (kind of an awkward name, based on the owner's business I think it should have been named ‘Panamarama’) you said MOST of it was razed in 1950 – what survived?

Doug Floor Plan said...

Never mind Zach, after I posted I read the comments from your previous post (reverse order, of course) & my question was answered.

Here's what is there now on Bing: http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=qtckgx8vvzvt&lvl=19.263612869235043&dir=5.789052545212646&sty=b&where1=Glen%20Cove%2C%20NY&form=LMLTCC.

magnus said...

DFP- A small bit of the center block still survives and was easily recognizeable as such until a truly horrific facelift was undertaken several years ago- turning a dignified matron into a cheap, painted hussy. Looking at the facade today, one cannot help but be stunned by the thought process that led the owners to make the choices they did. With all the materials available, how is it possible that every single one you selected was horrible?

I would really like to see more of Maxwelton and the neighboring Whitney property which Maxwell built for his daughter, Mrs. Whitney. Amazingly, they seem to have remained relatively intact until a fire destroyed the Whitney house in the 1950's. Much to my surprise, the NY Times coverage of the fire indicated that there were 5 or so servants in the house at the time, so even post WWII, it must have been in pretty good condition.

Doug Floor Plan said...

Thank you Magnus, if I’m looking at this correctly then the portion of the main house that survived is pretty much the portion shown in today’s photograph. & I agree, even just a portion of the original exterior is preferable to what is there now – they put on a new roof that extends out far enough to now require columns & it looks likes they stuccoed the exterior. I think the look of the house now is best illustrated by the pool house: an originally rectangular building to which someone attached a half-moon sunroom … like Legos (& I like Legos, just not here).

Across Soundside Lane there is a row of fir trees; I’m guessing it’s a remnant of the landscaping featured in the 1908 ‘Trees for Long Island’ article.

Anonymous said...

Actually, as this is my relatives home, only the left sliver of the house is part of the old home. The rest was added on in the late 80s so unfortunately the roof was not extended and the abundance of material did not exist. There was also no pool or poolhouse. So keep researching.....