Wednesday, August 10, 2011

'Dorset Lodge'

'Dorset Lodge', the Henry Montague Earle estate built c. 1900 in Old Westbury. Earle was an attorney and partner in a number of law firms. Click HERE to see the brochure from when 'Dorset Lodge' was for sale. The house and 3 acres is currently for sale for $3,250,000, click HERE to see the listing on Daniel Gale Sotheby's. Click HERE to see 'Dorset Lodge' on google earth and HERE on bing.



Photos from MLS via Daniel Gale Sotheby's.

12 comments:

The Devoted Classicist said...

What an Arts & Crafts beauty! I can only guess why the real estate ad says it was built in 1929; there outta be a law. And speaking of punishable offences, the relocation of the stairs to the exceptional two story Reception Hall is another head-scratcher. As the earlier ad says, the brickwork is magnificent. And I loved that circular stone garden seat with the central column topped by an urn. There is no record of the original architect?

Doug Floor Plan said...

The good news is the house still stands without major exterior alterations & much of the original interior paneling is intact & looks good.

The bad news:
• The acreage around the house has been whittled down from 50 to 3; if this house wasn’t surrounded by a heavy tree line it would feel very suburban & that’s not a good feel for a place you call a lodge.
• It’s too bad all the old ivy & landscaping around the house was removed & replaced with only a few new plantings – makes it look like there was an exterior problem where everything had to be stripped away to repair.
• Why heavy whitewash the front brick & only lightly whitewash the back?
• OMG (or do I mean WTF?) – someone moved the main staircase out of the original stair hall & planted it in the reception hall, eating up half the room & making you walk through that low-ceilinged narrow hallway to get from the front door into the reception hall. My only guess is an owner wanted to ‘descend the stairs in the grand double-height hall in the center of the house’ rather than have a nice entrance from the front door & have to come down a flight of stairs where they might not be seen by everyone. I understand opening up the wall to the conservatory but Gawd, the room looks the lobby of a La Quinta Inn.

My hope is that whoever buys ‘Dorset Lodge’ sees Zach’s web-site & puts that staircase back where it belongs. I really like the original floor plan & notice no architect is given credit for it … too bad.

Anonymous said...

Where it this original staircase your all speaking of? I don't see it in the For Sale brochure.

Doug Floor Plan said...

Anon 9:15am, click on the first link ('Here') Zach supplied & that will take you to an old sales brochure. Click on the second page of the four-page brochure; that should give you a significantly enlarged view of the ground floor (the plan for the second floor is on the third page).

In the original plan you enter the vestibule ('VESTBL') & the original stair hall is to the left -- there are lines & an arrow with the word 'up.' My guess is previous owner turned this into a room when they moved the stairs.

I also have to observe that as you turn left in the vestibule & enter the original stair hall you're looking straight at a lavatory sink (if the door is open) -- not the most attractive thing but at least it's not the toilet.

Anonymous said...

Thank you DFP...I was looking for a photo and passed right over the floor-plan.

Kellsboro Jack said...

The forecourt facade being whitewashed so severe compared to the rear is baffling.

The texture of the rear is vastly superior to the front so perhaps there was some remorse after starting with the front and discontinuing the revision.

I'm a sucker for rich ivy on a home although not to the point where it overwhelming which is was in the original sales brochure. They could reintroduce some ivy and simply control it as need.

Then again too many owners live purely inside with a 50" flat screen tv ....

Lodi said...

We live in a house that was built in 1907 and for some reason the real estate ad put it in the 20's also. We never figured out why.

The ivy is beautiful but it will destroy a home because it gets into the grout and rock or brick and tears it up. We had it at a newer home before this one and it was such a nuisance that I ripped it all up at this house. I won't even let it get started.

I agree about the staircase, that whole wall/hallway thing doesn't make any sense.

Timo said...

What a great house! It is a shame about the staircase, but it can't be that hard to put right. Interesting interior decorating though. They rather missed the point, didn't they?

Anonymous said...

I like this house a lot. I like the whitewashed brick(of the sides and back)/white trim better than the original dark brick/dark trim. I agree with the comments about the new stair location and how it butchers the main hall. In counterpoint, however, I looked at the floor plans before looking at the more recent pictures and thought the original stair entered the second floor at a rather isolated location. That may have been another contributing factor to it being relocated.

Anonymous said...

NICE!!! Though I agree with KJ...the whitewash in the front compared to the rear is far too harsh. And what's with the decor...very 70's..

The stained glass windows are worth the price alone.

Anonymous said...

They tore down the service wing...perhaps they put the kitchen where the stair used to be located.

Kowalewski said...

I,m a new owner of the house. The Dorset Lodge will be restore to original looks from 1906.