Friday, November 11, 2011

'Hopewell'

'Hopewell', the Frederick V. Clowes estate designed by James E. Ware & Sons c. 1906 in Bridgehampton. Clowes was an assistant secretary with the Columbia Trust Company. The house is no longer standing but stood on Ocean Road. Picture from Architecture, 1906.

20 comments:

The Down East Dilettante said...

This is about as classic shingle summer cottage as it gets, from Long Island to Maine

The Ancient said...

I'm having trouble seeing that drawing clearly. Because it sure looks like a turn-of-the-century ice cream stand sitting at the near-end of the house.

Doug Floor Plan said...

Ancient, I'm looking at an enlarged version of this in the April 1906 issue of 'Architecture' -- there is a woman standing at the bottom of the near stairs to the front porch & there is something about knee high next to her ... I don't know what a turn-of-the century ice cream stand looks like so I cannot confirm, sorry.

I agree this is a classic looking house that deserved to survive. The layout is pretty good except it has only one bathroom upstairs (& one downstairs) even though there are five regular bedrooms & two servants' bedroom upstairs. Oh, those days of sharing a bathroom! (sarcasm ... a little)

Zach L. said...

Ancient...I was able to make the picture slightly larger so when you click the image it should open in another window about 1/3 bigger.

The Ancient said...

DFP, Zach --

Thanks very much.

(I've now looked at it in a greatly enlarged PDF format, courtesy of the Google books version of the magazine. And the second story floorplan shows an overhead view of the roof line, and that makes it clearer still.)

The Ancient said...

FYI --

The exhibit, “Ocean Road: 1895-1915,” showcases photographs of all structures that existed during a span of 20 years around the turn of the 20th century, alongside photographs of the people who built or inhabited those homes and the town during that time. And, as Greene illuminated, with plenty of strange anecdotes and familial facts coming to light in this exhibition, the owners and residents are perhaps even more fascinating than the structures they once resided within.

Take, for instance, Frederick Valentine Clowes (who preferred to reduce his middle name to V.) who owned Hopewell, a beautiful mansion he ordered built in 1906. Clowes lived in Hopewell for around 50 years with his wife, Virginia A. Clowes. Everything about the family and the house appeared normal enough, until Frederick V. Clowes’ death, when it became evident he had stipulated in his will that his house be torn down as soon as he passed, so as to prevent anyone else from ever inhabiting it. And so, in fact, it was destroyed in the 1950s.

Finding out so many specifics about life a hundred years ago or more may seem like an impossible task, but Greene and Cammann received an insider’s look from a long-passed Bridgehampton resident, Ernest Clowes.

“Many of the photographs and information we have on a typical day [in the late 1800s/early 1900s] in Bridgehampton is from [Frederick V.] Clowes’ brother, Ernest,” explained Greene. “After his brother died and the house was torn down, Ernest remained in the town. He took tons of photographs at the turn of the century and kept a diary, and when he died he donated them all to the Bridgehampton Historical Society.”

“So we have a great picture of what life was like back then on a daily basis,” added Greene.


http://sagharboronline.com/sagharborexpress/community/a-look-way-back-down-ocean-road-8530

Anonymous said...

I think the ice cream stand reference was a joke about the bay with stripped awnings...

Doug Floor Plan said...

Ah, Anon 10:32AM I believe you are correct. I was looking at an enlarged copy of the house/plan when I saw Ancient's comment & his joke went right over my head ... & now I'm suddenly hungry for ice cream!

Directing in your will that your house be torn down after you're gone -- I speculated once that could be the reason a large house on the south shore might have been demolished without any effort to sell it (can't remember the estate name ... wife was daughter of owner of Pinkerton Detective Agency).

Anonymous said...

DFP...that was on the south shore somewhere,either Islip or Babylon.

Anonymous said...

DFP...it was the Jay Carlisle estate "Rosemary" in East Islip.

The Down East Dilettante said...

and speaking of Harvey Ladew (well, we were a few weeks ago), here is a marvelous video about his topiary garden in Maryland, with some good shots of his Long Island life in the early minutes, well worth a look. This video comes indirectly by way of The Ancient, who can find anything on the internet.

Doug Floor Plan said...

Thank you Anon 2:49PM, you are correct. I understand the motivation of not wanting anyone to occupy your house after you've died; but, except for establishing trusts, think it's a mistake to try to contol too much "stuff" from the grave.

Anonymous said...

DED...you forgot to add the link.

The Ancient said...

http://www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-online/festival/play/7100/Garden-Story--Episode-9---The-Garden-as-Autobiography

The Down East Dilettante said...

Oops. Thank goodness for Ancient. Once again he saves the day.

The Down East Dilettante said...

http://www.cultureunplugged.com/documentary/watch-online/festival/play/7100/Garden-Story--Episode-9---The-Garden-as-Autobiography

Doug Floor Plan said...

I just watched the mini-documentary on Harvey Ladew's gardens in Maryland -- impressive! & impressive the way the gardens are being preserved. Thanks DED/Ancient.

But I did catch an error -- the documentary showed a photograph of Harvey Ladew's parent's house in Glen Cove, which I don't know is correct or not ... but I do know the house they show as being "The Box" in Upper Brookville is not the same house Zach posted as being "The Box" on August 15, 2011; & I don't think Zach made the mistake.

HalfPuddingHalfSauce said...

Per SPLIA and Spinzia Ladew family home was here -

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=40.8691239&lon=-73.6472583&z=17&l=0&m=b&show=/16333431/Gate-from-Villa-Louedo

Photos by SPLIA do not match video.

There was a Elsinore near by that was incorporated into the Morgan Park but it was owned by Thomas Kennard.

Anonymous said...

Maybe this will help...
http://books.google.com/books?id=_bi8OLNwAMgC&pg=PA68&lpg=PA68&dq=elsinore+kennard+glen+cove&source=bl&ots=5Q91ALq2Cx&sig=cjfZ8NGvtVAYnJr8g9VVBYMDOGw&hl=en&ei=laa-TsebCMPCsQLNk9HABA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&sqi=2&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false

The Down East Dilettante said...

HPHS, did you get my query about where you found the image of la Rochelle in Bar Harbor a few weeks back? I would like to be able to find the original source to have the picture properly copied for a project I have underway. (google books does such a hateful job of scanning.