Tuesday, November 1, 2011

'Manor House'

'Manor House', the John Teele Pratt estate designed by Charles A. Platt c. 1909 in Glen Cove. Click HERE for more on 'Manor House' and HERE for more on the Pratt family's Dosoris Park complex. Click HERE to see 'Manor House' on google earth, now the Glen Cove Mansion Hotel.

Photos from Architecture, 1912.

10 comments:

The Down East Dilettante said...

That door surround, for its superb craftsmanship and design, rather screams 'Public Library', doesn't it?

Interesting. One of the most admired houses of Federal-era America was 'Homewood' in Baltimore, frequently copied in the early 20th century. This house is based on 'Homewood', blown up to supersize, and in turn itself spawned hundreds of imitations. It's a rare East Coast suburb where one doesn't see at least one mid-size brick house with that portico

Anonymous said...

Very elegant mansion. Grand and stately. The entry hall's split staircase is just spectacular. While the setting is compromised by the current commercial/hotel venture, the mansion still retains it's magnificent front facade and expansive grounds, plus it is well cared for.

Patricia said...

There's some interesting photos at the hotel's website under "About Us" at www.glencovemansion.com. There's one of the back (I think) of the home, as well as some of the gardens. Also, look at other old photos in the "location" section.

Be prepared for some annoying typos, including spelling the architect's name wrong and nearby Webb Institute described as a school of "NAVEL architecture." That's for students who not only contemplate their belly buttons, but build on them too.

Kellsboro Jack said...

"NAVEL architecture" .. maybe it has something to do with constructing Orangeries?

I can see the retor slogan now: 'Lord & Burnham. Masters of Navel Architecture'

From the pictures on 'The Location Company' site it would appear that the adaptive reuse has been relatively sympathetic to its grounds as well as the interiors. The ugly "exit" signs and other fire-related safety elements appear to be discrete.

magnus said...

When Charles Pratt, the family patriarch, died in 1891, his vision for Dosoris Park (as the Pratt family estate was known)had not come fully to fruition. While his children would go on to build houses of their own (and increasingly grand ones) as well as Pratt Oval, the central dairy and administrative facilities for Dosoris Park, Charles Pratt never had time to build a house for himself. Instead, he settled his family into an existing structures on one of the properties he had acquired to form Dosoris Park. This was the original "Manor House" and it apparently stood on the site of the later iteration shown in today's post. Charles' widow remained there after his death and as her children married, they fulfilled her late husband's vision and built their own houses surrounding hers. Most of these houses, while large by today's standards, were relatively modest by the plutocrat standards then prevailing. John Teele Pratt was the last of her children to marry, and inherited the original Manor House when she died. He is the first of the Pratt children to build a real eye boggler of a house. It evidently struck a cord with his brothers because in the following decade all but one of them would tear down or substantially remodel their initial houses into what we see today.

And the Manor House sorely needs those Elms.

Zach L. said...

It really does need those elm trees. It is incredibly naked today.

The Down East Dilettante said...

Naked, and sorely ditzed up by that silly cheap cast stone fountain and plantings in the driveway circle. What on earth makes people think that sort of fussy thing is elegant? Much finer in old photos of just the greensward leading up to the house.

Yup, you're right. I'm a grumpy old man about these things.

HalfPuddingHalfSauce said...

Has anyone stayed here? The reviews are a fifty-fifty mix of good and bad. Staff is praised, mansion out front, Motel Six out back.

Zach L. said...

I've never stayed overnight or eaten the food but I've been all over the house. You should see what it looked like in the '70s...Swiss Chalet.

Definitely nicer than a Motel Six...but ugly as all hell.

Anonymous said...

I have been at a few events and also at a Brunch or two. Food is not bad, on par with any other upscale catering facility. Mansion interiors are well preserved and most importantly the building is functional and has a purpose. A much better fate than the wrecking ball, but yes, the additions could have been better integrated and designed for sure.