Wednesday, December 7, 2011

'Hempstead House' Interiors

The accompanying interiors to yesterday's post on 'Hempstead House', originally the Howard Gould estate designed by Hunt & Hunt c. 1909 in Sands Point and later the Daniel Guggenheim estate. Click HERE for more on 'Hempstead House' and HERE for the previous post.






Photos from Architecture, 1912.

11 comments:

Doug Floor Plan said...

It's probably a good thing the castle originally intended by Gould & drafted by Hayden was not built; I suspect it would not have survived.

The interiors are not bad & are appropriate for a castle. Good thing the interior decorator here didn't have to deal with the former Mrs. Howard Gould (nee Katherine Clemmons) -- there might have been bloodshed & a piece of valuable artwork destroyed to hide the evidence.

Charles Foster Kane said...

I think if you look carefully in the west wing, Susan, you'll find about a dozen vacationists still in residence.

The Devoted Classicist said...

The Palm Room is my favorite part. Is the interior open to the public? Does anyone know if the skylight has been restored?

The Down East Dilettante said...

In another of the articles encountered in the course of yesterday's research, the library, the top room, is referred to as 'The Bookless Library at Castle Gould', although the writer goes on to admit that there are a very few books in an adjacent alcove. No surprise to find that the pleasure seeking Goulds were less than literary.

The rendering for the unbuilt Castle Gould shows it to indeed have been unrealistically large. Mad Housewife of Nassau County teams up with crazy architect, this is what results. And indeed it does closely resemble Kilkenny Castle. Notice also, any lingering doubters, that it does show as being sited on the ocean bluff.

Interesting that the entrance was going to be on the east side, and interesting that the front facing the ocean has so bloody little to do with the ocean---just a glassed in veranda as if it were some bleak hotel on the north British coast.

And I'm relieved for Doug that it was never built, as the floorplans would have been close to enough to cause nervous collapse on examination. I wonder if the drawings survive in any collection?

The Down East Dilettante said...

PS, Devoted, if one thinks about it, doesn't it seem that the Palm room must have been inspired by the one their father designed at Biltmore? Not so much in detail and elevation, but in the way it is placed in the plan and how the rooms pivot around and through it?

Charles Foster Kane---LOL

Zach L. said...

The interior of the house was prominently featured on NBC's short lived television show 'Kings'.

Anonymous said...

Devoted, I had a tour 2 summer's ago,and I have to say it was one of the worst house tours I've ever had. It was given by one of the workers of the corporation that took it over from the county. She knew nothing of the architecture, or the history of the house or grounds. That being said, the interior seemed to be in surprisingly good shape. At that point, she spoke of the skylight in the Palm room being restored, but I don't know if that came to be....I hear rumour that it's not being run that great, but don't know it that's just talk or truth.

archubuff said...

I like the interiors, most appropriate and very consistent throughout for the style of home. I havent been inside in years, but the exterior was not well maintained in the past and I remember sections were behind scaffolding and barricades were placed to keep people away from falling masonry. Dont know what level of care it is receiving these days, but I will have to get over there. Also thought a large Wedgewood collection was donated to Nassau County and it was housed on the second floor.

Zach L. said...

I was told by a former deputy parks commissioner of Nassau County a few years ago that the home was in need of roughly $10 million worth of work. The steel frame underneath the stone exterior is corroding from the seawater/air and slowly making the house structurally unstable.

archibuff said...

Well if Nassau County is true to form they will either wait until the deterioration is so bad that it will cost $30M to repair/rebuild or they will try and lease the building out to some corporation who will be responsible for the maintenance. Either way, the county will succeed in keeping their abysmal track record of ownership intact.

The Down East Dilettante said...

Although I live far from Nassau country, I follow their track record with historic properties with avid interest----there is clearly a serious problem at the highest levels of bureaucracy that they should so continue to follow a model that clearly doesn't work and costs more money in the long run...