Thursday, December 29, 2011

'Maxwelton'

'Maxwelton', the John Rogers Maxwell estate designed by William B. Tubby c. 1898 in Glen Cove as seen from a distance. Click HERE for more on 'Maxwelton'. The photo was found on eBay.

9 comments:

Doug Floor Plan said...

To me, this is a picture that needs a caption; such as: "Man, that is one great looking cupola. I'm glad I built such a great looking house that no one would ever dare alter it."

magnus said...

A fascinating glimpse of the North Shore of Long Island as it was being reclaimed from farmland.

The Ancient said...

"The few girls who escaped during the night were invariably recaptured on the Moor in the morning by Mellors, the caretaker, and returned to the office of the school's headmistress, Sister Penetentia."

The Down East Dilettante said...

Ancient beat me to it.

Doug Floor Plan said...

LOL Ancient; MUCH better than mine.

archibuff said...

The photo seems to hint that renovations had already gotten underway at this early stage. The lower body of the house is darker than the third floor level, as in later years after renovations and I also dont see the loggia on the north side (right) of the home, as in disappeared after renovations in later photos. So it appears the cupola survived well into a third or fourth renovation/update of the home which makes sense since it would have provided great interior light into the center hall or staircase. Also the transformation of the old farm fields are incredible. People do forget that the many fine specimen trees, acres of pines, rhododendrens and mountain laurel spotted along the north shore are in many cases remnants of former estate plantings. Great photo.

Patricia said...

To me, the greatest change has been the drive out to Montauk Point where as a child, things pretty much got rural at the Suffolk County line. Miles of potato fields along the way. Now it's all industrial/commercial, right up to Riverhead.

The Ancient said...

All joking aside, magnus and Patricia are right -- much of the lushness of the North Shore of LI is a leftover, courtesy of legatees who thought that grand houses and extensive gardens were the best possible use of money they hadn't made themselves.

Most of them, I am sure, thought it was a wise investment.

(Any number of things disabused them, later.)

Anonymous said...

Great photo. This picture looks as if it was taken just after the partial completion of the main house but before the construction of the stable and greenhouse. I can see the foundation for the stable and greenhouse just to the left of the horse and attendant. I would guess the water tower is in some form of development just left of the photo unless the foundation includes the tower. Where did you get the photo? J. Colby bricktower@aol.com