Monday, January 2, 2012

'Lulworth'

'Lulworth', the Francis M. Weld Jr. estate designed by Charles A. Platt c. 1912 in Lloyd Harbor. The estate also had Olmsted landscaping and an Ellen Shipman designed walled flower garden and terrace. Weld was a partner with the investment banking firm of White, Weld and Co. and was a director at numerous other companies. His second marriage was to Julia de Forest Tiffany, one of Louis C. Tiffany's twin daughters. Weld was killed in an airplane crash in 1949. Click HERE to see 'Lulworth' on google earth and HERE on bing.







Photos from The American Architect, 1915.

16 comments:

Doug Floor Plan said...

Good looking house with an interesting floor plan -- that hall running length-wise across the back is unusual; I hope it was & is more than just a space to walk through. Nice that this house still stands looking as good as it does & still has a view.

The Devoted Classicist said...

I love all the treillage but realize it probably was a maintenance nightmare. And the split shutters also provide a lively relief to the big brick mass. Does anyone know what the little shed-like structure is on the roof of the end porch? It seems too small for a Sleeping Porch, but that is all that comes to mind.

Anonymous said...

It is a beautiful mansion but too bad all the land has been sold off leaving really no more separtation than you typical suburban home. It looks like there isn't even any room for a pool. But like I said before, it is beautiful.

Anonymous said...

I will agree with the anonymous commenter here regarding the land. Subdivision is many times a bad thing.

A fine home with a good floor plan.

Doug Floor Plan said...

Classicist, I hadn't noticed that structure on the second story porch -- good eye. I agree it's way too small to be a sleeping porch & it has a hood on the front to shield whatever is inside from the east sun &/or rain. Since that porch probably belongs to the master bedroom I wonder if it's a bird coop, possibly pigeons. Whatever it was, it's not there now in the Bing views.

Anon 9:16am, at least this house sits higher than its neighbors to the west so it still has a view to the bay. Also, at some point an owner did put in a swimming pool -- it replaced the formal garden (a sign of the times).

Glen said...

Devoted - my guess is that structure on the roof of the porch is a clerestory/skylight to bring more light into the middle of the porch - perhaps for growing palm trees, which was popular. It is an oddity and has since been removed. Very simple, plain but handsome house. Flawless execution typical of Platt. I agree with others on the loss of land, which has robbed the house of the frontal approach shown in these pictures. Arriving from the side as one does now is surely a much less dramatic experience and the house is never viewed in its full spendor as originally intended. I wonder where the outbuildings were and what they were like. I'm glad it still stands and appears well cared for.

The Ancient said...

I see -- on Bing -- that Boatcroft, a 1910 Neo-Georgian house to the northeast of Lulworth, has been undergoing heavy renovations. (It was most recently owned by a UN delegation from the Ivory Coast.)

Does anyone know anything about what it now looks like? Has it been restored or "modernized"?

(Originally the house was on 100+ acres, with landscaping by Olmstead. It's at the end of Harbor Hill Drive.)

Anonymous said...

According to Zillow, it only has a value of $1.5 million and it is on 2.27 acres of land. It isn't even the most expensive home in the area.

The Down East Dilettante said...

Although the facade is a little long with windows, the house is lovely---not hard to see why Platt was the most admired country house architect of the early 1900s. The entrance portico is almost a master class in design.

The world is a terribly small place. Weld was, I believe, the grandfather of the former Governor of Massachusetts?

Zach L. said...

Yes...same Weld.

The Down East Dilettante said...

Ancient, not clear which house is the one that you reference on Bing.

The Ancient said...

Dilettante --

If you look at the google earth link which Zach provides above, you'll see -- to the northeast, along the shore -- an estate marked out called Boatcroft, built about 1910 for J. Herbert Johnston by Willauer, Sharpe & Bready. (Typically, there is an obvious overstatement regarding the number of rooms -- unless, of course, they kept rabbits.)

The Bing alternative view appears to provide a more up to date view of the house, swarming with renovation people.

HalfPuddingHalfSauce said...

http://wikimapia.org/#lat=40.9111045&lon=-73.4545469&z=17&l=0&m=b&v=8&show=/2633620/Boatcroft

The Ancient said...

HPHS --

Thank you. (Maybe someday you will do a post on your own wonderful blog explaining to the rest of us how to do such things! Because, really, I haven't a clue.)

Back to Boatcroft: HBJ was the brother of Emily de Forest of Wawapek, and many other descendants of his grandfather, John Johnston. (Johnston was -- more or less -- the co-partner of what passed for Goldman Sachs between 1820 and 1850. He was also the prime mover behind The Row on Washington Square North. See The Old Merchants of New York.)

The Ancient said...

Department of Amplification and Clarification:

OK, I typed "HBJ" when I should have typed "JHJ."

(It's a WASP handicap. We don't have enough vowels to remember.)

Turner Pack Rats said...

as usual, RIP olmstead and shipman. but a bigger issue is (too kind a word)the abortion down the westview drive. what happened? did the "architect" forget where he started and got lost in the house and just kept on building til he finally built his way out. there must be interior rooms with no windows at all. YIKES !!!
PS - maybe the ancient could buy another vowel. i'll take Long Island estate gardens for $1200, Alex - oops, i forgot - there aren't any.

security word def - "ciecia" - a royal sendoff