Thursday, May 31, 2012

'Martin Hall' Stables

 The stables, now a private residence, to 'Martin Hall', the James E. Martin estate designed by Little & O'Connor c. 1900 in Great Neck.  Click HERE for more on 'Martin Hall'.  Click HERE to see the stables on google earth and HERE on bing.  Photos courtesy of James Hogarty.




14 comments:

The Devoted Classicist said...

The historic photo of the stables from the earlier post answers my questions. As sometimes happens, I liked the outbuilding better than the main house.

archibuff said...

Even with a third of the struture removed the building is still massive. Many extant outbuildings on LI are indeed wonderful buildings. In this case, the detailing and materials matched the main home perfectly. There have been many great stable complexes that often rivaled or outshone the main homes themselves, Caumsett, Harbor Hill, Hempstead House, the Manse come to mind and this was one of those amazing stables.

Anonymous said...

I like the satellite dish mounted on the side of the house. I guess that's so the horses can watch Animal Planet.

The Ancient said...

Off-topic:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/the-sorry-fate-of-a-tech-pioneer-halsey-minor-and-historic-virginia-estate-carters-grove/2012/05/30/gJQAwdJG4U_story.html

Curtains for Carter's Grove?

The Down East Dilettante said...

I was about six years old, already house-mad, when I first saw pictures of Carter's Grove, in all its romanticized Colonial Revival glory (in Richard Pratt's "Treasury of Early American Homes"). It went through me like a bullet---as it did for so many. Carter's Grove, as remodeled and renovated by the McCrea's, was probably the inspiration for at least a couple of dozen Long Island estates. Very sad.

The Ancient said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Ancient said...

I had mixed feelings about the McCreas' renovations, but it was still a great, great house.

The Commonwealth should buy it, restore it, and worry about a suitable public use later.

(For people with early ancestors in Virginia -- as I have -- that land is almost sacred. Nowadays, of course, you could say "The Massacres of 1622" and not one person in a hundred thousand would know what you were talking about.)

The Down East Dilettante said...

As a finished product, the McCrea's 'Carter's Grove' was a stunning affair. But of course they shouldn't have done it. Same mixed feelings here. And agreed that it is a very, very great building.

And of course the Commonwealth should buy it---but the enormous and growing lack of interest in heritage sites---even in heritage-mad Virginia, is becoming epidemic.

archibuff said...

Great link Ancient.........yet another example of mismanaged incompetence, foolish mistakes, disappointments and outright fraud. The Williamsburg Foundation should be embarassed at their initial decisions and lack of oversight and protective covenants and the owner (appropriately named Minor) should slink back under the slimey rock that he crawled out from.

It also is another dubious but very clear signal how this countries heritage, artifacts, history and interest in preservation is slowly but surely eroding. Forget mentioning the Massacres of 1622 to most people, try quizzing them about the owner of Monticello, what happened at Gettysburg, who fought in the War or 1812, Paul Revere, any simple grade school history and you will get blank stares.

The Down East Dilettante said...

I blame Home Depot, HGTV and the dumbing effect set in motion when Texas shrubbery escaped and took over the rest of the country.

Kellsboro Jack said...

Ah, Halsey Minor and Carter's Grove. The guy is a menace with every project he seems to touch. The 8-figure delinquent taxes owed California, lawsuits with auction houses, lawsuits with horse racing, contractors, construction firms, past partners, backing out of donation pledges - you name it.

He's invested a tremendous amount of time going after anyone who says boo on line against him. Carter's Grove will not be relinquished without a very long drawn out fight during which it will continue to decline.

The Ancient said...

KJ --

I think he may have finally run up against the wrong judge.

Anonymous said...

Not sure how the thread got off Martin Hall stables but looking at them on Bing, I couldn't help to notice the tragic fact that 80% of their "lawn" is asphalt. What a shame.

Anonymous said...

But it's a miracle that at least this survived.