Thursday, November 8, 2012

'Morse Lodge'

 'Morse Lodge', the Tyler and Allon Mae Fuller Morse estate designed by Little & Browne c. 1909.  Morse was an attorney.  It was later owned by Gustave Maurice Heckscher, son of August Heckscher.  Heckscher, an aviator and polo player, renamed the estate 'Upland House' and had one of the few private polo fields in the area.  The residence is currently for sale and listed at $5,785,000, click HERE to see the listing via Daniel Gale Sotheby's.  Click HERE to see 'Morse Lodge' on google earth and HERE on bing.

Listing photos from Daniel Gale Sotheby's.

18 comments:

The Down East Dilettante said...

Nicely detailed, well proportioned interiors. When was this place built--and, it appears to perhaps be a renovation of an even older house?

One would be curious to see the facade as the architect intended, before the replacement windows and shutters flattened out the elevations.

August Hecksher II, a son of this house, I believe, built a wonderful and iconic modernist compound at Seal Harbor, designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes. Hecksher II was the first White House Cultural administrator (Kennedy) and was Parks Commissioner under Mayor Lindsey.

The Down East Dilettante said...

I see that Gustav was also a pioneer aviator. Marvelous photo of flying a Curtiss seaplane: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Curtiss_F_of_GM_Heckscher_c1912.jpg

The Devoted Classicist said...

Agreeing with D.E.D., an early photo of the exterior would be interesting. The whole central portion, from the third floor down to the entrance and peculiar portico, is not in synch. It does make one wonder if there wasn't an Italianate villa that got a Neo-classical makeover.

Kellsboro Jack said...

Only with the Bing map does Three Winds become as dramatic with the unfortunate proximity (today) with the highway.

Just to keep my bearings straight, is that the former F. Skiddy von Stade estate (later William Entenmann owned) adjacent to it? Was that was being razed for subdivision or just a single new manor home?

Zach L. said...

I've since changed the name of the estate as the 1919 Social Register conflicts with the name in Spinzia.

Zach L. said...

In 1925 the private fields in the vicinity belonged to:

W.R. Grace Jr. at 'Crossroads'
J.S. Phipps at 'Westbury House'
G. Maurice Heckscher at 'Upland House'
Thomas Hitchcock at 'Broad Hollow Farm'
Fred Post
Carl G. Fisher (the developer)

I've been unable to locate the last two on either the 1914 or 1927 maps of the area.

Anonymous said...

NSP
Was this built for Heckscher or Tyler Morse? See below.
Tyler Morse's Residence

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wmplcollections/5974458482/

Westbury Memorial Public Library, publisher.

Tyler Morse's Residence - "Morse Lodge", Westbury, Long Island

[ca. 1910]

1 postcard.

Notes:

Format: Postcard.

R

The Down East Dilettante said...

Yup, that's it. Designed by Herbert Browne, right?

Zach L. said...

I'm taking a mulligan.

ChipSF said...

Zach -
I seem to recall reading once that Fredrick Guest had a private polo field. And maybe C.V. Whitney too?

The Down East Dilettante said...

ah. Mysteries solved, conflicts resolved.

Zach L. said...

Chip... certainly possible though I am unaware of them. I know at one point they ran steeplechase races on the Whitney property.

This is pretty cool if you haven't seen...from a few years later in 1929:

http://www.oldlongisland.com/2009/08/polo-map-of-nassau-county.html

Zach L. said...

The Bostwick brothers had their own field where the Frank's Steaks shopping center is nowadays..but I do believe that was later than the 20s.

Anonymous said...

August Heckscher's daughter Antoinette (1888-1965) married British aristocrat and architect Capt. Oliver Sylvain Baliol Brett, 3rd Viscount Esher, son of Reginald Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher, noted Edwardian eminence grise. The 2nd Viscountess was a granddaughter of Anglo-American financier Joshua Bates, for whom McKim's great reading room at the Boston Public Library is named.

ChipSF said...

Zach -
That is a great map! Grace and Phipps - 2 fields each!! And 8 at Meadowbrook. That must have been a different location than the current Golf Club. And who were Preece and Nicholls?

Anonymous said...

additional Aiglon aerial photos..better quality and a few new estates than the site I posted originally awhile
back
http://digital-libraries.saic.edu/cdm/search/collection/mqc/searchterm/aiglon/order/title

enjoy
BT

Zach L. said...

As soon as I have the requisite permission I am going to post the related aerials on here. Thanks for the link.

ChipSF said...

Zach -
Another private field post 1924 might be Benjamin Brewster Jennings.