Monday, December 3, 2012

'East Farm'

 'East Farm', originally a Smith family homestead built c. 1710 and later the Archibald M. Brown estate enlarged by himself c. 1914 in St. James.  Brown was a partner in the architecture firm of Peabody, Wilson & Brown.  His brother Lathrop Brown resided at 'Land of Clover' in St. James, also by Peabody, Wilson & Brown.  'East Farm' was substantially altered and partially demolished c. 1999 after it sold to a new owner.  Click HERE for a 1999 NYTimes article on the planned changes to the house (which was on the National Register) and HERE to see what the site looks like today on bing.  Click HERE to see 'East Farm' intact in a 1954 aerial.





7 comments:

The Ancient said...

Looks as if the architect in charge of the renovations studied under Francis Fleetwood, and later spent some time building waterside condos in South Carolina.

But I'm not as bent out of shape about this as the Times reporter would like me to be. The barns are still there, and there are several outbuildings, which I assume were relocated.

Anyone seen pictures of the new interior?

Kellsboro Jack said...

Looking back at that 1999 NYT article I'm always struck by the tone of owners who (intentionally or not) make olive branch remarks laced with thorns:

>> ''I just hope the community appreciates what I am doing for it.''

Mr. Acker would not say what those eight structures were, but said that he had found nothing in the historical record to indicate the wings added by Archibald Brown had any value.

''You know, I could always subdivide the place,'' he said. <<

As The Ancient said it is pleasing that the barns were retained as they've all too often been the first to get razed.

An aside, as it cited previously, the fire which destroyed the Horace Trumbauer designed mansion on Philadelphia's Main Line this spring and was questionable at the time has sparked a lawsuit:

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20121202_In_ashes_of_estate__a_fiery_lawsuit.html

The Down East Dilettante said...

Oh, don't think I'm not going to say something about this one! WTF is wrong with people??? If you want a typical Hamptons style McMansion, buy a vacant piece of land, buy a house of no character or distinction, but for pity's sake, leave the nice ones alone. When I first opened this, I thought 'what a nice civilized house, respecting its past yet opening it up for an elegant civilized life.

The pity is, the new owner has taste of a sort---the landscaping is lovely---no asphalt and concrete paver rectangular forecourt---just a nice gravel drive sweeping up to the house...but sheesh, there it stops. Nothing exceeds like excess. Every cliche is there---the lighthouse (or windmill tower, another tower too close to it for composition,

Oh never mind. I'm babbling. People are just so stupid. There's no subtlety in the world any more.

Anonymous said...

That is one butt-ugly new house.

l'il gay boy said...

This is why they should bring back tar-and-feathering...

The Ancient said...

I don't want to sound especially pissy, but I think you should all bear in mind how immensely expensive it is for the new owner of a neglected property to restore (or simply maintain) outbuildings, including barns.

If there are several large structures (or worse, more), it can be as much as several hundreds of thousands of dollars. And that's just routine maintenance -- not adaptive re-use.

Anonymous said...

The Mansion was painstakingly restored after it was moved. It is now open to the public as a wine tasting room and has it's original splendor. You can see the interior pics at www.HarmonyVineyards.com. The press got it wrong as 1/3 of the Brown additions were also retained and restored.