'
Land of Clover', the
Lathrop Brown estate designed by
Peabody, Wilson & Brown between 1912-1917 in
Smithtown. Brown, a U.S. Representative from New York and college roommate of Franklin Delano Roosevelt at Harvard, was the brother of Archibald Brown, partner in the firm that designed his house. Click
HERE to see a brochure from when '
Land of Clover' was for sale. The estate currently functions as the Knox School. Click
HERE to see 'Land of Clover' on google earth and
HERE on bing.
Photos from
Architectural Forum, 1920.
9 comments:
Still stately and appealing to this day at least in my view.
Further the manor and its assorted stable complex all look to be in excellent condition. A pronounced absence of the institutional adoptions really is appreciated. No fire-escapes tacked on the mansion and a relative restraint on carpeting the grounds with gobs of asphalt parking lots.
The Knox School was from 1920 until 1953 in Cooperstown NY at the Otesega Hotel built by F. Ambrose Clark's brother Edward.
The LaRosa family (of the LaRosa pasta brands) sold the property to the school.
It's my understanding that the interior was not completely finished, nor had the Browns completely inhabited the house when they sold it, apparently having bitten off more than they could chew financially with this house?
Tidewater comes to Long Island. Very attractive. I have also appreciated the sensitive treatment of the property by the school over the years. While much of the interior has probably changed it would have been interesting to step into the long curving kitchen/pantry area to see how those spaces looked and functioned.
It's rather William Lawrence Bottomley-esq with the Virginia feel and not just because of the choice and origin of the brick.
A curious notation on the bottom of last page of the brochure when 'Land of Clover' was for sale:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OlaVeajrP30/Sp-tNcBg5xI/AAAAAAAAD7Y/h5VobE-UkC4/s1600-h/Lathorp+Brown+4.jpg
"Motion pictures may be inspected at any time by brokers and buyers."
Wow! They shot this estate (and others) on film? Please tell me they are just waiting to be pulled out of some archive.
And not just sitting in a canister in a basement, the nitrates eating it up as we speak. Indeed yes.
A wee glimpse, I recommend muting the volume, this just lasts a few minutes:
http://www.knoxschool.org/cf_media/index.cfm?g=26
-Flo
I've always loved this house. Nice to learn that it still survives, and in such good condition. And Flo, thanks for the link.
The book "The $80 Champion" was based on a champion show jumper whose owner taught riding there and where the horse lived for a time during the 1950's. The book came out last year
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