Monday, January 13, 2014

'Crossroads' Aerial

A 1938 aerial of 'Crossroads', the William Russell Grace Jr. estate designed by James O'Connor c. 1919 in Old Westbury.  Also seen are neighboring 'Catawba Farm' and the shared race track and polo field.  Click HERE for more on 'Crossroads'.  Photo from Stony Brook University's Digital Archive.

6 comments:

Zach L. said...

For those who want some reference points...

The road that runs east/west along the bottom is Store Hill Road (westbound LIE service road). The road that peels off from Store Hill is Wheatley Road. The tree lined road that runs through the middle of the frame below the race track was a private road shared between 'Crossroads' and 'Catawba Farm'.

Zach L. said...

The house buried in the woods at the very top of the frame is the Mrs. Thomas Hastings residence which she built after the death of her husband in 1929.

The Down East Dilettante said...

All that open space. All those contiguous properties.

In other news, I'm reading Robert Klara's 'The Hidden White House', a fascinating, if sometimes adjective-laden, account of the near-collapse and subsequent restoration of the White House during the Truman era. In it is found this quote by Richard Nickel:

"Great architecture has only two natural enemies: water and stupid men"

Yup.

Tyngsboro said...


Thanks, Zach ~ I like those map-like aerials. I wonder if thse 1938 shots over long island were tsken by the Fairchild Aerial Survey company ? And thank you, Dilettante, I was looking for something new, and different, to read. I'll be heading to the library tomorrow for the Robert Klara book.

bern said...

Zack ... Great aerials. Catawba Farms at that time was a compilation of race horse and show dog facilities. In 1938, the Austins built the main house which still stands. I recall most of the open fields of grazing and tenant farms when my family acquired the properties in 1950. Bernie

bern said...

Zack ... great areials. The Catawba property was then comprised of the horse racing operation and dog breeding kennels. Also noted was Mrs. Austin first started the annual horse jumper event (a main stay in those days). When my family acquired the property in 1950, the main house was contstruct right after this photo in 1938. I recall the open tenant farmer fields and grazing lands from the now LIE all the way back to Spring Hill. Bernie