Thursday, May 15, 2014

'Nirvana'

'Nirvana', the William Gould Brokaw estate designed by Little & O'Connor c. 1900 in Kings Point.  Brokaw's father was William Vail Brokaw, co-founder of Brokaw Brothers, clothiers.  His brother Clifford resided at 'The Elms' in Glen Cove, his sister Mrs. Henry B. Gilbert at 'Sunshine', and other sister Mrs. James E. Martin at 'Martin Hall', both in Kings Point.  'Nirvana' was demolished c. 1932 following a fire.

16 comments:

Magnuspetrie said...

This brings to mind a poem written by Wallace Irwin inspired by the eye boggler of a house built by Senator William Clark in New York. Exerts follow:

"...Every stlye from the Greek to the Hindus
Dago front porches and Siamese windows
Japanese Cupolas fightin' with Russian
Pillars Iconic
Eaves Babylonic
....roof was Egyptian
gables caniption..."

Magnuspetrie said...

That's Excerpts- sorry

Anonymous said...

that house would fit in perfectly with the homes being constructed today in Great Neck.

Tyngsboro said...

Well done, Magnus, my sentiments exactly !!! Would one actually call it Flemish with a Greco-Roman portico ? I'm waiting for the Dilettante to weigh in !!!

Anonymous said...

That's a tall ass house...

Anonymous said...


Now here's a family that liked to have fun with their architects. Standing O for the Brokaw bunch. Couldn't find a group of more wildly diverse and eclectic family mansions, with some equally over the top, eye opening interiors. Glen Cove's Elms was the most conventional, but the others are architectural free for alls. Wonder if the interiors gave Martin Hall a run for the money? Archibuff

John J. Tackett said...

The front gable is a nod to the Spanish Mission Revival style that became popular after 1890 or so, helped with the railroads promoting passenger travel to the Southwest and California.

The Down East Dilettante said...

Okay. I see it. But I don't believe it. Still rubbing my eyes. Cacophony is the word that comes to mind. Bizarrely tall gable, Oddly proportioned details in general. Spanish mission gable, yet because of the height, with an oddly Dutch effect---and then, there's that Colonial Revival portico that looks as if shipped over from Martin Hall. There was another sister, Mrs. McNair, who had an exceedinly elegant townhouse beside their father's.

Summing up, beauty is in the eye of the beholding, and I'm beholding a whole lot of fugly here.

Interesting to think that he grew up in one of the most lamented of the lost Fifth Avenue mansions.

Zach L. said...

Little & O'Connor were clearly iconoclasts and their Great Neck commissions really do look like the result of hours of drawing in the desert under the influence of peyote.

I can find very little information on them as a firm and no connection to James O'Connor. Anyone?

Zach L. said...

Willard P. Little & Michael J. O'Connor.

The Down East Dilettante said...

Oops. Bad Dilettante. This one's father was WILLIAM Vail Brokaw, not Isaac Vail Brokaw of the lamented mansion---also meaning Mrs. McNair would be a cousin, not a sister. 20 lashes with a Brokaw family genealogy.

The Down East Dilettante said...

I've turned up a very little about the architects. They were not members of the AIA, but did belong to the Architectural League of New York, and according to the ALNY directory maintained offices at 20 W. 34th St. They did quite a bit of work upstate, including a house for Albert Johnson in Hamilton, and a rectory and church in Hudson. In an article about the church, O'Connor is referred to as a Hudson architect. A comment on a blog says he was listed in Hudson census as architect with two children, building contractor father, and also a younger brother who was an architect. If this is the same Michael J. O'Connor, I'm not certain, I leave it to others to sort out

http://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2010/07/update-emanuel-lutheran-church.html

http://www.countrysquireny.com/history.html

The Down East Dilettante said...

Mrs. Little's obituary:

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F10F1FFA3F58157389DDAE0994D8415B878FF1D3

The Down East Dilettante said...

Little & O'Connor strike again:

http://digital-libraries.saic.edu/cdm/fullbrowser/collection/mqc/id/11662/rv/singleitem/rec/3

The Down East Dilettante said...

By 1922, their offices were at 103 Park Avenue, but I've given up trying to figure out their education

Anonymous said...

And by 1930 the pair would sip morning coffee at 159 E. 48th, nine years after W. Gould Brokaw had disposed of the last of his Great Neck holdings, leaving to the village's people a legacy of personal openhearted beneficence, uncharacteristic of international millionaire playboy sportsmen of the time.
List of New York City's Architects-1930 H-O
http://thehistorybox.com/ny_city/nycity_architects_H-O_article00006.htm