'Rosemary Hall'

 'Rosemary Hall', the Foxhall P. Keene estate designed by Freeman & Hasselman c. 1902 in Old Westbury.  Click HERE and HERE for more on 'Rosemary Hall'.  Click HERE to see 'Rosemary Hall' on google earth and HERE on bing.

Photos from Architecture, 1902.

'Rosemary Hall'

 'Rosemary Hall', the Foxhall P. Keene estate designed by Freeman & Hasselman c. 1902 in Old Westbury.  Click HERE and HERE for more on 'Rosemary Hall' and HERE to see the house as it looks today.  Click HERE to see 'Rosemary Hall' on google earth and HERE on bing.

Photos from The New York Architect, 1908.

'Rosemary Hall'

'Rosemary Hall', the Foxhall Parker Keene estate designed by Freeman & Hasselman c. 1902 in Old Westbury. Keene was a famous sportsman and polo player (ten-goal) and served as the captain of the American International Polo team in 1913. The Keene stable, Castleton Farm, located in Kentucky was widely known in thoroughbred racing. In 1907 their horses accounted for $400,000 in winnings. Keene never played in the 1913 International match as he had been thrown from his horse in practice and broke his collarbone. He had suffered a similar injury in 1905 when he crashed his car into a telegraph pole during that year's Vanderbilt Cup Race. A 1913 NYTimes article mentions that he had broken his collar bone four times. He had "twice been carried from the polo field for dead. He has had falls as an amateur steeplechase rider, been blown up from an automobile, nearly drowned on a sinking yacht, dragged by runaway horses and bitten by dogs". He retired in 1931 and moved to Canada to live with his sister, passing away in 1941. Click HERE to see 'Rosemary Hall' on google earth and HERE to see what 'Rosemary Hall' looks like today. Postcard from the Gary Lawrance collection.

'Rosemary Hall'

'Rosemary Hall', the Foxhall P. Keene estate designed by Freeman & Hasselman c. 1902 in Old Westbury.  Click HERE for all the previous posts on 'Rosemary Hall' (be sure to scroll down).

Rosemary Hall

'Rosemary Hall' was built for Foxhall P. Keene by Freeman & Hasselman c. 1902 in Old Westbury.  The rear originally had a series of terraces that led to a formal garden.  The house caught fire some years ago and sat in disrepair as the front of the property was subdivided, but someone has clearly undertaken an extensive renovation, given that the four front columns are missing at the moment.  Click HERE to see 'Rosemary Hall' on google earth.

'Knole' and 'Rosemary Hall' Aerial

A 1938 aerial of 'Knole', the Bradley Martin estate designed by Carrere & Hastings c. 1903 and 'Rosemary Hall', the Foxhall Keene estate designed by Freeman & Hasselman c. 1902 in Old Westbury.  Click HERE for more on 'Knole' and HERE for more on 'Rosemary Hall'.  Photo from Stony Brook University's Digital Archive.

'Rosemary Hall'

'Rosemary Hall', the residence of Foxhall P. Keene designed by George Freeman in Old Westbury c. 1902. Click HERE for more on 'Rosemary Hall'. Pictures from the Architectural Record.

The Meadowbrook Hunt Club Fox Hunt

The Meadowrook Hunt Club on a fox hunt c. 1902 on the front lawn of 'Rosemary Hall', the Foxhall P. Keene estate designed by George Freeman c. 1902 in Old Westbury. Click HERE for more on 'Rosemary Hall'. Picture from the Library of Congress.

Rosemary Hall

When Foxhall P. Keene's 'Rosemary Hall' in Old Westbury was pictured HERE last summer the house was still awaiting the four Corinthian columns that support the portico to be reinstalled.  The renovation seems complete as the columns have been put up and the house once again looks as it did 100 years ago.  

'Talbot House'

'Talbot House', the Talbot Jones Taylor estate designed by Lamb & Rich beginning in 1895 in Cedarhurst. Taylor was a member of the NY Stock Exchange and head of Talbot J. Taylor Co., brokerage firm. He was married to Jessica Harwar Keene in 1892 and began plans for the house shortly thereafter. Jessica Keene was the only daughter of James R. Keene, father of Foxhall P. Keene, brother in law to Talbot who resided in Old Westbury at 'Rosemary Hall'. 'Talbot House' received various additions over the years and grew to be quite large (30 bedrooms). In 1908 Talbot and his wife divorced setting off a public battle over their assets. In 1909 it was decided that Mrs. Taylor would get the house in order to settle "all claims between husband and wife and for the support of Mrs. Taylor and her children in the future". Mrs. Taylor's lawyer told the court that it was her father, James R. Keene, that had paid for most of the couple's life and called it a "lucky day" when Taylor "struck the whimsical fancy of Jessica Keene". Apparently at some point during their marriage the elder Keene bought a house for the couple in Baltimore which Taylor sold and used to profits of which to buy a seat on the stock exchange. He also apparently lost Keene a good deal of money and instead of filing for bankruptcy was released of that debt by Keene ($4 million). Taylor's entire collection of art and antiques in the house was soon auctioned off and the house was destroyed by fire in 1914. Later in 1909 Taylor married Mrs. Marie Zane Cowles, who decorated 'Talbot House'. Their NYTimes wedding announcement mentions that "Mr. Taylor always maintained that his relations with Mrs. Cowles were purely of a business nature" during the years she worked at 'Talbot House'. A court hearing of that year detailed the relationship between Taylor and Cowles, stating that it began as early as 1897 (click HERE to read). Taylor died in 1938 at his home in Nice, France. Click HERE to see where 'Talbot House' stood on google earth.

According to SPLIA, the ceiling in the hall was probably derived from a ceiling in Broughton Castle, Oxfordshire (c. 1599).

Pictures from American Estates & Gardens.

Putting a Face to an Estate 3

Foxhall Keene. Below, his estate 'Rosemary Hall' designed by George Freeman c. 1902 in Old Westbury.

Frederick E. Guest. Below, his estate 'Templeton' designed by Carrere & Hastings c. 1918 in Brookville.