"Peacock Point"

THE publication of a new work by Messrs. Walker and Gillette is a matter of interest among architects. There is a keynote of excellence running through the design of all the product of the firm that at times rises above the level of professional skill. When this happens the result is a masterly work of art. Such is the house of H. H. Rogers, at Southampton, Long Island, which I(John Taylor Boyd, Jr.) described last year in the January number of the Architectural Record. The "Rogers house," as it has come to be known, called forth at once admiration for the rare way in which it combined imagination and boldness with vigorous classic unity of effect; for its harmony of color and its perfection of detail, especially in the matter of texture. Remarkable as this house was on the exterior, with its flat-walled gardens, inside it was to be praised for the free, unconventional use of materials, of plaster and metals and tile, used in decorative schemes obtained by contrasting pieces of furniture, furnishings and objects of art against flat wall surfaces of exquisite texture, all in rich, strong, yet harmonious color.

VIEW FROM NORTHWEST - "PEACOCK POINT" - LOCUST VALLEY, L.  I.  -  WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

A decidedly different type of house is "Peacock Point". Indeed, at first sight one would hardly believe that it came from the same hands that wrought the Rogers house - that is, until one notes the striking, decorative quality of the terrace front and the sureness of proportions common to the two. Inside, also, if one is familiar with the Rogers house, one will appreciate in Peacock Point something of the same ability to devise contrasts of spots of rich concentrated ornament in glowing colors against bare flat planes. Especially is this true of the breakfast room ***below***.

BREAKFAST ROOM - "PEACOCK POINT" - LOCUST VALLEY,   L.  L .   WALKER  &  GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

It is evident that Peacock Point is a much more conventional type of house than the other, doubtless necessarily so, since the latter is a summer residence and might, therefore, assume a more original character than an owner would desire in a year-round home, where medieval oak and tapestry, wrought iron and tile might become tiresome at times, especially in winter.


Exteriorally, Peacock Point follows a type familiar to us. That is the type which has been evolved by two different lines of thought converging towards the same goal, the goal of formal architecture on balanced axes, expressed with fine proportions and in exquisite taste. These two differing influences originated a generation ago with the late Mr. McKim and with Mr. Charles A. Piatt. Both of them were men of strong personality, and they succeeded in imparting to their work an extraordinary expression of well-being and good breeding carried out in perfect taste. Indeed, if one comes to think about it, one will be astonished that two such people could say the same thing in such different words. 'Tis like reciting the Lord's Prayer, first in English and then in Russian. Only two such strong personalities could have accomplished this paradox. The two architects possessed in rare degree the true classic spirit, which is: formality without monotony, perfection without coldness or deadness. They knew how to retain interest, yet at the same time ruthlessly cut away every motive or ornament not absolutely vital to the design. They often endowed their work with qualities of charm and grace, which is but another attribute of true classicism. Altogether, it is doubtful if there ever has been evolved a formal style of architecture more suited to the needs and character of gentlemen of large means and of ample endowment in the material and intellectual benefits of twentieth century civilization. More recently, this modern American adaptation of Georgian has evolved further, under the influences of younger men, among whom are Messrs. Walker and Gillette. It has become freer, slightly less severe, and grace and delicate scale have often been added to it. This modification has perhaps been the result both of intimate study of beautiful details in Italy, and also of the variety and perfection of early American work, of whose fascination we never tire.


All these influences are apparent in "Peacock Point". But it shows clearly the same bold, keen sense of decoration so characteristic of its creators. The decorative character of the terrace front has, however, a sounder basis than any architect's temperament, or any yearning for pretentiousness on the part of an owner desirous of something striking to advertise him to a public flashing past his door in automobiles. The true reason for the strong color spotting of the pilasters and flanking bay-windows in the side pavilions is to provide a motive powerful enough to carry across the waters of Long Island Sound. The house stands only some 250 feet from the shore line, and did it not have such strong contrasts of color would appear at a distance as a flat, dark mass without any architectural character whatever.


As an additional effective aid in providing a long-distance impression, we must admire the splendid silhouette of the house. Its manner of piling up from the ground in a pyramid, up from ground floor bay-windows, then to flanking loggia and service wing, on up to the flatroofed balustraded pavilions of the second story and finally to the third floor attic crowned by its hipped roof - all this cannot be too highly praised. Not only does this stepping up improve the aspect of the house at a distance, but it further harmonizes the house with its level site, in which effect the terrace and the skillfully disposed planting serve to aid.

WEST PORCH - "PEACOCK POINT" - LOCUST VALLEY, L.  I. -  WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

The successful tieing-on of the flanking pavilions to the centre motive is a skillful bit of technique, and I do not recall anywhere having seen a better solution of the hard problem of stopping the frieze and architrave of the entablature above the pilasters and columns and then carrying only the cornice around the building above the plain walls. 


On this sea-front the order has been detailed with admirable freedom, especially with regard to the narrow entablature above the elongated capitals and the flattened vases set above the cornice. In its decorative motifs and delicate scale it has the inspiration of colonial America, though we cannot recall anything exactly resembling it in our early native masterpieces. Another virtue of the exterior of "Peacock Point" is that, while invested with unusual refinement and delicacy, the underlying proportions of windows and window enframements and balustrades retain that splendid solidity and sureness that the progenitors of this style of house endowed it with. Too often we notice the recent tendency of over-refinement, where delicacy and thinness - qualities in themselves desirable in certain cases -  have not been successful and have instead made designs look weak, even effeminate. The truth is that when delicate, attenuated proportions are chosen, the designer must detail them with corresponding delicacy, with extreme subtlety. Refined subtle proportions demand even more than do heavier ones strength and firmness and character in every line. The difference of a small fraction of an inch in belt-course or capital, or frieze, or overhang or projection, may decide success and failure of the work of art. It is no exaggeration to say that attenuated proportions require higher ability in their designs than heavy ones, though, of course, they have no superiority in themselves over heavy ones. Many cases there are where heavy proportions are to be preferred to light ones, and just as much ability may be imparted to their details. The point is that if the heavy order has not unusual artistic accuracy in its design, it does not appear to have failed so signally.


As minor details will be noticed the lively touch of decoration of the metal balcony, lace-like against the dark brick, the finely turned balusters, columns and arches, also the humorous placing of the big peacocks over the bay-windows, symbolical of the name of the estate.

BREAKFAST ROOM - "PEACOCK POINT" - LOCUST VALLEY,   L.  L .   WALKER  &  GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

The south or entrance front is of simpler, quieter aspect than the other, since in a garden front there is no need of affording a long distance impression. Its good taste is evident, resulting in less emphasis of pyramidal effect, though the silhouette is the same. The sparkling touches of color, of style, provided by the enframements of the first story, the big fine motive of the entrance, and the able handling of the balustraded terrace which ends against the urn-tipped posts of the circling walls and serves to aid the adjustment of building to flat terrain, these are the main elements of the success of this front. It is fortunate, too, that advantage has been taken of the position of the tall elms on the lawn to break up the horizontal lines of the cornice.

GROUND PLAN  "PEACOCK POINT" -  THE RESIDENCE OF H. P. DAVISON. ESQ. - LOCUST VALLEY, L. L.   WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

As the photographs show, the roadway swings up to the entrance door around a long elliptical lawn of elm trees. At the west of the opposite end of this lawn is the entrance, where a gateway of curving walls has overcome ingeniously the oblique turning off from the highway. The gardens open out from the house terrace on the east, and, further along, are found a polo field and the farm of the estate. The photographs are worth much study for the effective planting, which is plentiful but not dense enough to appear gloomy. 

POND GARDEN - "PEACOCK POINT" - LOCUST VALLEY, L. I.   WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

The designers have avoided mechanical or trivial effects in the gardens. Instead they contented themselves with a less formal method, have sought bold sweeping effects made by contrasting big beds of flowers against banks of trees and broad greensward paths, and have brightened the perspectives with an occasional spot of architecture in the curving curb of a pool, an infrequent statue or thatched teahouse. It is precisely the scheme of decoration of the garden front of the house. 

WESTERLY END - "PEACOCK POINT" - LOCUST VALLEY, L. L.   WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

Good use has been made of rough stone walls and paths made by great flagstones set in greensward. Altogether the effect is somewhat naturalistic, akin to oldfashioned places, with just enough of modern style and art to make it cheerful. How often do we see the contrary where gardens are hard, mechanical, fussy, with a surfeit of angular brick walls, countless little paths and steps and levels all washed spick and span and without sufficient background of shrubs and trees! The old Italian and English gardeners knew their work. They were aware that delicacy and color in nature are provided by leaves and flowers and sunlight, and that the right contrast comes when architecture of walls and terraces is made heavy and lumpy with blocks of stone with robust overhangs or rustications affording deep shadows. The extravagant use of rococo elements in garden architecture of the Renaissance was not caprice, it was more than blindly following the tastes of the time. We can hardly swallow such oddities now and would not care for them today in buildings, but in gardens they have a purpose. In Italy and England one will note that, however delicate may be the scale of buildings on the parts off the ground, the architecture in contact with foliage near the ground on the same building is coarse and heavy. Yet, more often than not, American architects will set mechanical, sophisticated prim little gates or posts or other garden decoration in the midst of a garden.

MAIN ENTRANCE - "PEACOCK POINT"  - LOCUST VALLEY, L. I.   WALKER A GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

By this time we are all familiar enough with symmetrical plans of houses with centre entrances and consequently we do not need to have their intricacies pointed out to us. 

ENTRANCE HALL - "PEACOCK POINT" - LOCUST VALLEY, L. L.   WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

The entrance is agreeable - into a biscuit-colored hall with wrought iron stair railing and brass hand rail, whose chief merits are the old Portland stone floor brought from England and the Chinese panels in full color on the second floor. 

DINING ROOM  - "PEACOCK POINT" - LOCUST VALLEY, L. L.   WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

In the dining room we have much more elaboration, even sophistication, executed with great delicacy of detail. Here the color scheme shows soft yellow walls as a background for walnut furniture and blue carpet and the crystal candelabra over the mantel. Again the symbolical peacock appears, this time as a screen in front of the "Franklin" on the hearth. We are no longer content to associate crickets with the hearth—we must place peacocks there. In what countless ways, in even the minutest, the oddest, the most humorous details, is the old truth always recurring that architecture is the mirror of the life of its time!


I have mentioned the charming breakfast room and its fine decorative flower reliefs. These were developed from old
Dutch flower pictures in a sort of "composition' material, and executed in full color. A happy idea, which, let us hope, will not be cone to death by careless imitation. On the chairs of this room are painted plaques of birds of the locality.

LIBRARY - "PEACOCK POINT" - LOCUST VALLEY, L. L.   WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

A view of the library, a most homelike room. Its walls are tinted a fawn gray and the cornice is painted in color blending into a most charming interior with objects of different arts and periods vivaciously combined. Its only fault is a slight tendency of that curious fad of contemporary decorators which is to balance all tiny pictures, medallions and other trinkets painfully on an axis, especially a piece of furniture. The reductio ad absurdun of this logic I once saw in a published photograph of a simple chest of drawers, which was presented as an example to be followed. Here the decorator in some uncanny way had disposed tall candles and framed photographs and books, especially books, until he had changed that humble chest of drawers into a shrine or an altar. Were the owner of the bedroom a religious man, it is certain that he could never enter or leave the room without kneeling and crossing himself before the icon.

LIVING ROOM  - "PEACOCK POINT" - LOCUST VALLEY, L. L.   WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

The decorator's art has advanced rapidly in the last ten years and all must be glad of its progress. It has taken a great load off the architect's mind, for now he may design good interiors, conscious that there is a good chance that they will not be ruined by bad furniture and hangings. For this reason it is a misfortune when we discover in the decorator's art any tendency to degenerate into formula? and fads. In too many cases interior decorating is more of a business venture than a profession, and, under the commercial pressure of increasing the volume of sales, is too easily tempted into a routine like this ridiculous overemphasis of symmetry in tiny things.
A work wrought with insight in conception and details, executed with high skill and breeding, in a fine vigorous scale, well harmonized with its setting, "Peacock Point" is a worthy addition to America's ever lengthening list of fine houses.

The house was demolished in the early 1960s. Click HERE to see remains at wikimapia. Click HERE for link to oldlongisland.com for more on "Peacock Point" including comments from Henry P. Davison II. 

COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS

DOORWAY TO COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

FEW among recent creations of American architecture will excite more interest than this latest work of Walker and Gillette, the house of Mr. H. H. Rogers, at Southampton, Long Island. This deserves our notice, because not only is it a perfectly wrought design of unusual merit in itself, but it brings to the front certain fundamental principles of mass and color at the root of the highest art. How is it that architects occasionally allow themselves to be so absorbed in the technique of form that they grow indifferent to the needs of color and of mass? In this respect, Messrs. Walker and Gillette have been of great service, in repeating the warning that technique is a means, not an end - moreover, which they have emphasized in such definite terms of three dimensions that, unlike mere words, it cannot be very well ignored. 

Southampton, an old American town, with nearly three centuries of history, lies along towards the eastern end of the island, about a mile from the sea, where the country is flat and rather sandy. The landscape of the district is one of dark wind-swept heaths and white dunes along the ocean, changing inland to a neighborhood of level farms. Because of these attractions and its soft sea-climate, which permits outdoor life through the greater part of the year, Southampton has become well-known as a place of country residences. 

Only a few of these houses front directly on the ocean, and one of them is the Rogers house. What a rare picture it presented when I saw it last autumn in the soft October sunshine! ***John Taylor Boyd Jr. - 1916*** Perched astride the dune, its roofs of a mellow deep claret red and walls of rich ochre gray, spotted with blue gray shutters, it stood out boldly against the blue sky. Along the crest of the dune the dark green beach grass tossed in the wind above the white sands, where the blue waves broke into glittering mist scarcely fifty yards away from the house. The whole scene, house, gardens and sunlight, seemed almost Italian, and the incessant wind reminded me of the gale in the oak trees of the Villa Farnese on the mountain top above Caprarola. 

It was by thus braving the exposed situation that the owner attained a character and effect hardly to be acquired in the more placid neighborhood of Southampton village. I have said that the dunes form a rampart astride which is the house. This placing of the dwelling brings the first floor on a level with the top of the sloping beach, and allows the basement floor to be above ground on the north, at the garden level. Through this arrangement, the kitchen, laundry, etc., of the service wing, situated in the basement, obtain plenty of cheerful light and air. 

 HOUSE AND FLOWER-GARDEN  - COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. Walker & Gillette, Architects.

To protect the planting from the never ceasing winds, high stucco terra cotta walls surround the gardens and traverse them at intervals, sub-dividing them into a series of courts. Around the outside walls, a screen of tree masses will still further shelter the shrubs and flowers, besides furnishing them with a background. One is struck with the unusual distinction of these high stucco walls, and wonders why they are not used oftener, for besides providing a background, the shadows of the foliage play on the wall surfaces with a fine sparkle of light and shade in the brilliant illumination of our summer sun. Such frequent use of walls adds a sense of comfort and protection, for through them the gardens acquire an intimate, cozy, sequestered air the charm of old cloisters, of old religious enclosures. Yet there is nothing imitative about all this, since the protecting walls are a necessity of the wind-driven site. 

The place provides a whole series of pictures, one after the other. It brought joy to the photographer, who could forget the injunction to "show the architecture clearly" and turn himself loose in his picture-making. The house is a succession of combinations in masses, shapes, colors and textures, with but little regard for architectural machinery. In fact, right here is the chief secret of Messrs. Walker and Gillette's success in the Rogers house. The architect may well be thankful when painters or photographers find in his achievements opportunities for the brush or the camera, for these artists will not be deceived by any correctness of architectural technique, or by elaboration of design; rather will they seek to eliminate or to suppress all details and aim for whatever fundamental design may be discovered in the architect's work. This is one of the chief necessities in architecture today to maintain the painter's point of view, the painter's sense of the dramatic. 

FLOOR PLANS - COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS. 

The free treatment of Mr. Rogers' house characterizes the plan as well. The scheme is symmetrical, but not obtrusively so, and the architecture is not forced upon the beholder. As you progress through the house from the main entrance, you are aware of axes, but not of balanced symmetry. 

SOUTHWEST CORNER OF HOUSE SEEN FROM TOP OF THE DUNES - COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. Walker & Gillette, Architects. 

Besides, the most symmetrical front of the house, the ocean front, is the one least seen. What impresses one is the bold treatment of symmetrical balance, the big striking contrasts ; large openings and small ones, broad wall surfaces of fine texture relieved by bits of decoration in the shape of sculptured ornament, iron grilles, furniture and hangings, emphasizing and enriching the design, preventing baldness. This bold, honest treatment in mass and color, this skilled sense of form and refinement, this discard of conventional formulae and of ostentation, this informality the good sense and sentiment and gaiety of it all are not these the qualities most precious to Americans? Such an effect of simplicity and informality with a dramatic effect could we have anything better in architecture? 

SOUTH ELEVATION ON OCEAN - COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

NORTH ELEVATION ON GARDENS - COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

The numerous drawings reproduced in these pages illustrate admirably the principles of design outlined above. It will be seen that they represent little more than plain walls and door and window openings. In this regard they will remind the readers of The Architectural Record of the simple drawings of McKim, Mead and White for the Harvard Club plunge published in the November issue. To a certain type of client, who loves display, they would be extremely disappointing, and on paper they would make but a sorry showing against a more conventional design of pilasters, cornices and Ornament, elaborately drawn and tricked out. But as executed, as built, how infinitely superior they are! They prove the more ostentatious effects to be but idle glitter, mere soap-bubbles of architecture! 

'Tis the old, old conflict between paper architecture and real architecture, a conflict which harasses both architect and client. Fortunately, the more discerning part of the public today is willing to accept a simple drawing from an architect, and to stand by him loyally in carrying it out in construction. 

Of course, Walker and Gillette have not deserted tradition in the Rogers house. It provides reminiscences of very early Renaissance Italy, with many medieval touches and some high Renaissance ones. Its contrast of plain wall surfaces with sparkling bits of detail, its virility and dramatic effects are distinctly Spanish. But if this house were side by side with any villa in Italy, it would reveal more differences than appear at first glance its American qualities would be brought out. For one thing, there are the more generous window openings, the lower story heights of the Rogers house, besides its greater air of comfort and hospitality, its atmosphere of an American home. Indeed, why may not Americans seek inspiration in the Middle Ages? Just as the Renaissance Italians turned to classic antiquity, so do moderns discover in themselves a real sympathy for the picturesqueness and the romance of medieval times. 

How consistently the Rogers house embodies these principles! With the cooperation of architect and client, bits of sculpture, fragments of decoration and color, columns, fireplaces, etc., have been carefully selected and given a right place in the design. This is as true of the long expanse of garden walls as of the house itself. The gardens teem with odd bits of interest, likewise all the interior decorations furniture, hangings, art objects have been chosen and built into the scheme of architecture to become an integral part of it, just enough to complete each room and nothing more. The result is a really impressive collection of art objects. One is reminded somewhat of Mrs. John L. Gardiner's Fenway house, in Boston, and also of the Davanzati palace in Florence, the opening of which to the public caused such a stir several years ago. 

HOUSE, WALLS AND STABLES-VIEW PRESENTED IN APPROACHING THE COUNTRY PLACE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. Walker & Gillette, Architects. 

Let us consider the details. Approaching the house, the first impression is of the long west wall and the stable at one end, and the house at the other - a view of the whole estate. 

MAIN ENTRANCE ON THE WEST - COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

WEST (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION, COMPARE PHOTOGRAPH ***ABOVE*** - COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. Walker & Gillette, Architects. 

As we turn into the entrance court on the south, we notice a long pool with white marble curb in the foreground, beyond it the fine entrance doorway. This doorway is the main feature in an unsymmetrical elevation. The door itself is a heavy paneled, medieval-looking thing, as are all the doors in the first story of the house. 

INTERIOR OF ENTRANCE HALL - COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

Entering from the court, we find ourselves in a lower hall paved with tile, with walls of tinted plaster, somewhat the color of sandstone and spanned with an undercoated groin-vaulted ceiling. Off this entrance hall open two dressing suites for visitors, finished in tints of faded old rose.

ENTRANCE HALL AND STAIRS - COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

Unusual indeed is the main stairway of brick treads and risers, topped with an extremely simple iron rail. 

DEN - COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

At the head of the stairs in the main floors an attractive little den, decorated with an oak beamed ceiling, bookcases at one end, and a small fireplace of tall, whimsical design at the other. Here is a noteworthy feature of this little room: it has not a bit of trim in it. The floor is laid with small hexagonal red tiles, with a tile base at the walls some 6 inches high, and above this base is a band of yellowish gray about 20 inches high. Instead of using wooden architraves, the panelbacks of the doors and windows are splayed back in the thickness of the walls, and painted gray with a gray edging around the opening. All the rest of the walls, except this gray base and the gray strip around the doors and windows, are a deep rich blue. In fact blue, of one shade or another, is the color one notices most in the house, which has indeed a great variety of color. The dimensions of this room are 21 feet by 14 feet 8 inches, with clear ceiling height of 14 feet 4 inches. 

RECEPTION ROOM - COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ. SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. Walker & Gillette, Architects. 

ELEVATION OF RECEPTION ROOM - COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

 Also at the head of the stairs do we find the large reception room, the windows of which look south on the sea and north over the main axis of the garden. There is a long oak table down the centre of the room, and at the opposite end a large old stone hooded fireplace, brought from Italy. The floor is of oak. 

DETAIL OF RECEPTION ROOM CEILING - COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

Unusually effective, the ceiling of this drawing room is paneled in squares, three across the room and five the length of it, of oak and plaster, very dark, picked out in deep colors. The hangings and furniture coverings are of a soft clear blue of medium value, with faint gold threads running through the material. The walls are plaster tinted somewhat the color of sandstone. 

DINING ROOM SHOWING FIREPLACE IN DRAWING ***BELOW*** -  COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

EAST ELEVATION OF DINING ROOM - COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. Walker & Gillette, Architects.

The dining room has much the same treatment as the reception room plaster walls, oak ceilings, marble fireplace and oak floors. The dimensions of the reception room are 44 feet 4 inches by 29 feet 3 inches, with clear height of 14 feet 2 inches - of the dining room, 29 feet 4 inches by 24 feet, height 14 feet. These are the principal rooms and well do they typify the spirit of the whole design. In them the architecture is subdued to make a background for the furniture and hangings without any competition between the two. It is a principle that is coming more and more into modern art, though it is as old as anything we know. What a sense of rest these rooms give us! What harmony of color and of form! No spottiness, no ostentation, no surfeit anywhere. 

As part of the main floor layout are the two loggias, opening off the main rooms south and north, which are more traditional than most of the Rogers house.

FOUNTAIN IN THE LOGGIA WHICH CLOSES THE CROSS-AXIS OF THE GARDENS ON THE WEST - COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

The south loggia overlooking the sea has a red tile floor and elliptical vaulted ceiling with penetrations, painted a light clear blue. This blue field is relieved by the narrowest of white vault ribs and medallions showing the signs of the Zodiac. 

NORTH LOGGIA OVERLOOKING GARDEN - COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

Delightful indeed is the north loggia, overlooking the garden, to the left of the main axis, the walls of which are covered with some remarkable frescoes. 

***Stairs to bedroom floor***

FLOOR PLANS - COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

In the bedroom floor it is not surprising to find a slight change of character. Heavy oak tables and chairs would be something of a nuisance in bedrooms, and there is provided instead simple, graceful modern furniture, painted in the lightest of tones. The rooms themselves show a surprisingly simple, uniform treatment; delicate trims, a slight "picture" mould, painted blue from which pictures do not hang and a 6 inch cove above the picture mould at the ceiling, of which the clear height is 9 feet. The usual mantelpiece treatment is missing; instead the small fireplaces are merely openings in the face of the plaster wall, edged with vitrified figured tile, and built with a raised cement hearth and a little shelf supported on four brackets above the opening. The door and window trims are detailed with a flat band, which is tinted a rich blue or else decorated in a flower pattern, to harmonize with the painted furniture. All the rest of the trim is a strong gray and the plaster walls are painted in extremely light tones. Altogether, it would be impossible to exaggerate the good taste of these bedrooms. 

In such a design of large plane surfaces, careful treatment of texture is absolutely a necessity. The tile, ironwork and woodwork of the house and gardens are all selected to this end. Inside, the plaster walls have a texture somewhat resembling that of painted burlap or the very roughest water color paper. As for the outside, to equal the tile roofs, one must visit Segovia or Salamanca in Northern Spain, where perhaps the finest roof tiles in the world are found; and it is interesting to learn that the architects have even gone so far as to soften the lines of the roof by making them slightly uneven, as if they had become wavy through age. The photographs give some idea of the effective finish of the stucco walls, and, as a further example of this careful attention to detail, the ironwork has been hand wrought by Belgian workmen. 

GARDEN ELEVATION ON NORTH - COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

DETAIL OF TERRACE ON MAIN AXIS OF GARDEN - COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTH AMPTON, L. I. WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS. 

A slight notice of the gardens completes the description of the Rogers house. The design was supervised by the architects, and the planting is the work of Mr. Gallagher of the Olmstead Brothers' firm of landscape architects, of Brookline, Mass. I have mentioned the situation on level ground to the north of the house, and the big stucco walls that surround and intersect the planting. There are really three long parallel axes that lead down from the house, divided by these high enclosures. 

VISTA ALONG MAIN AXIS OF GARDENS SHOWING POOL AT CROSS AXIS - COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. Walker & Gillette, Architects. 

FIGURE IN POOL AT THE CROSSING OF THE GARDEN AXIS - COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS. 

The main axis, on the reception room of the house, shows an expanse of greensward, with a large pool in the centre of the nearest court, marking the cross-axis. 

GARDEN DETAIL - COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I. Walker & Gillette, Architects.  

The west parallel axis runs from a gate in the entrance court, and follows through a series of delightful flower gardens of intricate geometrical paths, in delicate scale, where a multitude of dainty, reed-like Gothic columns about 6 feet high are outlined admirably against the foliage and flowers.

PLAYHOUSE IN CHILDREN'S GARDEN, CLOSES EAST END OF CROSS AXIS - COUNTRY HOUSE OF H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTH AMPTON, L. I. WALKER & GILLETTE, ARCHITECTS.

In contrast to the other two long vistas, the third parallel axis, opposite the service wing, is cut up into three cozy little square enclosures beyond the service court from which they are separated. First is a little grass court called the croquet garden; next, at the cross-axis, an exquisite garden of roses and cedars; and further on, a children's garden with a quaint playhouse in it. 

All this work, house and gardens, is conceived in the spirit of true architecture. The practical needs are completely fulfilled, and are expressed in terms of mass, shapes, colors, and textures, in the most perfect way. Fortunately the day of architecture copied from books and "examples" is passing, and we are glad to hail a work so free, so sure, and so splendidly dramatic. There is nothing so difficult as to be dramatic, without ever being theatrical.

House demolished in the 1930's.

Click HERE to see surviving outbuildings and perimeter walls.

Visit oldlongisland.com for more on "Black Point". 

Click HERE for link to view color photos of this property.

The Addition to the New York Harvard Club

NEW YORK HARVARD CLUB

MCKIM, MEAD & WHITE - ARCHITECTS' 

By JOHN TAYLOR. BOYD. Jr.

***Published 1915***

ARCHITECTS are aware that any member of their profession who undertakes to plan extensive additions to an already completed building has set himself a difficult task. Hampered as he is by conditions established through the solution of other problems than his own, he is forced to compromise at every turn. In plan, he must work to the system of communication - elevators, stairs, corridors -already in place. In section, he must abide by conditions of story heights already established; and in elevation, he is obliged to conform to the scheme of architectural motives and window openings of the old building. Indeed, he is lucky if his compromises do not degenerate into mere makeshifts.

Fortunately, there are compensations that offset these drawbacks. The very necessary irregularity of the work may provide an interest that a rigid following of academic teachings of exact symmetry, of T-square and triangle balance, might lack; and the informal point of view forced on the architect may result in much charm and individuality. Unlooked for contrasts of scale, unexpected vistas and pleasing oddities of plan, sudden changes in section, will often more than compensate for the lack of symmetry en axe. Indeed, if the problem be skillfully handled, the result may not only be successful, but even more, may bear the precious imprint of personality.

It is in plan principally that these advantages of alteration work lie. Such are large rooms entered on the corner, alcoves or bays shedding light in dark corners, unexpected shapes of rooms, odd corridors and flights of stairs. It is because of like features that the old medieval plans are so valued, and it is to be remembered that they, too, were often the result of growth in several stages, rather than the sudden creation of a complete unit.

The new additions to the Harvard Club of New York, just finished, offer an interesting example of the ideas outlined above. In this case, moreover, the situation was further complicated because these were the second set of such additions carried out by the club since it moved to the present site on Forty-fourth Street.


The first building was a charming little bit of domestic architecture, completed in 1894, which, with its low three-storied front, was regarded as one of the minor masterpieces of Mr. Charles W. McKim. In 1905 the club increased its quarters, the most notable addition being the wellknown Harvard Hall, a great three-storied hall extending to Forty-fifth Street. With beamed ceiling, high oak paneled wainscot, and stone wall above, the room was originally intended for a lounging room. This function it now fulfills, though heretofore it has served as a dining hall.


The second enlargement of the building practically doubles the facilities of the club as they existed after the first enlargement, and provides, in addition, a swimming tank. The extension occupies two lots on Forty-fifth Street and one on Forty-fourth Street, adjoining the club.

***First Floor Plan***

Through this change, the basement was given over almost entirely to the kitchen, service and administrative offices. On the main floor the offices, coatrooms, toilet, bar, etc., are moved to one side in the new addition, with a subsidiary corridor serving them. Adjacent an elevator and service stairs are provided. The lobby is increased in size, forming an ample foregathering space, or cafe, one story high, with paneled walls and piers. On this level, to the rear, on Forty-fourth Street, is a great new dining hall, extending up two stories, covering larger floor space than the old Harvard Hall, and with a gallery around it. Right here is one of the picturesque features of the plan. The great room is entered on the corner, both from a corner of Harvard Hall and from a corner of the cafe. From the plan it will be noticed that the architects have maintained a diagonal vista through this cafe, and through the service corridor, into the new dining hall. Thus, standing at the entrance to the cafe, one may glance into both Harvard Hall and the new dining hall - a striking instance of how the limitations of the situation have been not only surmounted but actually turned to advantage.

***Second Floor Plan***

On the second floor we find an addition to the library and a reading room which the club will complete later. 

***Third Floor Plan***

Above, on the third floor, there are a simple billiard room, a large room for meetings, class dinners, etc., over the dining room, and an interesting addition to the card room. In this card room again, we notice another clever bit of planning. It has been made T-shaped in plan, by opening a large square bay into the new addition. Besides adding more light, the room is made more attractive through the unusual shape resulting from this change. 


With the fourth and fifth floors given over to bedrooms, the sixth floor to dressing, locker rooms, barber shops, etc., for the swimming pool and squash courts, we complete the description of the plan. 

NORTH ELEVATION ON FORTY-FIFTH STREET - HARVARD CLUB NEW YORK - McKIM, MEAD & WHITE, ARCHITECTS.

In elevation, this plan has heen worked out with a distinct success. 

FORTY-FOURTH STREET FRONT - HARVARD CLUB OF NEW YORK.   McKlM, MEAD & WHITE, ARCHITECTS.

It would have been too hard to destroy the unity of the perfect little three-story Forty-fourth Street front by trying to blend it with the narrow six-storv tower of the new addition. Consequently the architects wisely decided to make the two units almost separate, treating the tower simply, in order not to have it compete with the entrance. 

FORTY-FIFTH STREET(REAR) ELEVATION - HARVARD CLUB NEW YORK - McKIM, MEAD & WHITE, ARCHITECTS.

On Forty-fifth Street, the motive of Harvard Hall has been reproduced almost exactly, the change occurring in very slight variations of the window openings. The top of the arch of the Palladian motive, besides some panes of glass below, was blocked up in the new part where the ceiling of the dining-room meets the exterior wall inside.


Coming now to the interior details of the Harvard Club, the plunge and the new dining hall are well worth careful study. for so excellent are they, each in a different way, that they may well be said to take high rank in contemporary architecture.

As will be seen from the drawings, the plunge is placed on the very top of the building to derive the full advantage of light and air. It is this fine situation, as well as its interesting arrangement and architectural treatment, that makes the Harvard Club plunge so successful. The average pool in clubs, gymnasiums, and Y. M. C. A. buildings is usually subterranean, ill lighted and ventilated, and certainly most uninteresting architecturally. It is usually as utilitarian as the barber shop. But the Harvard Club pool, while extremely simple, impresses one as a most genial, cheerful, pleasant sort of place, where one likes to linger and enjoy the lingering as much as the swim.

SOLARIUM, WITH VISTA INTO PLUNGE - HARVARD CLUB NEW YORK - McKIM, MEAD & WHITE, ARCHITECTS. .

For this purpose of tarrying after the exercise, the adjacent "solarium" is provided, separated from the pool only by a little lobby, which contains a tiny hot room and a winding staircase to the dressing rooms below.

THE PLUNGE  - HARVARD CLUB NEW YORK - McKIM, MEAD & WHITE, ARCHITECTS.

The unusual charm of the plunge and solarium, which were treated together as a whole, is further enhanced by the color. The solarium has white trim, walls and ceiling of light grayish yellow, mantelpiece of Belgian black-and-gold marble, with a floor of very rich deep green of the battleship linoleum. The plunge has much the same effect. White marble bands are used, white mosaic for the pool, and gray terrazzo is found on the floor and as a dado on the side wall. 

The side of the pool itself is formed of small inch squares of white mosaic, with dark green bands. To set off this delicate color, which might tend otherwise to be insipid, there are little hedges of bay trees, set in the recesses of the casement windows. 

PLAN AND SECTION OF PLUNGE AND SOLARIUM LOOKING WEST - HARVARD CLUB OF NEW YORK.   McKlM, MEAD & WHITE, ARCHITECTS.

END ELEVATION OF PLUNGE  - HARVARD CLUB OF NEW YORK.

ENTRANCE ELEVATION OF PLUNGE, SHOWING SIDE ENTRANCES TO SHOWERS - HARVARD CLUB OF NEW YORK.

SOUTH ELEVATION OF SOLARIUM, SHOWING ENTRANCE INTO PLUNGE HARVARD CLUB OF NEW YORK.

Extremely simple as it is, this arrangement of plunge is as perfect a bit of architecture as one often sees. It bears the stamp of style in every part of it.


Quite different from the graceful cozy plunge is the great new dining hall on the ground floor. Its bold fine treatment, its virile character, its rich striking color express admirably its purpose - a dining hall in a club with Harvard traditions in the background. 


One can see at a glance that the architectural antecedents of the room are the old English halls, yet the treatment is original, the detail is free, and the adaptation is in no way slavish or mechanical. And, fortunately, the latest catchword in art-advertising cannot be applied to it. This hall is not a "period" room.


There is another virtue in this room. I have spoken of its bold treatment. A great vice that is creeping into Amcrican architecture of interiors today is an exaggeration of tiny details. Mouldings are multiplied until they become liny and disturbing. Every little, plain surface is paneled in most tiresome fashion. It is as if draughtsmen had come to hate a white spot on a piece of paper, or a blank space on a wall, and to feel obliged to cover every bit of their drawings with something, preferably mere lines. As a result, the architecture as executed is endlessly tricked out, fussy and finicky - mere virtuosity. The precious contrast of broad plane surfaces against moulded surfaces is lost, there is no restfulness anywhere. This architectural nervousness, this over-working of the pencil, usually goes hand in hand with dislike of the brush. Such work is usually very weak in color, whereas color is the one thing that would save it, if anything could save it. The classic examples which are elaborately wrought in form, are usually rich in color, which at once clothes the form and enlivens it. For instance, the exuberantly rich ceilings of the Vecchio Palace in Florence would seem very heavy - as if they would fall on our heads -were they not colored with all the hues of earth and heaven to lighten them and to hold them up in place. Some years ago, I worked in an office where the head draughtsman was slightly under this evil influence. He called it "modern academic feeling." It may be academic, but it is certainly not modern, and has no real feeling. Though this affectation of extreme elegance and artificiality is often found in New York, the best New York work is free from this vice, as in the case of the Harvard Club we are considering. It would be well, perhaps, to devise a label for this "modern academic feeling" which could be quickly applied to sufferers as a warning, much as boards of health paste saffron scarlet fever signs on front doors.

***MAIN DINING ROOM PLAN AT FIRST FLOOR***

ALCOVE IN HARVARD HALL - OLDER PORTION OF HARVARD CLUB OF NEW YORK.   McKlM, MEAD & WHITE, ARCHITECTS.

***WEST ELEVATION - MAIN DINING ROOM***

One turns from this over-emphasized technique to a work like the Harvard Club dining hall with a feeling of great relief. What a straightforward, manly quality it has! The slight looseness of the room, which results from the conditions imposed by the old work and which cannot lie helped, is frankly faced. For instance, three of the walls of the room are not exactly symmetrical, and the needs of the service require that almost half the space under the galleries be blocked off. 

DETAIL OF PLASTER CEILING IN DINING HALL - HARVARD CLUB OF NEW YORK.   McKlM, MEAD & WHITE, ARCHITECTS.

Yet the splendid ceiling is designed to hold all this together, and prevent the eye of the beholder from contemplating too closely these minor irregularities.

VIEW IN GALLERY OF DINING HALL - HARVARD CLUB OF NEW YORK.   McKlM, MEAD & WHITE, ARCHITECTS. 

The arrangement of bedrooms and light courts above causes the wide column-spacing of the three central bays of the galleries, which does not seem too wide, however, for wooden construction. 

VIEW TOWARDS ENTRANCE OF DINING ROOM - HARVARD CLUB OF NEW YORK.   McKlM, MEAD & WHITE, ARCHITECTS. 

DINING HALL - HARVARD CLUB OF NEW YORK.   McKlM, MEAD & WHITE, ARCHITECTS.

DINING HALL, FORTY-FIFTH STREET END - HARVARD CLUB OF NEW YORK.   McKlM, MEAD & WHITE, ARCHITECTS.

Incidentally, the general dimensions of the hall are as follows: The ceiling is some 95' 0" long and 35' 8" wide, and the total height of the room is 28' 7". The height from first floor to the gallery floor is 12' 5".


The description of the dining-room would not be complete without a brief notice of the admirable color scheme. The stone work is light gray, the ceiling a rich cream yellow, while the oak wood work was finished a very light, almost yellow color, with the knowledge that it will darken considerably in time. The gallery walls are a deep Pompeian sort of red, which seems a little strong in the evening perhaps, but which will take its proper place as the wood work grows darker and as other color notes are brought into the scheme - the tapestries, portraits, trophies, game heads, and the permanent lighting fixtures, replacing the present ones. It will be several years before this great room will really be completed to reach its full beauty. Such a work can rarely be finished all at once, and when it is, it is apt to look like a stage setting or a show window.


Thus, so far as the dining hall is concerned, this description is written about five years too soon, but time and publication wait for no man.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Club_of_New_York


Ten years later, in 1925, the Clubhouse was in need of expansion yet again. However, the Club had no land on which to build. Negotiations for the adjacent property at 33 West 44th Street were reinstated and continued for the next six years. But by the time the property was finally transferred to the Club, the Great Depression had begun. The Club had to tighten its belt. Then came World War II and material shortages; dreams of expansion were tabled for the duration. But while the Clubhouse was stuck at its 1915 size, membership was not. During World War II, the demand for bedrooms was so great, the Club sacrificed the Plunge, flooring over the pool to create dormitory space where members could rent a cot for the night. 


After the war, veterans, taking advantage of the G.I. Bill, began to flood Harvard and other universities. The Club realized that membership would continue to grow. Yet there were still several problems to be solved. The Club did not have a large budget for expansion. On the other hand, it did own the adjacent property at 33 West 44th Street, purchased in 1931. It was thought that it might be possible to expand the Clubhouse into the adjacent building at a relatively low cost. Alas, with the exception of the first floor, the floors of the five-story structure were not aligned with those of the Clubhouse. Worse, the top three floors were constructed of combustible materials and legally could not be used for clubrooms. The solution: tear down the three upper floors and remodel the lower two. The facade of the building was remodeled by a little-known architect who was a member of the Club. The design of the facade, a conscious effort to imitate McKim's Neo-Georgian style, is generally conceded to be uninspired and unsucessful. The two floors of the small building provided a few additional facilities – some staff offices, an extension to the Ladies' Dining Room (now the Cambridge Rooms), a men's restroom, and the present Main Bar. 


Today, the Clubhouse remains on West 44th Street. ***Lifted from the clubs website***