"The House of the Hanging Kitchen" William Lawrence Bottomley - New York City

In a third example of remodeling a brownstone will be found a kitchen and garden arrangement quite different from the preceding types. This might be called "The House of the Hanging Kitchen".  From GARDENS IN AND ABOUT TOWN BY MINGA POPE DURYEA 1923

Mr. Lawrence Bottomley, the architect, has achieved what long has been considered impossible, by building for himself an office, a studio, and a home combined, yet all completely separated from one another. This is a marvelous solution of the long discussed question of how to combine home
and business, quite separate, and yet together under one roof. These illustrations and the plan give you an ideal arrangement for a professional man's home, a marvelous combination for an architect, a doctor, an author, in fact, any professional man.

The lot of this charming building is only eighteen feet nine inches wide, and one hundred feet five inches in depth.

Leaving the street, the vestibule confronts you with two doors; one you at once recognize as the office entrance, and the other, as the residential one. We will first go with the owner into the office entrance, because it occupies the first floor of the building; later we can go to the home of the architect.

You enter the office door and find yourself in the reception hall. At the right, in the jog lighted by the window, you find the stenographer's desk and the telephone switchboard  You go down two steps into the lower level of this hall, which is paneled and charmingly decorated with all the true feeling desirable in an entrance to an architect's office. In a corner, behind an interesting old choir screen, sits his secretary. You then pass through a little passage which leads you to the library or reception room, the owner's own room. Here is a large open fireplace two large windows, and a French door which leads into the garden. This room is paneled in the same wood as that of the entrance hall.

Figures 7, 8 and 9 show the garden; Figure 7, with drafting room in the distance, and Figure 9, the hanging kitchen over the drafting room, seen through the French doorway. Two steps down from this doorway lead into the brick and broken flag-paved garden, which you cross and go up two steps, to reach the sky-lighted room beyond. This large room may be used for almost any purpose. If the house be used for a private dwelling alone, it would make a marvelous music room, or in case of a professional usage, a studio, office, or library. It can also be reached by the passage at the right, which runs the entire length
of the building.

Having visited the business part of the house, we can now go into the home. We find ourselves again in the front vestibule and this time we go through the residential doorway into a small reception hall, then up a short flight of stairs into the foyer, at the left of which we turn into the drawing room. One of the most unique and attractive features of this room is the mantle placed in the corner. This has a great decorative quality, giving a long unbroken wall space at the left of the mantle for a table or lounge. The walls are paneled in a soft grey-green shade. One is particularly intrigued by the way the pictures are placed, the panels forming a delightful setting for each picture and its frame.

We again pass through the foyer into the dining room, a charming light apartment overlooking the court-garden and lighted by two windows. This apartment also boasts of a beautiful, little, well-proportioned fireplace. The door at the right leads into the pantry-hall, which has three light windows and a cleverly arranged sink and closets, as well as the cupboard with a service shelf in front of it. This pantry-hall brings you to another complete surprise, the kitchen, which is lighted on three sides by large windows, and the servants' hall thrown in, with plenty of closets and every possible convenience.

This hanging kitchen is directly over the studio, office, or drafting room, and the dining room and kitchen are directly connected by the long light passage which serves for the pantry.  This is a triumph of efficiency and comfort, and leaves the house free from the odor of cooking, the kitchen being, as it is, off by itself, with light and ventilation on three sides. No cook could fail to be supremely happy in a kingdom such as this. 

The remaining two stories of this house are given over to masters' and servants' bedrooms.

Fig. 7. Mr. Bottomley's drafting room and the passage from house leading into it. 

Fig. 8. Mr. Bottomley's house and office seen from the drafting room.

Fig. 9. Mr. Bottomley's hanging kitchen over the drafting room, seen from the office.

Courtyard Garden, 112 East 55th Street, New York. View from Library of William Lawrence Bottomley looking south towards Draughting Room. The Architect 1926

   In Figure 80 of the wall in the garden of the architect, Mr. Lawrence Bottomley, here, by the clever spacing of the brick, he has constructed a wall with ornamental openings. To make the garden appear lighter and still more open, he has painted the wall the color of cream-colored stucco, which is the color scheme he has also chosen for the rear of his house. This painting the rear of the house a light color is very satisfactory because it seems to bring a certain reflection of sunlight, which is never to be despised in the arrangement of a city garden. The more sun and light you can catch and hold, the more attractive your little garden spot.

Fig. 80. Clever spacing of bricks in the wall of Mr. Bottomley's garden.

First Floor Plan

Second Floor

  

E. P. Dutton & Company

  Bottomley's brownstone stood at 112 East 55th Street. In a Steetscapes article from December 27, 1998 Christopher Gray  states the building was demolished in the 1980's. Some notable neighbors - William Ziegler Jr., heir to the Royal Baking Powder Company fortune, had Bottomley design his new house at 166-118. Albro & Lindeberg designed Gothic for Mary Hale Cunningham at 124. Elsie de Wolfe  published ''The House in Good Taste'' while living at 123(demolished) - "The Little House of Many Mirrors".  Google Street View. 

Mr. Louis C. Tiffany's Hall, New York

 

Mr. Louis C. Tiffany's Hall, New York.

THE conventional hallway that forms the entrance to Mr. Louis C. Tiffany's suite of apartments in this city has been treated in an original manner. Its belittling and benumbing outlines have inspired the revolt delineated on the present page, the effect of which is refreshing in the extreme. The spic and span smoothness of machine-made moldings when applied to the skirting boards, dado rail and door frame, are here happily antagonized by a vigorous treatment of the woodwork overhead. 

  The semi-darkness of such a hallway permits the use of bright color, which is here painted a bright red, and by night the half light effect is continued by perforating a circular burner in such a manner that the gas comes through it flickering like the light of a torch. This gives a mysterious and undefined illumination, for the idea is to produce an impression of mystery and indefiniteness.

  The rough pine wood of the ceiling is gouged in many places and ornamented with heavy nail-heads to make it rougher still. The stained glass-work consists of very rough pieces, and the old Flemish tapestry that hangs at the entrance to the dining-room is rough too in execution and design. It is easy to see that in this small hall Mr. Tiffany has made himself felt as an expert decorative artist.

The abstract design of the window was inspired by one created by daubing the residue of Tiffany's palette knife. The earliest domestic window by Tiffany known to survive. Owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

  Click HERE to view all past posts on Tiffany's "Bella" penthouse apartment.

VIEW INTO PERGOLA, GARDEN of H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I.

VIEW INTO PERGOLA, GARDEN of H. H. ROGERS, ESQ., SOUTHAMPTON, L. I.
Olmsted Brothers, Landscape Architects, Brookline, Mass.
Walker & Gillette, Architects, New York

                       Click HERE for more on "BlackPoint".

THE INKWELL FROM THE DESK OF F. W. WOOLWORTH

The story as I know it.... Gifted to a viewer of my post on the office of F. W. Woolworth by  Bernard Gelbort, decorator and antique dealer in Los Angeles,  who was also a friend of Barbara Hutton(art consultant in the film Poor Little Rich Girl). Woolworth Donahue gave him the inkwell telling him it was on F.W.W's desk. Woolworth(brother Jimmy) was the son of Jessie Woolworth, daughter of F. W.

  The dimensions are 13" wide, 7" deep , 2.5-3" high. I think it is "dore bronze", not brass. The weight is about 6 pounds. Also the glass containers are missing which is to be expected.

   If anyone can add..... please do.

SWIMMING POOL AND PAVILION FOR ARTHUR V. DAVIS, ESQ., MILL NECK , LONG ISLAND, N. Y.

SWIMMING POOL AND PAVILION FOR ARTHUR V. DAVIS, ESQ., MILL NECK , LONG ISLAND, N. Y.
Ferruccio Vitale and Alfred Geiffert, Jr., Landscape Architect

SWIMMING POOL AND PAVILION FOR ARTHUR V. DAVIS, ESQ., MILL NECK , LONG ISLAND, N. Y.
Ferruccio Vitale and Alfred Geiffert, Jr., Landscape Architect

SWIMMING POOL AND PAVILION FOR ARTHUR V. DAVIS, ESQ., MILL NECK , LONG ISLAND, N. Y.
Ferruccio Vitale and Alfred Geiffert, Jr., Landscape Architect

Click HERE to see at wikimapia. BING. 

A Remodeled House Designed for Picturesque Effect

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HE charm of any estate lies in its individuality. This is particularly true of the George E. Barnard house and grounds situated on County Road, in Ipswich, Massachusetts. When the estate first attracted the attention of the present owner, it consisted of an abandoned farmhouse, a dilapidated, run-down farm, with shabby old farm buildings scattered here and there around the grounds. Only a person realizing what development could do would have been attracted to such a place.


  It was purchased, however, about eight years ago, and improvements were immediately undertaken by the new owner. The house, which contained only four rooms, had an ell and out-buildings added and also a veranda across the front, with shrubs and perennials massed against it. 

The country home of Mr. George E. Barnard, Ipswich, Massachusetts

  The entrance to the grounds showed wide, unoccupied spaces, an old barn being on one corner, and stony, untilled land stretching from the road to the house itself. At one side was a steep hill bare of trees and showing only an ugly summer house on its summit. This was the condition of the estate when it was bought by the present owner, whose idea in purchasing the estate and in developing it was to find expression for some favorite tendencies toward artistic ideals. Devoted to pictures, he determined that not only the grounds, but the house inside and out should advance a series of picturesque effects everywhere. It was not all done at once, but gradually, bit by bit. and new ideas developed, until now the house stands the centre of artistic gardens, carefully remodeling, making it one of the most attractive of country homes. The house has been lengthened, dormer windows introduced in the sloping roof, and wide verandas added, some of them having pergola effects. A part of the veranda facing the garden has been enclosed with glass to be used as a breakfast room and the entire enclosure is vine-draped.

  From the second-story windows one walks out upon an upper veranda which has been railed in. This is used as a morning living-room, a part of it being shaded by awnings. It is a delightful place and gives a wonderful view of the picturesque gardens which are the feature of the grounds. The rear entrance and clothes-yard have been carefully screened in by a green lattice with white railing, supported by pillars of white topped with round balls. On the opposite side of the house, the entrance, lined on either side by masses of shrubbery which is carefully planted in a manner most attractive, the driveway winding to the side veranda and on to the large stables. The garden enclosure is principally on the north and west sides of the house and is so laid out that from the wide verandas, one looks out upon a wonderfully well-framed picture of trees and flowers, in gardens so minutely planned out that they contain no inharmonious note.

  This picture is in reality a series of pictures, for whichever way one looks, an everchanging effect is revealed. But if the garden is beautiful and well planned, the house and interiors are as beautiful. The outside is painted white, showing a delicate yellow trim which contrasts effectively with the green of the blinds as well as the velvety green of the lawns. Long French windows allow access from almost any room in the house to the broad verandas. This gives an effect of width and depth to the house which could not be effected otherwise.

Enclosed porch of the Barrurd houie

The dining-room

  The veranda, which is used during the summer season as an out-of-doors living-room, is picturesquely supplied with well-chosen willow furniture, each piece being selected to avoid repetition, so that no two articles are alike. This veranda shows a setting of ornamental evergreens in green tubs, and huge pottery vases are everywhere, filled with masses of bloom.

  The hall, or morning-room, is entered directly from the veranda. Here another series of pictures is presented as one enters the door. At the left is the staircase which leads to the second floor, the low mahogany treads contrasting with the white ballisters, which are topped by a highly polished mahogany rail. Opposite the door one has the picture of a portion of the reception room with the dining-room beyond, showing in an alcove at the right a well-placed grandfathers clock, and at the left, near the stairway, a wonderful card-table of early make is shown. The landscape paper showing delicately tinted red flowers against a gray background, gives a most pleasing effect, which is heightened by the leaded glass windows of the closet at the right and the simple fireplace with its brass accessories. The furniture shows fine lines and is upholstered in green, the color of the hangings. At the right, through the wide-open French windows, one gets more glimpses of the beautiful gardens.

The study

   At the left of the entrance is a study, also green in colorscheme and showing a leaded glass closet at the far end. The hangings are tastefully draped and the windows show especially successful treatment. The desk is a block front and is a fine piece of old furniture. No crowding of pieces is evident, but a simple, dignified atmosphere pervades the room, which is refreshing to the eye and distinctly shows the good taste of the owners. It is a room such as one loves to find, quiet, restful, and "brain inspiring." These two rooms occupy the entire front of the house, and are shaded from too much light by the wide piazza. Opening out of the hall is the long reception room, done in old blue velour hangings, and furnished in mahogany. The plain tint of the walls gives an admirable background for the fine old pictures which are seen here and there. Ever," piece of furniture in the room is of old design, either genuine pieces or fine reproductions of antiques. Ionic columns outline the wide double window at the further end, which is furnished with a broad shelf for books. Light and air, which have been carefully considered elements in the remodeling of this house, are given particular attention in this room. At the opposite end of the same room one finds a deep alcoved recess which opens out into the sunparlor. Here the furniture is all following the same period as that used in the room itself. A very fine mirror over the card-table is shown to great advantage by the plain tones of the walls. Here the windows give a different effect, being a shallow bow through which one looks again upon the gardens and grounds. Like the other rooms in the house, there is no overcrowding of furniture here, every piece being carefully selected and well placed in the room. 

  On entering this reception-room, one is impressed with the great attention and thought given its planning. It is admirably adapted for entertaining, on account of its length and arrangement of the furniture.

  The four small rooms which the house originally contained have been lost in the additions made, each one of these changes designed to bring about some particular effect which the owners desired.

  The large dining-room, with its artistic painted wall panels is in keeping with the rest of the house. Simplicity, good taste, and well-selected furnishings are shown here as everywhere else. The old rug covering the polished floor is noteworthy, also the tasteful arrangement of flowers which is always a feature of this room. The furniture is of mahogany, the hangings being brown. There are no heavy, unwieldly pieces of furniture, but each is a masterpiece in itself. Here light is given through a wide, shallow alcove, which is entirely closed with double glass windows. This too, looks out upon the "Picture Garden," so that, no matter where the eye may turn, a lovely picture presents itself.

  Upstairs, the rooms have been given over to suites of chambers and a sitting-room which is used as a loungingroom as well. A comfortable couch with plenty of inviting pillows is at one side, while the plain white fireplace promises cheerful wood fires on rainy nights.

  There are remodeled farmhouses found all through New England, but very few which are any more carefully planned out or that represent such perfect taste. To be sure, one must remember that this is not the work of a moment, a day, or a week—it has been years in the process of development. The farmhouse and garden have been subjected to constant changes made toward betterment, so that to-day the results obtained are a handsome reward for an exhaustive study of details, and the owners are more than repaid by the finished work.

  Many of those who purchase and remodel the abandoned farmhouses or the desolated old homesteads of New England are themselves collectors of antique furniture and other treasured possessions of long ago. It is but logical to suppose that their carefully trained appreciation for old china, pewter or samplers should lead to their being equally discriminating regarding old New England architecture. There is a strong appeal to many of us in the quaintness and in the straightforward directness of the old homes of Massachusetts and when, added to it, another set of sympathies are appealed to by the fact of their being so reduced in the world their pathetic conditions go far toward persuading a purchaser whose interest is easily enlisted.

  The restoration of an old farmhouse is a work which involves the most delightful possibilities, particularly when its environment is a region rich in historic associations and the interest is heightened when the house so restored is to be a shrine in which are to be placed the antique objects which one may have spent years in gathering. When the structural restorations are completed and many old fireplaces long bricked up have been placed in order and heavy beams and timbers once more brought to light there comes the delight of choosing just the wall and floor coverings and the fabrics for window hangings which good taste and trained observation show to be correct. Then, with one's own collection as a nucleus for actual furnishings, there comes the added pleasure of acquiring new features and perhaps of gradually replacing certain objects with others even more desirable or true to the period or possessed of more definite or more authentic historic associations.

  It is of course, frequently difficult to adhere closely to one's resolution to preserve intact the old-time atmosphere of a venerable farmhouse and yet make the concessions which due regard for present-day comfort demands. Early New England housekeepers knew nothing whatever of steam or hot water heating and their sources of light were either the candle or the most primitive of lamps for the burning of whale or "astral" oil; they were, of course, wholly without knowledge of the furnishings which are now in vogue for use upon verandas. Such heat as they had was supplied from cavernous fireplaces and any fittings or furnishings which adorned the space about the entrance to the house probably assumed the form of tall and straight-backed benches.

 Good taste will readily suggest many clever ways of screening the objectionable radiator while allowing full opportunity- for the performing of its highly necessary and desirable functions. The ingenuity of the makers of lighting fixtures has made possible a wide choice of fittings in which electricity may be used without impairing in the slightest degree the simple and old-time atmosphere. Upon the veranda the use of Windsor chairs may go far toward solving the problem of out-of-door furnishings. The Windsor chair, now extensively reproduced, is, of course, itself a heritage from antiquity and therefore wholly suitable for use upon the veranda of a house where ever effort has been made to preserve consistency in furnishings and to reflect the spirit of the best in our earlier domestic architecture. By Mary H. Northend Photographs by the Author

The reception-room

Click HERE to see the gardens of "Riverbend".

Rosemary Farm Theater - Stages on the Sound - April 26-28, 2013

                                ROSEMARY FARM OPEN-AIR AMPHITHEATER
                                                                               by

STAGES ON THE SOUND

Thanks to AmySB

April 26-28, 2013

At Rosemary Farm on the grounds of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception
440 West Neck Road
Huntington, NY

The former Conklin owned/Olmstead designed outdoor showplace that inspired us to start a theatre company is back under our care!!!!! Those of you that were around years ago when we cleared away ages of neglect and saw this magical space can appreciate our excitement. The Stages family will be getting our hands dirty once again to prepare the stage and grounds for some exciting upcoming projects (more on that later). We need hands to help us and hope you will lend us a pair or two. 

We will be mowing, weeding, chopping, sawing, sweating, eating and laughing.

Rakes and shovels will be provided but if you are handy and have lawn tools feel free to bring them along. Housing is available so we need an RSVP if you need a room for the night. Through the generosity of the seminary we have free basic rooms with showers available on site for a limited number of out-of-town workers.

Hot breakfast is provided on Saturday and Sunday and we will be cooking out at some point if the weather permits.

You are welcome to arrive on Friday evening and stay through Sunday but work officially begins on Saturday morning. 

If you are arriving by train please let us know so that we can try and arrange a ride for you.

RSVP at stagesonthesound@gmail.com

Or friend us on Facebook.

Click HERE to read about the preparations for a late summer play at the Amphitheater from 1916.    

Behind the Candelabra Trailer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behind_the_Candelabra:_My_Life_With_Liberace

"Cedar Court" - Otto Kahn - Morristown, New Jersey

Conceptual trivia question - if you know the details from above - who would be Otto Kahns contemporary???

Is something the matter with Otto Kahn

Or is something the matter with me?

I wrote a note and told him what a star I would make.

He sent it back and marked it "Opened by mistake."

I'd even get fatter for Otto Kahn,

As all prima donnas must be.

I studied with Scotti, if you know what I mean.

He said I had the finest diaphragm he had seen!

And if my high C don't hand Otto a thrill,

I think my tra-la-la will.

Fanny Brice - 1927

View of Kahn Estate from across pond

    THIS is at Morristown, New Jersey. It belongs to Mr. Kahn.

"CEDAR COURT" PLOT PLAN

Cedar Court, panoramic view of house, ca. 1900

A DISTANT VIEW OF "CEDAR COURT" FROM THE GOLF COURSE TO THE NORTH

    The house was built about ten years ago by Carrere and Hastings, and the grounds were laid out by them also. The house is good Italian in style, with red tile roof and white plaster walls. It occupies the top of a hill, the land sloping away on all sides, and is surrounded by a rich rolling country.

Cedar Court, panoramic view of entrance from Columbia turnpike, ca. 1900

Cedar Court, entrance from Columbia turnpike, ca. 1910

   One enters the place through two entrances. There are lodges at each of them. The west approach is a winding one, not of great length, and of secondary importance. 

THE ENTRANCE AND LODGE

WINDING MILE-LONG ENTRANCE DRIVE

Cedar Court, the driveway, ca. 1900

    The south one is the principal one, and is first through a short straight avenue of maples, then by a long winding drive of about half a mile in length, through a grove, and then up to the house by a rather steep grade.

The exteriors of these two houses at Morristown, N. J., which were built for two sisters, are identical  The two fine native cedars in the foreground, which were found at the place, were made the keynote of the entire composition.  The axis of the court centers between them.

The two dwellings form two sides of the court, the pergola the third side. The fourth side, through which the houses are approached, is treated with a balustrade.

    The entrance-court is an exceedingly pretty one. It is about 125 by 100 feet. It is enclosed on the entrance side by a stone balustrade. Two cedar trees mark its entrance(the two cedar trees for which the estate was named), with a portion of the house, the sun parlors, opposite. 

Cedar Court, newly constructed front entrance, ca. 1900

Cedar Court, front entrance and fountain, ca. 1915

  

Cedar Court, view from terrace looking east, ca. 1915

    The house is on one side of the court and a pergola on the other side. An oblong marble basin is in the middle, with a fountain at each end of it. It is out lined with a low box hedge and grass border. The pergola is prettily covered with wisteria.

THE ENTRANCE-COURT AND ENTRANCE TO THE HOUSE FROM THE SOUTH

COURTYARD VIEW  

ANOTHER VIEW

THE SUNKEN GARDEN ON THE EAST

ANOTHER VIEW

    On the north side of the house is a croquet court, and on the northeast a sunken garden, and on the east side of it is a terrace of grass and a high retaining wall on the outside. The service entrance is on the west side and completely hidden by trees and shrubs.

THE ROSE GARDEN AND AND THE SQUASH BALL HOUSE

Cedar Court, rose garden, ca 1910

Cedar Court, tennis court, ca 1900

   To the south, at a short distance beyond the pergola, is a rose garden, and near by that a tennis court.  A little farther on is a building for squash ball. The stables are to the west of the house, about one thousand feet from it, and well hidden.

Cedar Court, pond designed by John Brinley, ca 1915

Cedar Court, pond designed by John Brinley, ca 1915

  

DUCKS ON A POND AT "CEDAR COURT"

   A pond with aquatic plants and swans upon it is in the lawn at the foot of the hill, to the north of the house. To the west and north a golf course stretches away over many acres of lawn and park.


  

View of Kahn Estate, circa 1900.

   It is a very attractive place, and one of the most successful of the modern ones. It shows how effectively some of the most beautiful features of the Italian villas may be adapted to our needs and conditions, it also shows, particularly in its tennis courts, golf course, squash court, etc., what might be termed typical american work.

The property sprawled over 176 lush, level acres, 136 of which had been tamed and trimmed into luxuriant gardens and grounds while the remaining 40 acres were farmland. 

  Otto H. Kahn (1867-1934) came to America in 1893 to work for the New York Investment bank of Kuhn, Loeb & Company and became a colossus of finance before World War I. He was one of the country's most important patrons of opera, drama, and fine art. He made a considerable fortune, augmented by his wife's family wealth. His house at Morristown was the first of several expensive residences.

The twin villa's of "Cedar Court"

Cedar Court, view from pond

   "Cedar Court" was commissioned by Abraham Wolff as a residence for his daughter and son in-­law. During its construction, Wolff's daughter Clara married Henri Wertheim of Holland, and Wolff commissioned a second villa, identical to the Kahns' house, to be built at a right angle to the first dwelling overlooking a shared garden terrace. Mrs. Henri Wertheim died during childbirth in 1902. 

Cedar Court, adjacent mansions before 1905 fire, view from pond

Cedar Court, altered photograph showing only one of the adjacent houses

    The Kahn portion burned to the ground in 1905.  

THE APPROACH AND ENTRANCE TO THE ENTRANCE-COURT

The main building was an Italianate mansion of magnificent proportions. The living space in the residence, including a wing connected to it by a glorious glass-enclosed pagoda, totaled forty rooms. 

   During this time the Kahn's took over the entire property, moving into the remaining villa.  

THE FOUNTAIN AND BASIN FROM THE NORTH

  

THE SAME FROM THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION, THE PERGOLA ON THE LEFT

   They added a ballroom addition where their old home once stood. The 1,100-acre site in the Normandy Heights section of Morris­town was at the time one of the most elaborate properties in an area known for its millionaires. 

"CEDAR COURT"

 The double-tower design of both houses was derived from the Villa Medici in Rome but also bore a resemblance to the Alcazar Hotel in St. Augustine, Florida, another Carrere & Hastings design. The over stuffed stucco structures with red-tile roofs seem somewhat out of place in the New Jersey countryside.   

"CEDAR COURT" - FOUNTAIN AND DRIVEWAY

  Kahn's impressive art collection included a Frans Hals, a Rem­brandt, and George Romney's   "The Three Children of Captain Little" Otto Kahn's lifestyle was grand and always theatrical - one party for his daughter Maud included performances by tenor Enrico Caruso, ballerina  Anna Pavlova and French music hall performer Yvette Guilbert. An elegant dresser with a courtly demeanor, Kahn ran "Cedar Court" in the manner of European aristocratic families, with formal meals and a large retinue of servants. He spared no expense on stylish settings and gifts for his family, and he spent lavishly on the house and grounds. Yet Kahn was only marginally accepted in the social circles of Morristown and the Somerset Hills and could not break into such caste-protective enclaves as the Morris County Golf and Country Club, where he was blackballed after seeking membership. Although he contributed much to the area, in 1920 Kahn and his family decamped for "Oheka", their vast Delano & Aldrich designed estate at Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. 



  The estate had cost Kahn over a million dollars; he would sell it for $250,000.  Mr. Kahn had employed between fifteen and twenty-two men year-round just to maintain the grounds.  

View of front entrance and gardens during the time of The Physiatric Institute - 1920

   Kahn sold his estate to Dr. Frederick Allen. Carrere & Hastings returned to "Cedar Court" in 1922 to undertake alterations for its conversion to the Psychiatric Institute, a medical treatment center. Dr. Allen helped introduce insulin for the treatment of diabetes.  Because the property had been vacant and deteriorating for several years, there were repairs to consider, and the nine hot-air furnaces would have to be replaced with central steam heat before the first winter. The project was not successful; however, several years later after Mr. Kahn’s death, the Kahn family decided to raze “Cedar Court” to save taxes.

  The property lay idle for more than a decade, until  Allied Chemical Corporation(Honeywell)  purchased the estate in 1942 for $32,500.

  By 1948 a laboratory built on the hilltop where “Cedar Court” had stood  was ready for its staff of 150 scientists. Click HERE to see a 1931 aerial showing the estate still extant. Ongoing disputes with a planed redevelopment of the property and the recent announcement of the company's move from the area have riled local activists.

Cedar Court, front entrance way, ca. 1910

Cedar Court, Entrance Hall, ca. 1900

Cedar Court, Entrance Hall, ca. 1900

Cedar Court, hall and living room, ca. 1900

Cedar Court, reception room, ca. 1915

Cedar Court, formal living room, ca. 1900

Cedar Court, dining room, ca. 1900

Cedar Court, dining room, ca. 1900

Cedar Court, billiards room, ca. 1900

Cedar Court, upstairs hall , ca. 1900

Cedar Court, bedroom, ca. 1900

Cedar Court, bedroom, ca. 1900

Cedar Court, bedroom, ca. 1900

Cedar Court, guest bedroom, ca. 1900

Cedar Court, bedroom, ca. 1900

Cedar Court, guest bedroom, ca. 1900

Cedar Court, terrace looking east, ca. 1915

Cedar Court, view from terrace looking east, ca. 1900

THE FOUNTAIN AND BASIN LOOKING SOUTH

THE FOUNTAIN AND BASIN IN FULL FORCE

THE FOUNTAIN AND BASIN FROM THE NORTH

View of the pergola which closes one side of the carriage-court at "Cedar Court",  Morristown, N.J., designed by Messrs. Carrere & Hastings.

The columns are of light-colored stone and the superstructure is of wood painted almost black to give a strong contrast.

VIEW THROUGH THE PERGOLA

THE EAST TERRACE AND THE PLAZA STAIRWAYS

Cedar Court, formal gardens looking east from terrace, ca. 1915

VIEW FROM TERRACE

Cedar Court, view from garden, ca. 1900

   Farm group and gate house remain. Click HERE to see at wikimapia.

ENTRANCE TO FARM BUILDINGS

Cedar Court, superintendent's house, Columbia road entrance, ca. 1915

Cedar Court, "deer park", ca 1900

Cedar Court, "deer park", ca 1900

Cedar Court, "deer park", ca 1900

    Otto Kahn - ART, MONEY, & MODERN TIME - The review is HERE. The New York Times Achieves relating to Kahn and "Cedar Court". In one article Kahn turns his mansion over to a group a French actors - The Vieux Colombier at "Cedar Court".

A caricature by Miguel Covarrubias, 1925