“MANY GABLES” House of Eugene Kienle, Esq., Great Neck, L. I.

House of Eugene Kienle, Esq., Great Neck, L. I. 
WM. H. Gompert, Architect
LEWIS & VALENTINE, Landscape Architects

The property included a wide sloping lawn leading down to the beach with a pier, bathhouse and large stone boathouse. Designed in 1921.

    “MANY GABLES” the house of Mr. Eugene Kienle is located on Manhasset Bay at Great Neck, L. I.

   The name “Many Gables” is derived from the ensemble of its many gables which exceed in number the house made famous by Hawthorne.

   The general lines of the buildings and the arrangement of the various wings, have been carefully studied to produce low rambling effects with abundant interesting shades and shadows.

HOUSE OF EUGENE KIENLE, ESQ., GREAT NECK. L. I., N. Y. WM. H. COMPERT. ARCHITECT

  
 The walls are constructed of red clinker bricks carefully selected so that while the predominating color is red, the surfaces have been mottled with dark blue, purple and black clinkers featured in the laying of the masonry. The appearance of the brick work has been further enhanced by the light cream colored bed and cross joints which are arranged in such a manner as to give the effect of an underlying plaid weaving, in wall surfaces.

HOUSE OF EUGENE KIENLE, ESQ., GREAT NECK. L. I., N. Y. WM. H. COMPERT. ARCHITECT

   The window frames and casings are painted a strong cream color. The leaders, barge boards, eaves and flashings are of copper, and have been treated so that they have a soft vert antique tone.

   The roofs are covered with a heavy Tudor slate 1 1/4 in thickness at the eaves and laid 10" to the weather and graduated in thickness to 1/2" at the ridges where the surfaces to the weather had been diminished to 3".

   The slate is of variegated colors consisting of soft tones of purple, green, grey and blues.

HOUSE OF EUGENE KIENLE, ESQ., GREAT NECK. L. I., N. Y. WM. H. COMPERT. ARCHITECT

   The hips of all roofs have been built with a slight concave curvature and all valleys formed by the intersection of the various surfaces of the roof have been rounded and covered with slate.

   The chimneys are built of the same kind of brick as the walls of the house and are topped with buff colored terra cotta chimney pots.

FIRST FLOOR PLAN
HOUSE OF EUGENE KIENLE, ESQ., GREAT NECK. L. I., N. Y. WM. H. COMPERT. ARCHITECT

   The floors of the entrance loggias are paved with a biscuit color faience tile with black and pewter colored faience tile borders.

   The floors of the entrance loggias are paved are paved with heather brown tiles with black faience borders.

   The floors throughout the principal rooms are of oak and stained and treated in imitation of teak wood. The trim throughout is of simple design, painted, enameled and glazed to match the wood work of the respective rooms.

   The study is reached by rising two steps from the entrance hall and crossing the broad platform at the foot of the main stairs and has been decorated and furnished in Chinese effects.

   The Living Room is carried out in early Italian Renaissance style as are also the furnishings all of which take their note from the antique imported Carrara marble mantel, whereas the Dining Room is of Jacobian style with the furniture of the Cromwellian period. The chambers are decorated in the Georgian, Queen Anne and Colonial periods.

SECOND FLOOR PLAN
HOUSE OF EUGENE KIENLE, ESQ., GREAT NECK. L. I., N. Y. WM. H. COMPERT. ARCHITECT

   The three principal chambers on the 2nd story each have a large sleeping porch adjoining, which have been carefully concealed in the exterior design so as not to present a detrimental motif as is frequently the case with sleeping porches.

   The bath rooms have been paved with white herringbone tiling with black faience borders and the walls to a height of 7'0" have been tiled with white tile with a black glazed border near the top.

   This house is heated by a vacuum steam heating system, with thermostatic control.

GARAGE OF EUGENE KIENLE, ESQ., GREAT NECK. L. I., N. Y. WM. H. COMPERT. ARCHITECT

   
Eugene Kienle was founder and president of Kienle & Co., a manufacturer of lithographic and printing inks, based out of Brooklyn, New York. wikimapia location. BING. Click HERE to see a brochure from when "Many Gables" was for sale. 

The Shady Garden at "Whitemarsh Hall"

Boxwood hedging bordering the shady garden on the new estate of E. T. Stotesbury, Esq., Chestnut Hill, Pa.   Jacques Greber, Esq., landscape architect
Landscape Planting by Lewis & Valentine Company

   Follow THIS LINK for a color view of the formal garden at "Whitemarsh Hall".

"PICKET FARM"; THE A. L. KRAMER HOUSE AT WESTBURY, L. I.

THE A. L. KRAMER HOUSE, GEORGIAN IN TYPE; NORTH FRONT
 Peabody, Wilson and Brown, Architects

   
   PROBABLY no section of the country is richer in fine houses than that within a radius of a dozen or so miles from Westbury Station, L. I. Nor is any part of the Island more beautiful in character than that part. Here there is rolling country and splendid woodland, long stretches of open farmland, hills and dales and wide views with glimpses of the Sound with the Connecticut shore in the distant haze.

   Time was, within our memory, when the old farms could have been bought for under a hundred dollars an acre and some of them were so purchased and built upon; but with the first few purchases the price rose until now ten times this amount must be paid for land with any pretense to beauty. First among the settlers in the district was E. D. Morgan, who obtained "Wheatley Hill". From this hill the surrounding country has taken its name and the Wheatley Hills now comprise all the rolling country in the vicinity and as far west as East Williston, several miles away. Just under Wheatley Hill is the house built for the late Robert D. Winthrop, now occupied by his brother and within view are the Whitney, Duryea and Mackay estates and many others noted for their beauty and extent. The student of contemporary architecture could spend a very profitable week motoring in this part of the country studying the art which here comprises nearly all the styles from Elizabethan to the most modern of Colonial. Here also may yet be found that type of pre-Revolutionary house known to many as the Long Island farmhouse type which is as distinct as the Southern Colonial or the Dutch Colonial which it somewhat resembles. But the day of the Long Island farmhouse has passed for the mode of living here is changing—has changed. In the place of the farms whose products were once seen snugly packed on vehicles resembling prairie wagons which, late in the evening, wound their way along the road to the city where the produce was sold early next day—in place of these producing farms are the fancy farms of new owners whose cattle are prize cattle; whose produce cost at such rates as only the multi-millionaire can afford to pay; and these new farms are surrounded by landscape gardens and crowned by mansions, every appointment of which is studied art and comfort.

   One of the newest of these splendid houses is that built for Mr. A. L. Kramer and designed by Messrs. Peabody, Wilson and Brown of New York City. The work of this firm is all high grade but no house they have designed is any better than the one here shown.

THE A. L. KRAMER HOUSE AT WESTBURY, L. I.; SOUTH FRONT

THE GARDEN, THOUGH NEW, IS INTERESTING; THE A. L. KRAMER HOUSE AT WESTBURY, L. I.

THE ENCLOSED  BREAKFAST-ROOM WITH LATTICED WALLS; THE A. L. KRAMER HOUSE AT WESTBURY, L. I.

   The house is distinguished and even though new has a domestic quality which age will improve. One drives up to a dignified two-story porch and through a small vestibule enters a wide hall which runs entirely through the house.   In this hall is the staircase with a landing the full width of the hall. To the west is an 18 x 25-foot dining-room with a very large fireplace and at the southerly end two ample windows. Corresponding, on the west of the hall, is the library. Out of each of these rooms one may step onto a porch, the dining-room porch being an enclosed breakfast-room prettily furnished, the walls being latticed.

   Not the least feature of the Kramer house is the very complete service arrangements which comprise, seemingly, all that could be necessary to convenient housekeeping. This includes a refrigerating-room 7 x 10, a large laundry and a kitchen large enough for a small hotel.   The lesser conveniences are a built-in silver safe, a dumb-waiter and ample closet room. And in another part of the ground floor is the flower-room with an outside entrance.

THE LIVING-ROOM;  THE A. L. KRAMER HOUSE AT WESTBURY, L. I.

   But the great feature of this floor is the living-room 25 x 40 with a six-foot wide fireplace at the end. This room is low in proportion to its size and paneled from floor to ceiling in dark wood. The living-room gives out onto an enclosed porch of ample size with three exposures. A feature of the ground floor is the bedroom and bathroom with access from the main hall. The second floor contains five master's bedrooms with five baths and in conjunction with the owner's bedroom are the dressing-room and boudoir. The owner's bedroom is 17 x 25 feet with a large open fireplace and windows on three sides, those on the west side leading out to an open roof over the porch below. The second story contains also six servants' rooms. Features of the second story are the splendid hall and the loggia between two of the bedrooms on the south.

   The Kramer house is Georgian, the entrance porch recalling in its proportions the general aspect of "Homewood" in Maryland, which has been the inspiration of so many of our architects. The rich red of the brickwork contrasts well with the vari-colored slate roof and the white trim sets off the coloring of the masonry. The white blinds also add to the interest. All in all, Messrs. Peabody, Wilson and Brown have
produced a work of art of which they should feel proud.

FIRST FLOOR PLAN; THE A. L. KRAMER HOUSE AT WESTBURY, L. I.

SECOND FLOOR PLAN; THE A. L. KRAMER HOUSE AT WESTBURY, L. I.

  
 

THE A. L. KRAMER HOUSE AT WESTBURY, L. I.

 Sold to A. S. Lehman (Lehman family) in the 1940's, the house burned in the 1970's after being abandoned and vandalized. Land sold and developed into the Hamlet condominiums.
   
  wikimapia LOCATION.  Aerial from 1966 showing estate still standing and the surrounding neighborhood.

"Sunken Orchard" Aerial; 1938

AERIAL VIEW SHOWING THE GARDENS IN ITS PRIME

   Click HERE for more on the house and gardens from "Sunken Orchard".