"The appropriation for a house should be divided into two equal parts, one-half for the house, the other for the gardens, pathways, court, approach, terrace and the rest of it, or, as it might be termed, one-half for the pudding, the other for the sauce." Architect Thomas Hastings
Sunday, August 20, 2023
THE FLAVOR OF THE SEA • • • REFLECTED IN THE DESIGN OF A BOATHOUSE ON LONG ISLAND
THE essential requirements of this building were to provide the owner with docking facilities; a storage space for boats and aeroplane: pleasant temporary quarters for entertainment: and living quarters for his yacht captain and family.
***A small motor in the cavernous garage was
attached to two planks and was used to generate just enough force to put Jock's seaplane in motion; after which it would gain momentum and take off across the bay.***
BOATHOUSE OF JOHN HAY WHITNEY. MANHASSET, LONG ISLAND, N. Y.
LA FARGE, WARREN & CLARK. ARCHITECTS; A. F. BR1NCKERHOFF, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
There is accommodation for two cars in the boat storage space and cars may be parked here until required on return from trip by boat, or, if preferred, the car may be driven through the passage to the end of the dock where there is space for turning and where, in bad weather or in case of hurry, a car can receive passengers from boats.
Primarily the purpose was to facilitate travel to and from the city, by water or air, for the owner whose estate is about a mile distant from the shore. The building is so planned that the owner may leave his residence by motor and reach the boathouse in about five minutes.
BOATHOUSE OF JOHN HAY WHITNEY, MANHASSFET, LONG ISLAND. N. Y.
Telephone, water and fuel-oil outlets are provided at end of dock for the use of boats.
BOATHOUSE OF JOHN HAY WHITNEY, MANHASSFET, LONG ISLAND. N. Y.
The matter of land drainage and sewage disposal, because of the low level of the surface, was also a difficult problem. A system of septic tanks and a double system of straining and restraining the effluent through gravel beds and finally releasing it into the Bay through the rip-rap walls has given entire satisfaction. The rip-rap walls were built out into the Bay to retain clean beach sand, which was barged to the premises to make a clean bathing beach over the muddy shore.
BOATHOUSE OF JOHN HAY WHITNEY, MANHASSFET, LONG ISLAND. N. Y.
The materials selected for the construction of the exterior walls were hand split British Columbia red cedar shingles. These have butts varying from 2" to Yi" thick and exposures from 10" to 6". Absolutely no finish was applied to these, but they have been left to weather to a silver gray in the salt air. This natural change has already taken place to a marked extent in the course of one year. The posts are hand adzed, solid pine timbers. The rubble stone, which was jointed with much care, is a golden brown local outcropping found in Greenwich, Conn. and barged over the Sound to Manhasset. This stone was selected for its excellent match in color with the weathered shingles.
To construct the main door of the boat storage space so that it would admit an amphibian plane was also a problem. A clear opening of 40 feet wide by thirteen feet in height was required for this. The method of hinging the center doors and then sliding the pivoted doors back flat against the walls in the limited space was a challenge to ingenuity of architect and builder alike.
SECOND FLOOR PLAN
CLUBROOM
The main room on the second floor, designed as the clubroom on the plan, is cruciform in plan, size about 50' x 30'. Opening this is a broad portico overlooking the Bay. Corner spaces cut off the clubroom by the trusses are devoted to telephone room, refreshment room, lavatory and wood storage.
DETAIL OF CEILING. CLUB ROOM NOTE THE USE OP ROPE AS MOULDINGS
Everything possible to give a flavor of the seahas been incorporated in the detailing. This accounts for the rope moulding in the ceiling beams; this is hemp rope of various sizes with ends seized and nailed in place. Incidentally, this is a very economical effect in comparison with carving.
GREAT FIELDSTONE FIREPLACE, CLUB ROOM
At one end of the clubroom is a great fieldstone fireplace with an overmantel map of Long Island painted by Philip Bower.
MAP OF LONG ISLAND FOR BOAT HOUSE OF JOHN HAY WHITNEY, ESQ.
DETAILS OF FIREPLACE IN CLUB ROOM
The cast iron fireback is a copy of an antique Roman has relief showing shipping at about the time of Christ. It was modeled by Tom Jones, sculptor.
The boathouse, planned as it was upon swampy ground and just at the high-water mark, offered some difficult and interesting problems. In the first place, it was found necessary for security to support it uponconcrete piles jetted and driven to a safe bearing on sub-strata. Two hundred of these 12" square, precast piles were required. Reinforced concrete pile caps connect these piles and form the foundation for the building. The boiler room, which is below the high-water mark, had to be a water tight compartment. For this purpose German super-cementwas used and has so far shown no defect.
Aphrodite was built by the Purdy Boat Company and launched in May of 1937 for Wall Street financier and later Ambassador to the Court of St. James, John Hay (Jock) Whitney of Manhasset, Long Island.
The trip down Long Island Sound and the East River to lower Manhattan took 45 minutes. On foggy mornings, the captain would navigate by the clock, making each turn in his route after a certain number of minutes of running time.
Whitney’s chauffeur would drive him, still in his pajamas, to his boathouse on Manhasset Bay each morning. Once on board Aphrodite, his valet would help him dress in the master stateroom. Then he would go to the forward cockpit, which is sheltered by its own windscreen. Whitney would sit up there as he rode to work every morning and read the Herald Tribune, which he later owned.
Whitney also entertained the luminaries of the era on Aphrodite. Shirley Temple celebrated her sixth birthday on board. While working on “Gone With The Wind,” which he co-produced with David O. Selznick, Whitney took its star Vivien Leigh out for a cruise. During WW II she would run up the Hudson from Newburgh to Hyde Park before FDR’s train, checking the train lines for sabotage.
Payne Whitney married Helen Hay, the sister of his Yale roommate. As it was common to give a home to a new wife during that time, Payne Whitney built Greentree Estate in Manhasset for Helen as a wedding gift in 1904.
Payne Whitney and Helen had two children; Joan Whitney Payson (1903-1975) and John Hay “Jock” Whitney (1904-1982). Joan, a sports enthusiast, would later become the first owner of the New York Mets. And Jock would become perhaps the most prominent Whitney in the history of the family, accomplishing more than his contemporaries could have imagined.
***1930 John Hay Whitney's Wedding***
Jock’s first marriage was to Mary Elizabeth Altemus (known as Liz Whitney) and lasted from 1931 to 1940.
In 1942, he married Betsey Cushing Roosevelt, the former daughter-in-law of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Jock adopted her two daughters from her previous marriage.
Property of the Greentree Foundation From The Collection Of Mr. And Mrs. John Hay Whitney: Fine and Decorative Works of Art
In 1919, Architect Frederick Sterner created 163 East 63rd Street for Maurice Brill, a clothier and, later, owner of the Brill Building at 49th Street and Broadway.
A rough stucco front with lines of red brick trim, including a crisscross pattern across the parapet wall, and leaded glass windows.
Mr. Whitney had the architect Ellery Husted destroy the Sterner stucco fantasy and replace it with a chaste brick neo-Federal design.
Lenox Hill townhouse, former home of John Hay "Jock" Whitney.
2 Beekman Place, New York, NY
2 Beekman Place, the high rise building designed by Rosario Candela. The penthouse belonged to Mrs. Betsey Cushman Whitney. She moved there because NYC rerouted an exit from the Queensborough Bridge, forcing traffic on to East 63rd Street. The Whitneys' town house was on that street and she couldn't handle the noise.
The house is of modern design with flat roofs throughout, and large glass areas to take advantage of the views. Construction is of frame, with exterior finish largely of California redwood, moulded and run horizontally. A pinkish brick of large size also has been used in portions of the house and there is some local stonework.
In the decorative scheme gay and bright materials are being used throughout in keeping with the summer living which the house was designed. As a basis for the landscaping plan, a large number of small trees were brought over from the mainland.
"one of the more opulent houses. Severely modern, it cost upward of $500,000 to build, and the grounds were once equipped with a seaplane ramp." ISLAND OF THE DISCREET SHUDDER
The site is a relatively high ridge of land running east and west, falling off sharply on the north side, and toward the road. Unusual characteristics of the site dictated in a large measure the plan of the house, which is designed basically on an L-plan with a long wing containing the master’s rooms running along the ridge and parallel to the beach, and the service wing at right angles to this. The house is designed on three different levels, although it is only two-stories high at any one point.
The main entrance is on the interior of the L-plan and at the intersection of the two wings. On this level are located the entrance hall, large living room, dining room and screened porch overlooking the beach. Also there is a room designed for the use of children and a guest room. Lending from the dining room are the kitchen, pantry and service facilities.
An unusual feature is that the living room and dining room, both opening on the porch, are designed with large sliding glass doors, which may be opened in fair weather to create a single living area of the three units. On the highest level of the house are the master's quarters with two rooms and baths. One of these rooms has been designed as a study and office for the owner and both open on living decks commanding a superb view of Long Island sound. The lower level of the beach wing contains three master bedrooms and a beach room with dressing rooms and showers. Also on this level the servants’ rooms and at the extreme end of the wing on the inland side is a carport to house two automobiles. A small terrace house, with built-in barbecue grilles, has been constructed for outdoor living. Architects for the house are Matthiessen, Johnson & Green of New York and Stamford. Design work was started by the architects in August, 1949.
In 1920 Edward F. Simms aquired land bordering the Yaddo property. Simms, a Kentucky horse breeder and owner, had made a vast fortune in the oilfields of Texas and Louisiana and used a portion of his income to develop the beautiful Xalapa Farm outside of Paris, Kentucky.
In 1930, the Saratoga property transferred to John Hay “Jock” Whitney, scion of the famous first family of American racing. While no official transcript of the circumstances exists to common knowledge, rumor has long had it that Simms lost the property to Whitney in a friendly game of cards.
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In addition to the main house, a guest lodge and staff housing, the present-day property includes two 400-foot long barns with 100 total stalls and a manager’s office.
1933 photo showing the members of the Whitney family at Saratoga. From left to right: Mrs. C. V. Whitney (Gwladys Crosby Hopkins); John Hay Whitney (Jock Whitney); Mrs. John Hay Whitney (Mary Elizabeth Altemus); and C. V. Whitney.
Under various names, and with the assistance of sister Joan Whitney Payson, Jock Whitney eventually bred more than 130 stakes winners between 1934 and 1982.
Greentree Stud owed its existence to the familial strife engendered by the hasty remarriage of William Collins Whitney after the death of his first wife. While Harry supported his father, his brother Payne had actively opposed the remarriage. For this principled stand, Payne would receive less than a tenth of his father's estate and had become so estranged from the family that he was not even present when his father passed away.
Ultimately he would benefit from the estate of his uncle, Oliver Payne, who felt that Whitney's remarriage was a slight to his sister and rewarded his nephew with a bequest of 50 million dollars that did much to ease the inequity in inheritances and helped reconcile the brothers.
Uncle Col. Oliver Payne acquired the vast longleaf forested sanctuary in 1899, enlisting his friend Stanford White to make subtle additions, add a sunken garden, and give a Gilded Age flourish to the Greek Revival mansion.
In 1944, Greenwood was inherited by John Hay Whitney.
The property was originally owned by a Thomas County pioneer family and rose to renown under later owners, the Payne and Whitney families, who helped establish the County’s reputation as a winter resort.
THE MAIN HOUSE WAS BUILT BETWEEN 1835 and 1844 and is one of the few surviving structures designed by English architect John Wind. Later twentieth century additions were designed by Stanford White of the firm McKim, Mead, & White. Mr. White declared Greenwood “the most perfect example of Greek Revival architecture in America,” and it remains one of the finest instances of that style in the state.
In 1993, a devastating fire ravaged the main house. The exterior was painstakingly restored; however, the interior remains untouched and is little more than a shell.
Beyond the architecture, Greenwood is historically significant because of the many prominent Americans who were guests at the estate. President Eisenhower hunted quail on the grounds and Jacqueline Kennedy sought refuge at Greenwood after John F. Kennedy’s death.
Such was Jock Whitney’s passion for plantation life that he was said to have immediately optioned the movie-rights for Margaret Mitchell’s novel “Gone with the Wind.”
Whitney was a major backer of Dwight D. Eisenhower and a member of the New York Young Republican Club. Eisenhower appointed him United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom, a post held sixty years earlier by Whitney's grandfather John Hay.
The property, originally named Holthanger, was built in the 1930s by British architect Oliver Hill, who was inspired by the white-colored modernist houses designed by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
Cherry Hill was the former UK country estate of Ambassador Whitney. Ambassador Whitney was not only an heir to a large fortune but a pioneer in the concept of venture capital, as well as an influential philanthropist. He renamed the property after the exclusive Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver, Colorado, where he and Dwight D. Eisenhower often played golf, close to the President’s ‘Summer White House’.
With their wealth, exquisite taste, and refined aesthetic, the Whitney's created a style that was the envy of post-war British society. This home was the perfect setting for their fabulous art collection, which included both Old Masters and Impressionists, and for their extensive entertaining.
One of only seven long-wheelbase Bentley S3s built, chassis number 'BAL2' was sold new in the United Kingdom via H R Owen to John Hay 'Jock' Whitney, publisher of the New York Herald Tribune and US Ambassador to the Court of St James from 1957 to 1961. One of the world's wealthiest men, Jock Whitney resided when in London at Wingfield House, Regents Park but kept the Bentley for his private use at another of his properties: Cheery Hill at Wentworth in Surrey.
John Hay Whitney was a man of extraordinary accomplishment in business and philanthropy. Among the many organizations he founded were J.H. Whitney and Company, the oldest venture capital firm in America; the Whitney Communications Corporation; and the John Hay Whitney Foundation "to help people achieve social and economic justice, with particular focus on those who experience discrimination in our country because of race, gender or economic condition." He was a captain in the Army Air Forces during World War II and received the Legion of Merit and Bronze Star awards. Like his grandfather, he also served as Ambassador to Britain, being asked by President Eisenhower to be Ambassador to the Court of St. James in 1956, a post he and Mrs. Whitney served in for four years. Mr. Whitney was Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of the New York Herald Tribune from 1961-1966 and Chairman of the International Herald Tribune from 1966 until his death in 1982.
Kelly created a museum-like setting filled with antique chests, furniture and artwork of great beauty, and seating arrangements dressed with leopard, tiger and zebra skins. Objects d’art are surrounded by the heads of a rhinoceros, water buffalo, yak and exotic deer. Game birds are stuffed and suspended from the eighteen-foot ceiling. A rare narwhal tusk (given to Mr. Kelly by Mr. Whitney) hangs over the giant stone fireplace and an elephant tail sprouts wire-like hair in another corner of the room. The startling polar bear, leopards and tiger skin rugs stare back in defiance—mouths frighteningly agape.
In 1949, the room was dismantled and stored at the Whitney estate "Greentree" on Long Island. It remained there until 1997, when Mrs. John Hay Whitney donated it to the French American Foundation, which underwrote its reinstallation in the house.
While studying at Yale University, Jock Whitney was a participant in the sport of rowing. As told by author Edward Bowen in his book “Legacies of the Turf: A Century of Great Thoroughbred Breeders (Vol. 1),” Jock Whitney concluded that having shorter hair would cut down on wind resistance and allow his rowing crew to travel faster; the haircut he subsequently requested wound up being known as the “crew cut.”
Thanks to an inheritance of $100 million, Jock Whitney was one of the richest men in North America. Forbes ranked him among the seven richest men in the world in the 1970s.
Didn’t he also have a home south of Tucson Arizona
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