COUNTRY CHARM in a City Home - Apartment of Archibald Brown, Esq., in River House, New York

 

Living room in the apartment of Archibald Brown, Esq., in River House, New York
PAINTING BY J. FLOYD YEWELL

   While actually in the city, this charming living room in the apartment of Archibald Brown, Esq., in River House, New York, has all the atmosphere of the country. The bay window overlooks the river, where the yachts swing at anchor, while the doorway gives out onto a terraced garden. Decorated in the modem manner, it reveals the architectural skills of its owner, who is a member of the well-known firm of Peabody, Wilson & Brown, architects.

   Archibald Brown's wife Eleanor was the founder of the decorating firm, McMillen Inc.

House of Mr. Charles Pratt, Glen Cove, Long Island Peabody, Wilson & Brown, New York, Architects

House of Mr. Charles Pratt, Glen Cove, Long Island
Peabody, Wilson & Brown, New York, Architects

    ***Off Forest Avenue a long tree lined drive led to the house.***

 Nassau County 1939 Long Island
Dolph & Stewart

   The adaptability of Georgian design to present-day needs is well illustrated in this lovely house of whitened brick. All the Georgian elements, including the use of delicate ironwork for balconies and railings, are beautifully incorporated. CLIA, 1927

First Floor Plan, House of Mr. Charles Pratt, Glen Cove, Long Island
Peabody, Wilson & Brown, New York, Architects

Second Floor Plan, House of Mr. Charles Pratt, Glen Cove, Long Island
Peabody, Wilson & Brown, New York, Architects

House of Mr. Charles Pratt, Glen Cove, Long Island
Peabody, Wilson & Brown, New York, Architects

House of Mr. Charles Pratt, Glen Cove, Long Island
Peabody, Wilson & Brown, New York, Architects

House of Mr. Charles Pratt, Glen Cove, Long Island
Peabody, Wilson & Brown, New York, Architects

House of Mr. Charles Pratt, Glen Cove, Long Island
Peabody, Wilson & Brown, New York, Architects

House of Mr. Charles Pratt, Glen Cove, Long Island
Peabody, Wilson & Brown, New York, Architects

Detail, House of Mr. Charles Pratt, Glen Cove, Long Island
Peabody, Wilson & Brown, New York, Architects

Detail, House of Mr. Charles Pratt, Glen Cove, Long Island
Peabody, Wilson & Brown, New York, Architects

Porch, House of Mr. Charles Pratt, Glen Cove, Long Island
Peabody, Wilson & Brown, New York, Architects

Servants' Quarters, House of Mr. Charles Pratt, Glen Cove, Long Island
Peabody, Wilson & Brown, New York, Architects

The house burned in 1967.
Source of clipping.

From Living Room Looking Down Corridor
House of Mr. Charles Pratt, Glen Cove, Long Island
Peabody, Wilson & Brown, New York, Architects

Stair Hall
House of Mr. Charles Pratt, Glen Cove, Long Island
Peabody, Wilson & Brown, New York, Architects

A CORNER OF THE LIBRARY
House of Mr. Charles Pratt, Glen Cove, Long Island
Peabody, Wilson & Brown, New York, Architects

Dining Room
 House of Mr. Charles Pratt, Glen Cove, Long Island
Peabody, Wilson & Brown, New York, Architects

Nursery Balcony
House of Mr. Charles Pratt, Glen Cove, Long Island
Peabody, Wilson & Brown, New York, Architects

Details of Wrought-Iron Nursery Balcony 
House of Mr. Charles Pratt, Glen Cove, Long Island
Peabody, Wilson & Brown, New York, Architects

   Charles Pratt(1892–1956) was President of the Board of the Pratt Institute from 1937–1953.

   Charles Pratt was the son of Frederic Bayley Pratt and Caroline Ames Ladd, one of three children. His siblings were Mary Caroline Pratt (1895–1980) and Helen Ladd Pratt (1899–1972). 

"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.

Country House of Character - "Huntland"

"Huntland" Mr. Joseph P. Thomas's Home at Middleburg,Va.
by Peabody, Wilson & Brown, Architects.  

What constitutes the perfect country house? Country Life asked this question of several of the leading architects in New York, and asked them to indicate some country houses which they had designed and which, in their opinion, made them distinctive from other houses. It was to make no difference whether the house were a marble palace at some fashionable watering place or a tiny bungalow in the foothills of the mountains. So long as the architect considered it a good example of a country house and, in his opinion it had character, that was all that we asked.

***Below is the selection chosen by Architects Peabody, Wilson & Brown*** 

"Huntland" Mr. Joseph P. Thomas's Home at Middleburg,Va. by Peabody, Wilson & Brown, Architects.         Painted by John Vincent

THE interest that attaches to this house for Joseph B. Thomas, at Middleburg, Va., arises from the fact that, unlike so much of our modern architecture in America, it derives its precedent from the early architectural traditions of our own country. It is not an indiscriminate transplanting of foreign details and associations, but it takes its fundamental qualities from the early and native traditions of the early days of prerevolutionary Virginia. It is an attempt to carry on from early precedent, but modified to modern conditions of life, as much as possible of the only style of architecture which can be truly said to be indigenous to the soil and climate of our country.

***Front View - "Huntland" Mr. Joseph P. Thomas's Home at Middleburg,Va. by Peabody, Wilson & Brown, Architects. ***

***Black lacquer furniture, walls covered in a gay Chinese design of birds and flowers and curtains, some pale yellow edged with green and some orange and green, make an interseting bedroom in the residence of Mr. Joseph Thomas at Middleburg, Va. The bed is an old four-poster with an unusual top draping.  Behind it is an alcove, down each side of which are book shelves. The ceiling in this alcove is made up of small mirrors in panels. Caption from  House & Garden Second Book of Interiors 1920***

This is the modern outgrowth of such a house as would have been built a hundred years ago by any wealthy Virginia planter with an interest in his home surroundings and possessing the native taste which was unfortunately, more common in those days than in the present.

 First Floor Plan. 
***"Huntland" Mr. Joseph P. Thomas's Home at Middleburg, Va. by Peabody, Wilson & Brown, Architects.***

It is not, however, modern civilization retreating to the shelter of old customs and conditions of living, not, in other words, a step backward; but rather a carrying forward of old traditions, and a modernization of them, to bring them abreast of the modern standards of life and culture.

Click HERE to see at wikimapia.

THE RESIDENCE OF JULIAN L. PEABODY, ESQ., AT WESTBURY, L. I. Peabody, Wilson & Brown, Architects

THE RESIDENCE OF JULIAN L. PEABODY, ESQ., AT WESTBURY, L. I. Peabody, Wilson & Brown, Architects 

Photographs by Tebbs

THE RESIDENCE OF JULIAN L. PEABODY, ESQ., AT WESTBURY, L. I. Peabody, Wilson & Brown, Architects

An adaptation of the Southern Colonial style has teen used in the architecture. The unusual height of the pillars is balanced by the width of the porch, together, with the two glassed in rooms at either side. This is the garden view.

ENTRANCE PORCH

The entrance porch is an elaboration of the usual Colonial stoop, the balustrading being the same as that used on the garden side of the house. Color relief is given the white shingled walls by the green blinds and box-bordered path.

STAIR HALL

The interior woodwork of the hall is remarkable for its fidelity of detail to original Colonial designs which, by the bye, is the ultimate test of the worth of modern Colonial architecture. Landscape paper of an old pattern hat been effectively used on the wall.

LIVING ROOM

A living-room that is immensely livable. Weathered oak, hand-adzed beams support the ceiling. The walls are rough plaster painted deep cream. Some of the furniture is oak, some is painted. The hangings and upholstery are blue. There is room enough for several distinct furniture groupings: a music corner around the piano, the center table and the fireplace davenport with its refectory table behind. A view through the doorway to the right is shown on ***below***.

ALLURING LEVELS

There is a singular fascination about a house with different floor levels. Its rooms seem, to have such different personalities. That is the feeling one has on ascending these three steps. From the living-room, ***shown above***, one climbs up to the drawing-room, which is entirely different in character as it is in use. Peabody. Wilson & Brown, architects.

DINING ROOM

A small room of striking individuality whose primitive atmosphere is retained in furniture and paper.

BREAKFAST ROOM

In the exterior view of this house, shown ***above***, will be noticed two porches enclosed in glass. In one is the breakfast room, shown to the left. Antique tile, brought from Sicily, forms the floor. The tile has a dull white ground, decorated with geometrical designs in blue and orange. On it are spread rush mats. A plant shelf ranges along one side. The furniture is of the simple farmhouse pattern. Altogether it is a room in which to start the day cheerily.

THE GARDEN WITHIN WALLS 

Through the cleverness of its architects and landscape gardeners, America is fast gaining a reputation for gardens that in previous years only Continental countries possessed. We can create the semblance of age and a rustic verisimilitude that took Europe generations to make. Here in this walled garden on the estate of Julian L. Peabody at Westbury, L. I., is displayed just such clever architecture and careful landscaping. Peabody, Wilson & Brown were the architects.

Not quite the same!

Click HERE to see at wikimapia with link to Bing, historicaerials.com and oldlongisland.com.