CHRISTMAS EVE IN COLONIAL TIMES

"CHRISTMAS EVE IN COLONIAL TIMES"
 from a painting by Everett Shinn

The Amawalk Arboretum/Lasdon Park and Arboretum

THE AMAWALK ARBORETUM

THE AMAWALK ARBORETUM dedicated to the memory of Major Orlando Jay Smith, founder of the Nursery. The plans for the Arboretum have been designed by Vitale, Brinckerhoff & Geiffert, Landscape Architects, under whose supervision we are executing the work. Plans for the executive and display building, in Colonial style, have been designed by Jame Cameron Mackenzie Jr., Architect. Estate owners, park department officials, landscape architects, architects, students and others will be welcomed to the Amawalk Arboretum, and effects of scientific planting will doubtless be of great value and advantage. The above view shows  the Arboretum as it will look from the air when completed. From an add in the back of the yearbook for Architectural League of New York 1924.

https://www.lasdonpark.org

Property was acquired by William and Mildred Lasdon in 1939. They renamed estate "Cobbling Rock Farm". The main house of the estate was built in 1933 by Dr. Voislawsky after the original house was destroyed by a fire. The house is modeled after George Washington’s home in Virginia.

***My assumption the fire ruined the plans for the arboretum.***

William Lasdon is known for establishing a major pharmaceutical company and for his philanthropist endeavors. The Lasdon estate was simply used as a country retreat. The Lasdon family had great interest in horticulture and loved to travel. Along these travels, they brought back many tree specimens and planted them at the estate.  https://www.lasdonpark.org/history/ 

INTERIOR TAPESTRY ROOM, RESIDENCE OF EDSON BRADLEY, ESQ., NEWPORT, R. I. Howard Greenley, Architect, New York

INTERIOR TAPESTRY ROOM(DRAWING ROOM), RESIDENCE OF  EDSON BRADLEY, ESQ., NEWPORT, R. I.
Howard Greenley, Architect, New York

Follow THIS LINK for more on "Seaview Terrace, the Edson Bradley, Esq. estate. 

YEAR BOOK  of the ARCHITECTURAL LEAGUE OF NEW YORK and CATALOGUE of the THIRTY-NINTH ANNUAL EXHIBITION

Fine Arts Building Two Fifteen West Fifty-seventh Street From February Third to March Second, Inclusive MCMXXIV

HOUSE OF WILLIAM ZIEGLER, JR., ESQ., EAST 63RD STREET, NEW YORK

FRONT FACADE
HOUSE OF WILLIAM ZIEGLER, JR., ESQ., EAST 63RD STREET
FREDERICK J. STERNER, ARCHITECT

VIEW FROM FOYER INTO LIVING ROOM
HOUSE OF WILLIAM ZIEGLER, JR., ESQ., EAST 63RD STREET
FREDERICK J. STERNER, ARCHITECT

STAIR HALL
HOUSE OF WILLIAM ZIEGLER, JR., ESQ., EAST 63RD STREET
FREDERICK J. STERNER, ARCHITECT

LIVING ROOM
HOUSE OF WILLIAM ZIEGLER, JR., ESQ., EAST 63RD STREET
FREDERICK J. STERNER, ARCHITECT

DETAIL OF LIVING ROOM DOORWAY
HOUSE OF WILLIAM ZIEGLER, JR., ESQ., EAST 63RD STREET
FREDERICK J. STERNER, ARCHITECT

DINING ROOM
HOUSE OF WILLIAM ZIEGLER, JR., ESQ., EAST 63RD STREET
FREDERICK J. STERNER, ARCHITECT

DINING ROOM FIREPLACE
HOUSE OF WILLIAM ZIEGLER, JR., ESQ., EAST 63RD STREET
FREDERICK J. STERNER, ARCHITECT

LIBRARY
HOUSE OF WILLIAM ZIEGLER, JR., ESQ., EAST 63RD STREET
FREDERICK J. STERNER, ARCHITECT

LIBRARY FIREPLACE
HOUSE OF WILLIAM ZIEGLER, JR., ESQ., EAST 63RD STREET
FREDERICK J. STERNER, ARCHITECT

Follow THIS LINK for an earlier post on the residence of William Ziegler, Jr.

Holiday House is returning to The Academy Mansion for 2017.

FESTIVITIES AT NEWPORT MR. VANDERBILT'S MARBLE PALACE THROWN OPEN

FESTIVITIES  AT NEWPORT.
Mr.   VANDERBILT'S MARBLE PALACE THROWN OPEN.
Newport, R. I. Aug. 19.— The marble palace was thrown open tonight for the first time since its erection, when Mr. and Mrs. W. K. Vanderbilt gave a select dinner party, followed by a musicale. The night was close and oppressive, with dense fog, but inside the gateway a lovely scene presented itself.

The whole space from the fountain to the iron fence was filled in with massive beds of vari-colored hydrangeas that stood out in fine relief under the blaze of numerous clusters of electric lights, illuminating the carriage drives, bringing out in distinct relief the magnificent front of the palace.

On entering the outer gates the watchman was met, with his loose frock, knee breeches, skull cap, with golden band, an usher of the black rod. The grand portico was a blaze of light, and liveried attendants were on hand from carriage to cloakroom.

When the entire building was illuminated by gas and electricity, the sight was one never before seen in Newport. 

The guests were received in the drawing room, which needed none other than its natural adornment.

The dining room was truly royal in its appearance and the table was a picture, being laid with a golden service, embellished with the most elaborate and tasteful table decoration ever seen in Newport.

The centre and end pieces were miniature lakes of night-blooming water lilies, with their own foliage, with many other aquatics of the most choice and rare variety. In the centre were the white and blue lilies of the Danube, and towering over all was the stately lotus of the Nile. Tiny water lilies, blue and white, floated in each flutter bowl, and each of these was connected with the centre and end pieces by a tracery of sprays and layers of fancy aquatic foliage.

The appointments of the room were in keeping. The floor was covered with a very large fine rug of crimson and gold, inworked with golden fleur de lis at the corners, and the high chairs were of a roseate red velvet, with double principal chairs at the head and foot of the table.

The menu was furnished by Mr. Vanderbilt's chef. The household staff, clad in black liveries with full breast cords and the sleeves and fronts studded with gilt garters and patent leathers with buckles, waited at table.

The guests were Mr. Hoyt, Mr. J. C. Furman, O. H. P. Belmont, Mr. and Mrs. R. M. Hunt, Miss Tooker, Miss Hunewell, Miss Wetmore, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Sloane, Col. and Mrs. Jay, Mr. and Mrs. W. D. Sloane, Mr. Riggs, Miss Sloane, Miss Vanderbilt, and Mr. and Mrs. F. W. Vanderbilt


After dinner a delightful musicale was given, which was attended by a few of the intimate friends of the family.

When "Marble House" was For Sale

Mrs. Belmont's Tea House

http://www.newportmansions.org/explore/marble-house

The Keeper of the Gate - "INISFADA"

   Among the most picturesque features of the English countryside are the sturdy lodges that guard the entrance gates to the great estates.

Built to last down the ages, they are as permanent a part of the landscape as the lordly homes they guard or the trees themselves.

 

But the charming little gate lodge pictured here is not—although it might well be—in England.

 It is the gate keeper's lodge at "Inisfada", the country home of Nicholas F. Brady, Esq., at Roslyn, Long Island.

Follow THIS LINK for more on the gate lodge of "Inisfada". 

"I LOVE THE FLAVOR OF CAMELS" says Miss Evelyn Cameron Watts

MISS WATTS'  FEATHER CAPE IS MADE OF THE PLUMAGE OF  THE TROPICAL "LOPHOPHORE" BIRD

"I never get tired of the smooth Camel flavor—the last one I smoke at night tastes just as good as the first in the morning," says the charming debutante daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Harry Dorsey Watts of New York and Baltimore. "And Camels are very mild, too—even when I've smoked a lot, Camels never upset my nerves. And if I'm tired I find that smoking a Camel seems to refresh me—gives me a 'lift' that makes me ready to start all over again."

Camels are made from finer, MORE EXPENSIVE TOBACCOS ...Turkish and Domestic... than any other popular brand

It is true that your energy is increased by smoking a Camel. It releases your latent energy in a safe and natural way. When tired, a Camel will drive fatigue and irritability away, and never affect your nerves. 



AMONG THE MANY
DISTINGUISHED WOMEN WHO
PREFER CAMEL'S COSTLIER TOBACCOS:

Mrs. Nicholas Biddle - Philadelphia

Miss Mary Byrd - Richmond

Mrs. Powell Cabot - Boston

Mrs. Thomas M. Carnegie Jr. - New York

Mrs. J. Gardner Coolidge, 2nd - Boston

Mrs. Henry Field - Chicago

Miss Anne Gould - New York

Mrs. James Russell Lowell - New York

Mrs. Potter d'Orsay Palmer - Chicago

"TREETOPS" A Small Country House Done in the Italian Manner at Oyster Bay, L. I.

A good idea of the color treatment of "Treetops" is given by the artist John Floyd Yewell. 

Like Peter Pan's house, Treetops, being situated on the top of a thickly wooded knoll, gives one a real impression of being high up in the trees - a situation which insures absolute privacy as well. The screened-in porch beneath the master's bedroom is an unusual and wholly delightful feature, being integral with the house and glassed in during the winter months. The brightly colored bas-reliefs set in the stucco add a characteristic Italian touch.

The French windows of the dining room open on to a little terrace commanding a lovely view of the woods below. The graceful figure on the wall fountain is done in brilliant flesh tints against a cerulean blue background.

Set in a frame of cool green foliage, the warm glow of the stucco is enhanced by the emerald note of the door and the balcony railing, and the brilliant orange of the wine jars that flank the entrance that is highly effective.

Reginald T. Townsend, Editor Country Life in America.

The house was built for Reginald T. Townsend by Architect LOUIS S. WEEKS in 1925. It was during his decade-long tenure as Editor at Country Life in America that he traveled to Alberta and took the first of many journeys with the Trail Riders of the Canadian Rockies. In 1952 the New England Society established the Reginald T. Townsend Award to recognize outstanding achievement representing the finest attributes of the New England character.

Its location and status is unknown to me.

"CAUSMETT" GARDEN TOUR JUNE 23, 1927

The house seen from the air over the Sound looking across Lloyds Neck to Cold Spring Harbor. To the right of the house lies the formal garden with the rock garden below it. The roof of the tennis house can be seen at the left. The gamekeeper's house and kennels appear in the center background; the farm group is in the left background.

 THE extensive estate of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Field at Lloyd's Neck, which comprises nearly 2,000 acres, has but one garden that might be described as formal. This will be shown on June 23. Many driveways traverse the parklike grounds, where native plants have been used in such manner that they seem to have been left there as nature intended. 

The main house is one of the best examples of Georgian architecture in America. The bricks were specially treated to give a pinkish buff hue.

The house is Georgian in style, with a setting of shrubs in which the kalmia predominates. 

LONG GARDEN, 1932
This area was designed by the famed landscape architecture firm founded by Frederick Law Olmsted, the designer of Central Park, with substantial input from Evelyn Field, Marshall’s first wife. A walk through the Long Garden today offers just a hint of the former splendor of the garden. Several statues filled the niches in the brick wall that runs along the garden. In spring the apple trees in the garden bloom beautifully, and at the end of the Long Garden is the gate that leads to the never-completed terraced garden

LONG GARDEN, 1953
NOTE THE REMOVED WEST WING

LONG GARDEN, 1953

In the garden the beds with their many colored flowers are laid out in symmetrical design like carpets of rare workmanship on closely cropped lawns. 

ROCK GARDEN
The west end of the house seen from the rock garden set in the hillside below the house. To the right is the formal garden of shrubs and flowers. NOTE THE EXTANT WEST WING

A rock garden is approached by rough steps hewn from boulders that also lead to a rustic bridge. 

WINTER COTTAGE
Set at the head of a long valley, commanding a view of the entrance, the winter cottage is framed in a veritable bower of green, with little gardens and grass walks on every side. Great plantings of rhododendrons make a gorgeous color picture in mid-June. Landscape Architect was Marian Cruger Coffin. The Fields lived in the winter cottage during construction of the main house.

Another attraction of the estate is the Winter cottage of gray stone now surrounded by flowering shrubs. 

 The Sunken Garden was located at the end of the Long Garden. It was part of a planned set of garden terraces down to the beach. It was never completed.  

There is a sunken garden whose flowers are guarded against the strong winds from the water, a tennis court surrounded by flowers, and a drive that leads to a sandy beach.

Just west of the Main House is a beach access road. The area was blanketed with daffodil bulbs. 

Sir William Orpen, 1878–1931, Title - Evelyn Marshall Field (Mrs. Marshall Field III), Date ca. 1921.

The Fields were married in 1915. When this garden tour was held in 1927 it was probable that the couple were beginning to drift apart. Marshall traveled a great deal of the time and socialized assiduously. Evelyn felt the he was bored with the refined, bridge-party social life of sedate upper-class circles. He seemed to prefer a younger and more pleasure seeking crowd. They divorced in 1930.

Caumsett meant "place by sharp rock".

Follow THIS LINK for all posts relating to "Causmett". 

The late John Foreman's BIG OLD HOUSES visits "Causmett".

The Caumsett Foundation.

"CAUMSETT" — MRS. MARSHALL FIELD — FIVE THOUSAND ROSES

Located on the northeast side of the slope overlooking the pond. A small depression had formed from the runoff water emitted by the mansion's ice-making machines and was referred to as a "river" by Audrey Field, 2nd wife of Marshall Field III. Five thousand roses plants, water loving irises and rocks in the stream with a few Japanese Maple trees to provide natural effect were planted.  A gazebo with a wrought iron roof and carved sandstone pillars was also installed.

MRS. MARSHALL FIELD — FIVE THOUSAND ROSES
GEORGE STONEHILL, 1933

Mrs. Marshall Field—Five Thousand Roses
... all chosen and set out by Mrs. Field herself on the Field estate, Caumsett, at Huntington, Long Island. Most of Caumsett's 2,000 acres are left to their native pink-flowered mountain laurel.

Though the estate is magnificent, the landscaped gardens near the house cover only six acres. The pansies in these rose beds are a favorite rose border, help conceal the great defect of the well-pruned bush—its bare underpinnings. Though rose plants like these average only $1 each, they need soil preparation to a depth of three feet (most plants need only one foot), must be frequently replaced. Modern roses are bigger, brighter, trimmer than the old ones, but less fragrant. Even now a true rosarian can tell two varieties apart in a dark room, detect slight differences in the same rose at different times (they are most fragrant before a storm). Red roses like the one to the right have the strongest fragrance, yellow roses the least.

 Read more  HERE.

Each of Marshall Field's three wives made her mark on the Main House and its surroundings. For example, even though Field was only married to his second wife, Audrey, for three years, she managed to completely redecorate the Main House and its surroundings. Inside, furniture and furnishings were changed; outside, thousands of colorful flowers were planted in place of existing, more formal plants requested by Field's first wife, Evelyn. Much of the initial landscaping design throughout the estate was heavily influenced by large planting coverage between recreation areas and employee walkways and service roads. This was due to Evelyn's insistence that nonessential staff working at Caumsett not be seen by the family or by guests.

Shown here is the landscape behind the Main House in 1932. The design was by Audrey Field. A lover of colorful flowers, she had the landscaping around the Main House reconfigured for her  desires. Note the "babbling brook" in the center of the photograph. Runoff from the iceboxes in the Main House kitchen fed this attractive feature. In a time before automatic irrigation, estate staff would feed water buckets from the brook, which wound its way down the hill to the fresh pond. 

This is another view of the Main House landscape, this time looking up from the hill toward the Main House. Married for only three years, Audrey Field made her mark on the estate. Inside, furniture and furnishings were changed; outside, thousands of colorful flowers were planted in place of existing, more formal plants installed by Field's first wife, Evelyn.

Audrey James Coates became Marshall Field's second wife in 1930, just two weeks after his divorce from Evelyn was finalized. She was the Englishborn widow of Capt. Dudley Coates and goddaughter of King Edward VII. Audrey, a well-known socialite in both England and the United States, was a member of a very wealthy English family. Here, she is pictured in a room in the Main House filled with flowers grown by the staff of the estate. Upon their divorce three years later, Audrey simply left, with no payment of any kind from Field. She returned to England and "civilization," as she bluntly put it. Field's lawyers, however, took no chances, and a major change in estate ownership took place. In 1934, Caumsett was split into two corporations. Caumsett Estates became the owner of the residential and recreation portion of the estate, and Caumsett Farms took over ownership of the farm group operations. The lawyers insisted on the corporate restructuring in case Audrey changed her mind.

This is the home of head gardener George Gillies. Under his total supervision, the greenhouses were used primarily for the raising of flowers, not vegetables. A vast variety of flowers, including calla lilies, were raised here, many from seedlings. There was also a melon house, where fruits were suspended from netting. The flowers grown here were used to decorate the tables and rooms of the Main House and the Winter and Summer Cottages. Cut flowers were also brought to Field homes in New York City. At the Main House, there was a special floral arranging workroom near the dining room, where Gillies would artistically arrange centerpieces. Additional staff at the greenhouse also arranged flowers. All floral pieces throughout the estate would be checked daily by the greenhouse staff.

George Gillies (left) confers with a staff member in the greenhouse area. To the south of the garden lay an extensive greenhouse complex, which still stands today in a state of radical disrepair. It is protected by landmark status. Interestingly, head gardener Gillies always wore a jacket to work—even on the hottest days. He was meticulous in the way he carried out his job functions.

New Life Beyond the Garden Wall
September 16, 2000

George Gillies was the head gardener for more than 35 years until the property was sold to the state in 1961, five years after Marshall Field died. Louise Gillies and her husband lived in a four-bedroom cottage just outside the walled garden facing the 10 greenhouses - two devoted to orchids and another two to melons. 

Louise recounts her memories at Causmett in a story relating to the restoration of the walled garden - "Field was married three times, you know. George had to please each of the wives. The first wanted a sunken garden, but she and Mr. Field were divorced before it was finished. So it was never completed. Wife number two wanted a rose garden. So George put in 5,000 roses - it was like rivers of roses. But wife number three didn't want a rose garden so he tore it out."

Marshall and Audrey Field.

Read an excerpt from The Marshall Fields: The Evolution of an American Business Dynasty describing the relationship between Marshall and Audrey during the Depression years HERE. It disputes the above information that she left with no payments of any kind.

LIFE Oct 18, 1943 - On his 50th birthday last month Marshall Field III (center) signed the documents bringing him into full control of his grandfather's immense fortune (over $100,000,000). Near $1.5 billion in today's money.

 Caumsett meant "place by sharp rock".

Follow THIS LINK for all posts relating to "Causmett". 

The late John Foreman's BIG OLD HOUSES visits "Causmett".

The Caumsett Foundation.