The Braes, Glen Cove NY

I visited this house on January 29, 2012.

Approaching the Braes

 

This Jacobean-styled house was built in 1912 for Herbert Pratt and his wife.  It is the second house to sit on this site.  (The first house, a Georgian revival styled house, was also built for Pratt in 1902.  The Pratt’s tore it down when they decided on the Jacobean style suited them better.)  Both houses were designed by the architectural firm of Brite & Bacon.

The Front of the Braes

 

Today, this magnificent structure is home to the Webb Institute for Naval Architecture.

The Sound side of the Braes

 

This house is situated on 3 magnificent terraces above the Long Island Sound.

The view of the LI Sound from the Reception Room

 

Each terrace features several architectural and artistic details.  Here are a few examples:

View of the House from the lowest terrace

 

The ramp up to the next terrace

 

Statue on 2nd Terrace

 

Niche on 2nd Terrace

 

Sculpture on 3rd Terrace

The house itself has wonderful lines.

The roof line and chimneys

Lion out front

 

For more photos of the Braes, including some interior shots, see my Braes Flickr site.

 

 

The Breakers, Newport RI

I visited this Richard Morris Hunt masterpiece on December 11, 2011.

Approaching the Front Entrance

The first time I visited this house I was a child.  I remember then I was impressed with its enormity.  This was the third time in my life that I visited this house and its enormity has stayed with me.  It is monumental testament to Beaux Arts design.

Western Facade in profile

Entrance Gate During Daylight

On this visit I found myself focused on the elaborate decorative details that Hunt placed everywhere.  I think it is these details that make this house so special.

Detail – Over front entrance

Statue in Entrance Portico

Urn near Entrance

I love the texture of this urn.

Ocean View from Terrace

Western Facade at Sunset

I was quickly running out of sunlight……

Garden Urns at Twilight

Garden Fountain at Twilight

Entrance Gate at Dusk

For more photos visit my Breakers Flickr Site.

Today it is one of the mansions operated by the Preservation Society of Newport County.

The Elms, Newport RI

I visited this house on December 11, 2011.

Rear Facade

Built between 1898 – 1901 by Philadelphia architect Horace Trumbauer for the Berwind family.  The house was modeled after the mid-18th century French chateau d’Asnieres (c.1750) outside Paris.

Statue at Roof Corner

Facade over front door

Statue flanking front door

This arbor, hiding the servant’s entrance to the house is most beautiful in the spring and summer.

Arbor over servant’s entrance

The Classical Revival style gardens on the grounds were developed between 1907 and 1914 and comprise almost 14 acres. I don’t know who the landscape architect was.

Garden Pavilion

The Sunken Garden

Garden Statue

The Stables

Stable Roofline

For more photos, visit my Elms Flickr site.

Today it is one of the mansions operated by the Preservation Society of Newport County.

Park Avenue Armory, NYC

I visited the Park Avenue Armory on October 27, 2011. The Armory is located at Park Avenue at 66th Street in NYC.  During my visit the exterior of the building, and several interior rooms were being renovated. It was also raining outside.   I apologize for the darkness of these photos.  It was the best I could do with the scaffolding blocking windows and the general gloom from the rain.

My primary purpose for visiting the Armory was to visit the Library / Silver Room and the Veterans Room.  These two rooms were designed in 1880 and feature interiors designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany and the Associated Artists.  They are the only fully extant interiors by Louis C. Tiffany, Associated Artists in the world

The Associated Artists, was a cooperative firm of artists led by Tiffany and included Samuel Colman, Lockwood de Forest and Candace Wheeler with consulting architect Stanford White and artists George Yewell and Francis D. Millet.

I hope these photos entice you to learn more about this wonderful institution and the other interiors it has that were designed by other prominent Nineteenth Century artists.  For more information click here.

The Veterans Room

Veterans Room Fireplace

 

Veterans Room Fireplace Mantle Detail

 

Veterans Room Ceiling Detail

 

Veterans Room Paneling Detail

 

Veterans Room Lighting Fixture Detail

 

Veterans Room looking towards Silver Room

The Library / Silver Room

Silver Trophies in the Silver Room / Library

 

Lighting Fixture in Silver Room / Library

 

To see more photos (most darker than these) see my Park Avenue Armory Flickr page.

 

Boscobel, Garrison NY

I visited this house on October 19, 2011.  It was raining cats and dogs that day, but the atmospheric gloom could not detract from the beauty of this house!

Boscobel from the Garden

My first glimpse of the house was this one from the garden.  This 1806 house was rescued from the wrecking ball in the late 1950’s.  It was moved from its original location and sited here in Garrison NY in 1960.

Facade facing Hudson River

Front Door Detail

The view of West Point & the Hudson

Detail of Urn visible in foreground of previous photo

Rose Garden Fountain

It is hard to believe this house was not always on this site.  A beautiful restoration job!

Facade facing the driveway

Roof Line detail

For more photos, visit my Boscobel Flickr page.

Falaise, Sands Point NY

I visited this house on October 7, 2011.  It was built by Harry Guggenheim on land that was part of his father’s estate.  Today it is part of the Sands Point Preserve.

Courtyard View of Falaise

The pool area

Main Entrance

Wonderful detail was paid to all aspects of this house’s architecture.

One of the many carvings around the front door

Detail of columns on terrace

Terrace Turret

Charles Lindbergh was a frequent guest at this home.  It is said that he wrote “We” while siting at this second floor window, seen below.

Dining Room and Guest Suite from Terrace

The house is built on a cliff overlooking Hempstead Harbor.

Hempstead Harbor from the terrace

This is one of my favorite North Shore mansions.

For more photos see my Sands Point Preserve Flickr page.

Castle Gould, Sands Point NY

I visited this structure on October 7, 2011.  It is part of the Sands Point Preserve.

Castle Gould

 

Castle Gould was the name of this whole estate when it was built by Howard Gould.  This building was used as the stables for the estate. It was originally built to replicate Ireland’s Kilkenny Castle.  In 1917, Gould sold his estate to Daniel Guggenheim who kept the name Castle Gould for these stables and renamed the main house Hempstead House.

Main Turret

 

Castle Gould Wall

 

It really is a magnificent structure that at one time held a museum, but now appears to be empty.

For more photos see my Sands Point Preserve Flickr page.

Hempstead House, Sands Point NY

Hempstead House

I visited this structure on October 7, 2011.  It is part of the Sands Point Preserve.

Castle Gould was the name of this whole estate when it was built by Howard Gould.   In 1917, Gould sold his estate to Daniel Guggenheim who kept the name Castle Gould for the stables and renamed this main house Hempstead House.

Detail - Main entrance

 

Rear facade of Hempstead House

 

another view, facing the harbor

 

Balustrade detail

For more photos see my Sands Point Preserve Flickr page.

Normandy Manor, Centerport NY

I visited this house on September 30, 2011.  Normandy Manor is part of the William K. Vanderbilt II Estate known as Eagle’s Nest.  The Manor was Mr. Vanderbilts’ caretaker cottage and was designed by the Architectural firm of Warren & Wetmore.  For years it was privately owned, and then the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum bought the property a few years ago.  When I visited this house it was hosting a designer show house.

Front of Normandy Manor

Side View of Normandy Manor

Rear view of Normandy Manor

The other side of Normandy Manor

The View from the front porch, towards the circular driveway

The View from the circular drive towards the entrance gate of Eagle's Nest

For more photos of Normandy Manor and its wonderful gardens see my Normandy Manor and Eagle’s Nest Flickr page.

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 24,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 9 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.