In Search of Stanford White

On several occasions I have found myself in the 

ST. JAMES 

vicinity of Long Island, NY.

St. James is a lovely town which is a short distance from my own home.

Also in the area is the  
St. James General Store
(I love the local history book section on the second floor) 
and  
Deepwell's Farm
(a historic house open for tours).

While there, my obsessive nature about research and old homes took hold of me!

(It's a birth defect I assure you.)

On those occasions I sought out the former estate of

STANFORD WHITE,

architect EXTRAORDINAIRE!

I compiled a few (less than stunning) photographs of his estate that I'd like to share with you.

There are several entrances to the estate, this being the most formal with the stone columns which clearly announce the estate,

 BOX HILL.

Below, is an additional entrance to the estate.

As you can see there are several structures on the property.

Having read Stanford White's great-granddaughter  
Suzannah Lessard's
book,

THE ARCHITECT OF DESIRE,

I understand that these are additional homes used by Stanford's family to this day.

 Below and to the right you see what appears to be a stable and a wooden 

POST and RAIL fence.

If I remember correctly, there had been some animals out on one of my 

forays to Box Hill.  

 

From the road leading to home there is an allee of trees.  

Fortunately at the time of year I took the photos the trees were bare allowing me 

a better view of Stanford's creation.

This was Stanford White's 

FAMILY HOME at BOX HILL.

 Pictured below, on the bottom left you will see remnants of one of the 

GARDEN structures at BOX HILL.

Interested in viewing original photos of BOX HILL in it's HEYDAY?

Visit this AMAZING blog that I frequent time and time again

OLD LONG ISLAND

 Below is a very poor picture of the

Wetherill Residence.

Mrs. Kate Smith Wetherill was Stanford's sister in law.  Kate was his wife Bessie Smith's sister.

The Wetherill mansion was designed by Stanford and built in 1893. 

 It is connected to Box Hill and I understand Stanford sold the Wetherill's the land that the estate now sits on.  It is quite massive and imposing with what appears to be 3-4 stories tall on one side.  It is set high on a hill overlooking the harbor. 

 A view of the harbor from near the WEATHERILL estate.

This is ST. JAMES EPISCOPAL CHURCH which is located on 25a in St. James NY.

The adjacent cemetery is the final resting place for Stanford White and his wife Bessie Smith White.

Stanford's funeral service was held here in a small gathering far from the swirling media frenzy that ensued after his murder in Manhattan.

I walked through the cemetery on the spur of the moment and was unable to find his grave.

Which indicates yet another trip to ST. JAMES is on the horizon!

To view Stanford and Bessie's head stone you can go here:

Find A Grave

Special thanks to my new friend LANA from LIFE AT WILD BERRY COTTAGE who inspired me to complete this blog entry! 

In Honor of Elizabeth Taylor

I, like many of you, have been watching the media coverage of the passing of 

Elizabeth Taylor.  

As I see it, she was a "real mensch" and yet a real person with human flaws and frailties like the rest of us.

She was fascinating to watch as a performer and a celebrity.  

She was quite the beauty!  

So, to honor her life I decided to share some of my favorite photographs of the simply-gorgeous 

Elizabeth Taylor. 

I absolutely love the cut of this dress!

Maggie the Cat..... This was always one of my favorite movie dresses!

 

Very Dior!

 Flawless!

Looking demure with Richard Burton.

A true bathing beauty!

  Meow!

Coat Couture

It's been a LONG cold WINTER here in New York!

A girl has to keep her FASHION SENSE even in the most brutal of conditions.

Having been short on FABULOUS outerwear I took to the THRIFT STORES and my ATTIC to unearth the GEMS

which are photographed below for your perusal.
CLICK ALL PHOTOS TO ENLARGE.

 This is my SENTIMENTAL favorite.  

This coat BELONGED TO MY MOTHER and I'm thrilled that I can once again fit into it. 

The tailoring of the collar is something you just don't see in clothing today.

When worn the collar can be lifted up and draped around the neck and it looks VERY DRAMATIC that way.  I tried to style it that way but just couldn't get it to photograph well on
"AUDREY"

(my dress form)

It is 100% CASHMERE and all black.
The sleeves are quite fitted and have a cuff at the bottom.
What I find truly remarkable about this coat is that the pockets have never been repaired and are in pristine condition.
Nowadays when buying a coat the pockets are the first thing to go!

Below is a black VINTAGE CROPPED JACKET with fur collar.  

I'm not sure of the actual fabric as it's not raised and curly like 

PERSIAN LAMB.

It has plastic buttons and it's double breasted.

I found this one at the SALVATION ARMY and it was 50% off!

As you can see the company is

"WINTER".

How APPROPRIATE!

This one below
IS

PERSIAN LAMB!

It's black with a wide rolled collar, wrist length sleeves with a large cuff at the bottom.

This is a "CAR COAT" as such it has 

no button, snaps or enclosures.  

That being said, it still keeps one warm as this coat is incredibly heavy.

You can see the EMBROIDERED INITIALS of the original owner.

"R.H.S"
This was a Thrift Store find as well!

Next, is another I had unearthed from my attic.
This one has a fur collar and fur trim at the bottom.
It is in LIKE NEW CONDITION!
I honestly had a difficult time believing it was old.  If it weren't for the UNION LABEL
inside the garment I would have thought it was new. 

I found this BEAUTY a few years back with my girlfriend at our local THRIFT STORE. 

CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS?

$9.00

The buttons with their braiding and beading are like the

WHIPPED CREAM

on top!

Union Labels showing it's in fact VINTAGE!

As I understand it this label was used from

1955-1995.

That's a long time span but given the 

STYLE, CUT and QUALITY

I would imagine this is likely 50's - 60's.

What do YOU think?

MOVING AWAY FROM WINTER AND TOWARD SPRING OUTERWEAR

I GIVE YOU:

I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS COAT!

It's a petite and fits like a glove.  

There is no union label so I doubt it's all that old.  

It's by HARVE BENARD.

It has an EMPIRE waist with a dramatically OVERSIZE COLLAR.

This style reminds me of JULIE CHRISTIE from the 60's -70's.

This coat is a pale GRAY with a tiny hint of PERIWINKLE

The PEACH colored lining brings out the

PERIWINKLE

hue in the fabric!

This CAMEL colored jacket is cut very well.

It it DOUBLE BREASTED and the length is great for wearing with JEANS.

I call this my 

"AGENT 99 JACKET"

as it reminds me of something BARBARA FELDON would have worn in
the TV show

GET SMART.

My favorite aspect of this jacket is this

AWESOME PAISLEY LINING!

I love the combination of the blues and orange.

I researched the label and Murray Neiman designed for

HANNAH TROY

beginning in the mid-60's.

Through my research I learned that

HANNAH TROY invented 

PETITE SIZING.  Thanks Hannah!

Looking ahead.....

I greatly anticipate bringing you some 

SPRING FROCKS.

This WINTER has been WAY too LONG!

The Reason I Bought My House

When I first saw my house I fell in love with the sun-room.

Mind you it took

GREAT VISION

to see past the wood paneling, shag rug and drop ceiling.

All that registered in my mind was the enormous 3 pane windows, french doors and thick molding.

It was 

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT!

It's the room I feel most connected to and that's why I chose to share it with you all first.

Everything is a work in progress but I humbly submit these photos of the place in my home I feel most at 

PEACE.

The Sun Room

One of my favorite auction purchases,  it's an antique 

HOME SWEET HOME

embroidered "sampler" with a distressed gold vintage frame.

A recent find was the vintage picnic basket.

$4.00 at Selden Thrift!!!

I found my vintage strawberry tole lamp on one of my thrifty adventures.

I'm pleased with the way it compliments the strawberry curtains inside the armoire.

I found those at a yard sale.

I just love Vintage Strawberries!   

This armoire was 10 years in the making!

That's how long it has been since I bought it at the 

Salvation Army.

I was pregnant at the time and just knew I was having a girl.  

I had envisioned something similar to the picture above.

As it turned out, I had

TWIN BOYS!

So for years this was a dark yellow/gold color with rustic gold handles and lattice work.

Needless to say, having twin boys didn't leave me much time for refurbishing furniture.

I'm tickled PINK at the final result.

Some day I hope to replace this black table with a larger marble top table.

My books need more room to breathe!

I'm hoping for an Eastlake Table with a Carrera Marble top.

I've been trolling Craigslist but haven't hit upon anything just yet.

Do you have one for sale?

This is my little reading nook.  I love to cozy up with some tea and spread my books out and look them over.  The banquette came from Ballard Designs as I couldn't find this one "thrifting".

My pillows are from here, there and everywhere, vintage, new and handmade.....

My collection of plates.

They are mainly Limoge and Bavarian porcelain pieces.

I love them ALL but the greatest SCORE was the Limoge platter at top.

That one was an awesome 

DUMPSTER DIVA

moment.

I found it in some one's GARBAGE in pristine condition!

This old wash stand I purchased at a garage sale in my neighborhood.

OK, I have to say it

$25.00!

It's super distressed but has the GREATEST original hardware!

It was filthy dirty when I got it home so I scrubbed it down.

Beneath the grime and some white paint was that floral spray in the center of the top drawer.

You would think I had hit GOLD by my reaction when I saw that coming through!

This is my desk/vanity.  It's still an area that I am working on completing to my specifications. 

I'm trying to find some more wall art or a plate to compliment what already exists.   

Keeping it pretty yet functional has been a challenge for me.

On the computer screen is one of my favorite blogs,

DAISY COTTAGE!

If you haven't been there it's a must see!

It's both beautiful and inspirational!

A couple of old hat boxes

and

 vintage aprons.

I can't pass up a VINTAGE APRON when I'm out

ANTIQUING.

This side table was a dark brown wood when I picked it up at the 

thrift store.

It holds some of my favorite pieces

A pink vanity mirror, my parents crystal lamp 

and that 

fabulous WEDGEWOOD vase.

Now that you have toured my 

SUN ROOM,

won't you sit down,

put your feet up,

and join me for some tea?
Will that be one lump or two?