'
Stone Court', the
Ernest Flagg residence designed by himself c. 1898 in Dongan, Staten Island. Flagg designed numerous houses along
Flagg Place in the neighborhood known as Dongan Hills. Click
HERE for more on '
Stone Court'. Click
HERE to see the house on bing and
HERE on google street view.
Photos from
Architectural Record, 1901.
9 comments:
One does forget that the hills of Staten Island were at one time a prime location for country estates. The area still attracts high end builders and the views of Manhattan are still spectacular. The subdivision, dating from the 1980's, of the remaining Flagg estate was largely a success. Important garden features, farm buildings and the water tower were preserved while new homes, built with sympathetic materials on smaller lots covered the reamining area. Long Island village trustees should open their eyes to such planning.
I'm sure he felt a debt of gratitude to Cornelius Vanderbilt II for sending him to school in Paris, but did he really need to put his 300-acre country estate adjoining and partially surrounding the Vanderbilt ancestral burial ground?
(Cornelius II's wife was Flagg's cousin. Her mother's maiden name was Flagg.)
Perhaps it was done with CV's help to forestall development.
P.S. Anyone fond of Flagg's work has a chance to buy one of his grander projects:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/corcoran-gallery-to-test-market-for-sale-of-building/2012/06/04/gJQAjHfBEV_story.html
(Corcoran's heirs are not happy.)
Simply insane for an institution to want to abandon that monumental museum building. Foolish short-sighted boards disrespecting founding benefactors principles and ideals.
Almost as insane as a crass developer wanting to tear down Ernest Flagg's exuberant Singer Tower and replace it with a big bland black box, oh wait that has been done already. People never learn
Bear in mind these are the same people who previously proposed to enlarge the museum by grafting an enormous Frank Gehry-designed carbuncle on its north side.
(I have no real opinion about whether or not the museum is economically viable in its current size. But remember, deep inside that great facade at the Met, there's a perfectly lovely old Calvert Vaux building struggling to get out. In any event, it would be virtually impossible to get permission to tear down the building. The question is whether there's a viable alternative use. That close to The White House -- it's across the street from The Old Executive Office Building -- the security requirements are very severe. For example, the OEOB offices on the street that separates OEOB from the museum now appear unoccupied.)
SEC WORD -- 21 Nauserv: Electronic mailing list software application restricted to adults.
I have an old book by Flagg that describes his concrete-faced-with-fieldstone construction illustrated by his designs for charming small houses to be built in this manner on Staten Island, presumably bordering his estate. The houses were somewhat Lutyens-esque in their massing and could be easily adapted as sophisticated cottages today. I did not have a car during my residency in Manhattan, so I never searched them out or determined if they were even built.
TDC --
Do you mean this?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/emilio_guerra/4987095146/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/emilio_guerra/6132544591/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/emilio_guerra/4987039496/
If you want to know more, search on "Todt Hill Cottages".
Just marvelous. Personal and original
The developers who slice and dice Long Island estates could take a lesson from how the garden sight lines have been retained across Flagg court.
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