Monday, December 5, 2011

'Blairsden'

'Blairsden', the Clinton Ledyard Blair estate designed by Carrere & Hastings between 1898-1903 in Peapack, New Jersey. Blair was an investment banker in the family firm of Blair & Co. and Commodore of the New York Yacht Club. Click HERE for a history of 'Blairsden' by the Historical Society of The Somerset Hills. The home along with 34 acres is currently for sale for $4,900,000, click HERE to see the listing by Turpin Realtors. Click HERE to see 'Blairsden' on google earth and HERE on bing. Click HERE to see C. Ledyard's brother James A.'s house 'Ontare' on Long Island also by Carrere & Hastings.








Photos from Architecture, 1903.

15 comments:

archibuff said...

Outstanding home on so many levels. The stone and brick composition, the overall massing, the roofline, the walled entry court and the floor plan are all brilliant. Also has a truly dramatic hilltop setting and a set of garden stairs that only a mountaineer would appreciate. Hopefully it continues to be well maintained by the next owners.

Anonymous said...

Spectacular!!! And the fact that it is intact with the exception of the property...is a miracle in this age.

Lora said...

Absoloutely beautiful! And in an equally beautiful part of New Jersey. The Autumns there must be esquisite - no doubt a far cry from the dudsville n in my neck of the woods in the Pacific Northwest.

Lora said...

That should read "...dudsville Autumns in my neck of the woods in the Pacific Northwest."

The Down East Dilettante said...

LOL, Archibuff and I are in much better harmony when that CPH guy isn't in the room. This place is one of the best---interesting to see how Carrere & Hastings reworked the basic form of their design for Burrwood. No small part of the success of this place is the landscape design by James Greenleaf (who also did the landscaping at Blair's parent's house at Bar Harbor. Both the staircase/water cascade and the long reflecting pool on the entrance front are master strokes, and a true integration of landscape and architecture.

PS---and Zach, liking this synergy---a Blair brother on each blog---now all you need to do is post the Ledyard Blair's New York house...

Anonymous said...

Does that amazing entrance gate with fountain still stand?

Anonymous said...

Love this story...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_idqQvojboE

The Down East Dilettante said...

Anon 9:33, the entrance, one of two with fountains, can be seen behind actors here:

The other gate, which also survives, can be seen in a tiny picture here:

https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTL4rpI5IUZGWMeIwrWYpTNniUdrCurcOOMD825Tyea1fpL6G-8

The Down East Dilettante said...

Something else to ponder about Blairsden: In poor condition a few years back, it was for sale for 8,900,000. Today, partially restored, in much better condition, it is for sale for 4,900,000.

Anonymous said...

DED the link with the actors didn't show....

The Down East Dilettante said...

Ooops, yet again the Great Dilettante performed his disappearing link trick to a waiting audience.

Here: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/emmywinning_soap_opera_the_gui.html

Anonymous said...

Thank you DED.

Anonymous said...

Question for the author of this article... where did you find the floor plans for Blairsden?

Anonymous said...

All of the above photos have been scanned out of Volume I of Carrere and Hastings, the architural book.

The house was purchased in 2000 by Victor Shafferman and his partner. He became very ill and the project was put on hold - little work was ever completed. He died in 2009. The house sold again to an LLC in 2012.

Victor Shafferman owned a McKim, Mead, an White mansion in NYC that recently sold for $49M.

Anonymous said...

I have been up the very long driveway to then house , which delivers you to the far end of the reflecting pond looking at the house in the distance. It is breathtaking. The house is elegant and because you enter on the short end the full size of the house is not immediately apparent. The terrace on the side over looking the stairs gives a stunning vista of mostly maple and oak trees that are amazing in. The autumn, to Lora's point, but you cannot see more than the smallest part of another mansion roof in the distance. It looks like miles of woods all around, but your are in the most densely populated state in the country. The Somerset Hills horse country is where Jackie Kennedy Onassis rode to hounds and is still beautiful today. Sir Richard Branson has leased the Kate Macy Ladd estate formerly owned by the late king of Morocco who bought in the area because he was friends Malcom Forbes who also lived.nearby. Charles Englehard and Janet Vogel Mars were neighbors as well.