The second installment of photos of '
Florham', the Hamilton McKeon and Florence Adele Vanderbilt Twombly estate designed by
McKim, Mead & White between 1894-1897 in Convent Station,
New Jersey. These photos were taken by Johnston Stewart on Sunday, June 4th, 1939. Click
HERE for more on 'Florham'. Photos courtesy of Old Grey Dog.
5 comments:
1939, huh? Meanwhile the rest of the country had been through ten years of economic turmoil, war clouds were gathering, but all was peaceful and serene for Mrs. Twombly and her staff of 120.
How wonderful these photographs are (and love it that Johnson photographed the same angles winter and late spring. The close angle of the entrance front says it all. However (*ducking eggs thrown by certain other commenters*), those garden facades, McKim, Mead & White or not, are something only a mother could love. It's like they instructed the draftsmen: 'okay, Twombly wants something big, we give up, just put in rows and rows of windows". And to think, at the same time they were designing Wheatly, the Metropolitan Club, and oh, yeah, a good portion of the Chicago World's Fair. Looks as if the Twombly garden facade got shortchanged... :-)
Wonderful pictures. More, More!!!
Beautiful photos and a beautiful landscape. If MM&W didnt do something right it's that they didnt minimize the scale of the garden facade so it wouldnt appear to be so "hotel-like". Yet in order to accommodate dozens of guests and their servants, it essentially was a hotel so the facades work. It is not a cozy country house, something the Twomblys werent looking for anyway. These photos show an imposing structure, regally standing out from the wonderful manicured grounds. The large scale of the home works with the vast expanse of the environment IMO. Done without an egg tossed this morning.
Yes, Archibuff, your observance is entirely correct ! Joseph Donon, the Twombly chef of four decades, described the house as just that, "a private hotel for the Vanderbilt family and their guests !" In that respect it was a Success !
These photos give the impression of an old english estate...not one from New Jersey!
I went to school here in the early '80s and often wandered out to the terrace on the garden front. I think the point may have been the view from the garden front and not of it. From here, one could see for miles and miles. Also, since the house is situated at the crest of a rise, I imagine the idea was that it could be seen from miles away thanks to its blocky massing. One thing I would have loved to have seen was that house with its hundreds of green shutters...all, sadly gone now.
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