Delamater-Bevin Mansion
Encyclopedia
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
mansion on the north shore of Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, at 76 Bevin Road, within the Incorporated Village of Asharoken, New York
Asharoken, New York
Asharoken is a village in Suffolk County, New York in the United States. The population was 625 at the 2000 census. The ZIP code is 11768.The Village of Asharoken is in the Town of Huntington and was incorporated in 1925.-Geography:...
. The estate is on the Eatons Neck
Eatons Neck, New York
Eatons Neck is a census-designated place and a hamlet in the Town of Huntington, Suffolk County, New York. The population was 1,388 at the 2000 census. Students attend the Northport-East Northport Union Free School District...
landmass on the edge of Duck Island Harbor, an inlet of Northport Bay, off of Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
.
Cornelius H. DeLamater
Cornelius Henry DeLamater was an industrialist who owned DeLamater Iron Works in New York City. The steam boilers and machinery for the ironclad was built in DeLamater's foundry during the Civil War. Swedish marine engineer and inventor John Ericsson considered DeLamater his closest, most...
in 1862 in French Second Empire architectural style, and was originally known as Vermland. DeLamater, who owned over 1000 acres (4 km²) of Eaton's Neck, was the owner of the DeLamater Iron Works located in NYC where W. 13th St meets the Hudson River. The turret, engines, and weaponry on the Ironclad "Monitor" were built by DeLamater's foundry under the direction of noted marine engineer John Ericsson
John Ericsson
John Ericsson was a Swedish-American inventor and mechanical engineer, as was his brother Nils Ericson. He was born at Långbanshyttan in Värmland, Sweden, but primarily came to be active in England and the United States...
. DeLamater named his summer estate "Vermland" after the Swedish province where Ericsson was born as the two men were best of friends and inseparable. After DeLamater's death on February 7, 1889, his Eaton's Neck estate was inherited by his wife Ruth Oakley Caller DeLamater, who died on December 7, 1894 leaving the estate to their daughter Laura DeLamater Bevin. Over time, the house gradually became known as "The Bevin House." Laura DeLamater Bevin died on March 4, 1920 and her son Sydney Bevin inherited the property.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, exiled French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry , officially Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint Exupéry , was a French writer, poet and pioneering aviator. He became a laureate of France's highest literary awards, and in 1939 was the winner of the U.S. National Book Award...
rented The Bevin House, which is where he wrote much of the well-known children's book
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
The Little Prince
The Little Prince
The Little Prince , first published in 1943, is a novella and the most famous work of the French aristocrat writer, poet and pioneering aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ....
during late 1942.
On May 29, 1960 Sydney Bevin died, and The Bevin House was sold to Charles William Foesell in 1964. In 1979 the estate was purchased by real estate developer Nikos Kefalidis of Queens, NY, who commissioned an extensive restoration of the mansion. Kefelidis was killed in the crash of Swiss Air 111 on September 2, 1998.
In 2005, the Kefelidis family added an extension to the west (kitchen) wing of the house in the same Mansard-roofed/ French Second Empire style as rest of the dwelling. A pool was also added to the east lawn of the property.
The Delamater-Bevin Mansion was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1985.
http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/NY/Suffolk/state2.html