Villa Maria (Long Island)
Encyclopedia
Villa Maria is an estate in Water Mill, New York
. Built as a private residence in 1887, the villa itself was extensively remodelled by Brooklyn-based architect Frank Freeman
in 1919. It later became a convent
and spirituality center, before recently becoming a private residence once again. The building is considered a Long Island
landmark
.
-style summer house" for partners, cousins, and industrial financiers Josiah Lombard and Marshall Ayres, Jr.
of the Lombard, Ayres & Company. The original owners, wanting to put something decorative on this one-acre front lawn, bought the beautiful Cowrith Windmill for $750 in 1891, from its location in North Haven, and had it hauled to this front lawn where it stands today.
In the late 1890s, the building was sold to Dr. Edward L. Keyes, a prominent New York urologist and business associate of the son of U.S. President Martin van Buren
. The villa at this time was described as "a tall and very elaborate Victorian
house", replete with "turrets, balconies, loggia
s" and protected by an old-fashioned red shingle
roof—from which it derived its name, "Red Gables".
In 1909, Keyes sold the estate to New York businessman Edward P. Morse
, proprietor of the Morse Dry Dock & Repair Company
, a major U.S. ship repair yard based in Brooklyn. "A decade after acquiring the property, Morse commissioned a well-known Brooklyn architect Frank Freeman to completely recast Red Gables into an Estate House" The newly renovated house was named Grey Gables.
During World War I
, Morse's company made unprecedented profits, and shortly after the war, in 1919, Morse decided to embark on a substantial rebuild of the Long Island property. Morse commissioned Frank Freeman, an accomplished Brooklyn architect and fellow Canadian expatriate, for the redesign. Freeman virtually rebuilt the house, more than doubling its size, adding a large living wing, a sweeping two-story staircase and an imposing colonnaded portico
, while the walls were refinished with a facade of Indiana
limestone
.
On August 17, 1929, Grey Gables was auctioned to Courtland Palmer of Manhattan for $100,000. It was then passed on to actress, Irene Coleman, whose stage name was Ann Murdagh. She then sold the estate to the Sisters of the Order of St. Dominic, a Roman Catholic order, for $250,000 in 1931. The sisters initially planned to convert the building into a girls' high school, but when this proved impractical, it was decided to utilize the building as a facility for aspirants to the order, whereupon it was renamed Villa Maria High School. In 1953, it became a retirement home for ageing sisters, a use it retained until 1985. In 1992, the Sisters added an arts and craft building to the estate, called the Siena Spirituality Center at Villa Maria, which offered courses in spirituality and holistic living., While the sisters owned the property, they agreed to sell the triangular piece of front lawn upon which the windmill sits to the town of Water Mill for $1. This would be used for a village green. The Dominicans reserved the right to take back this property for the amount they sold it for if the villagers were to use this location in a disreputable way. The current owners still have the right to buy back the village green of Watermill with the windmill on it for just $1, but only if said misbehavior occurs there.
Another interesting fact about this property is that President Theodore Roosevelt's (1858-1919) favorite horse, "General Ruxton", is buried on the grounds. This is the same bronze horse he is featured sitting on outside the Museum of Natural History in New York, NY.
In "2001 and 2002, Villa Maria hosted the Hampton Designer Showcase, an event that raise money for remedial work on the facilities." , unfortunately these events did not raise enough to sustain the large property and Villa Maria was put up for sale again in the Spring of 2005, when it was sold to Nine West
founder shoe manufacturer Vincent Camuto and his wife Louise for $35 million. The current owners did a major renovation on the Villa from 2005-2010. The lot has been subdivided and the owners have applied to tear down three auxiliary structures. Two of the structures were designed in 1887 by George Howell Skidmore (1841–1904) who designed numerous landmark buildings on Long island. The third structure was built in 1987.
-style building, incorporating elements of Beaux-Arts, Neoclassical
and Colonial Revival
design that sits on nearly 15 acres of land. It has been described as having "an arresting asymmetrical facade and complex roof lines breaking out into a profusion of windows and dormer
s". The main entrance is dominated by a grand Colonial-style portico, supported on four tall columns which rise to the height of the second floor. The walls are finished in stucco that looks like limestone.
The interior features a "huge" rotunda, rising to a dome-capped ceiling. The 27,000 square footbuilding includes 9 bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, a ballroom and institutional kitchen. The ballroom is now a grand living room. The original teak floor from the first renovation in 1905 is still in the living room. Its wide beams are connected by bow tie construction so the entire floor is held together without a nail. The floor was taken from one of th eships in Edward In addition to the main building, the estate also includes three cottages. The estate, which is set between Mill Creek and Mecox Bay, includes 1100 feet (335.3 m) of waterfront. The villa in its entirety has been described as a "stunning sight" and is said to be "perhaps Water Mill's best-known landmark."
Water Mill, New York
Water Mill is a census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, USA, and a hamlet of the Town of Southampton. The population was 1,724 at the 2000 census. Water Mill is the correct name per local government and the United States Postal Service...
. Built as a private residence in 1887, the villa itself was extensively remodelled by Brooklyn-based architect Frank Freeman
Frank Freeman
Frank Freeman was a Canadian-American architect based in Brooklyn, New York. A leading exponent of the Richardsonian Romanesque architectural style who later adopted Neoclassicism, Freeman has been called "Brooklyn's greatest architect"...
in 1919. It later became a convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
and spirituality center, before recently becoming a private residence once again. The building is considered a 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...
landmark
Landmark
This is a list of landmarks around the world.Landmarks may be split into two categories - natural phenomena and man-made features, like buildings, bridges, statues, public squares and so forth...
.
History
Villa Maria was originally built in 1887 as a "rambling, Queen AnneQueen Anne Style architecture
The Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...
-style summer house" for partners, cousins, and industrial financiers Josiah Lombard and Marshall Ayres, Jr.
Marshall Ayres, Jr.
Marshall Ayres, Jr. was an industrial financier.-Personal life:Marshall Ayres, Jr. was born on February 20, 1839, in Griggsville, Illinois, to father Marshall Ayres and mother Hannah Ayers, who were native to Truro, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod...
of the Lombard, Ayres & Company. The original owners, wanting to put something decorative on this one-acre front lawn, bought the beautiful Cowrith Windmill for $750 in 1891, from its location in North Haven, and had it hauled to this front lawn where it stands today.
In the late 1890s, the building was sold to Dr. Edward L. Keyes, a prominent New York urologist and business associate of the son of U.S. President Martin van Buren
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....
. The villa at this time was described as "a tall and very elaborate Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
house", replete with "turrets, balconies, loggia
Loggia
Loggia is the name given to an architectural feature, originally of Minoan design. They are often a gallery or corridor at ground level, sometimes higher, on the facade of a building and open to the air on one side, where it is supported by columns or pierced openings in the wall...
s" and protected by an old-fashioned red shingle
Shingle
Shingle can refer to:*A flat covering element for a roof, including**Shake , a wooden shingle that is made from split logs**Roof shingle, a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements...
roof—from which it derived its name, "Red Gables".
In 1909, Keyes sold the estate to New York businessman Edward P. Morse
Edward P. Morse
Edward Phinley Morse was a Canadian-American industrialist and proprietor of the Morse Dry Dock and Repair Company, a major late 19th/early 20th century ship repair facility located in Brooklyn, New York...
, proprietor of the Morse Dry Dock & Repair Company
Morse Dry Dock & Repair Company
The Morse Dry Dock and Repair Company was a major late 19th/early 20th century ship repair and conversion facility located in New York City. Begun in the 1880s as a small shipsmithing business known as the Morse Iron Works, the company grew to be one of America's largest ship repair and refit...
, a major U.S. ship repair yard based in Brooklyn. "A decade after acquiring the property, Morse commissioned a well-known Brooklyn architect Frank Freeman to completely recast Red Gables into an Estate House" The newly renovated house was named Grey Gables.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Morse's company made unprecedented profits, and shortly after the war, in 1919, Morse decided to embark on a substantial rebuild of the Long Island property. Morse commissioned Frank Freeman, an accomplished Brooklyn architect and fellow Canadian expatriate, for the redesign. Freeman virtually rebuilt the house, more than doubling its size, adding a large living wing, a sweeping two-story staircase and an imposing colonnaded portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
, while the walls were refinished with a facade of Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
.
On August 17, 1929, Grey Gables was auctioned to Courtland Palmer of Manhattan for $100,000. It was then passed on to actress, Irene Coleman, whose stage name was Ann Murdagh. She then sold the estate to the Sisters of the Order of St. Dominic, a Roman Catholic order, for $250,000 in 1931. The sisters initially planned to convert the building into a girls' high school, but when this proved impractical, it was decided to utilize the building as a facility for aspirants to the order, whereupon it was renamed Villa Maria High School. In 1953, it became a retirement home for ageing sisters, a use it retained until 1985. In 1992, the Sisters added an arts and craft building to the estate, called the Siena Spirituality Center at Villa Maria, which offered courses in spirituality and holistic living., While the sisters owned the property, they agreed to sell the triangular piece of front lawn upon which the windmill sits to the town of Water Mill for $1. This would be used for a village green. The Dominicans reserved the right to take back this property for the amount they sold it for if the villagers were to use this location in a disreputable way. The current owners still have the right to buy back the village green of Watermill with the windmill on it for just $1, but only if said misbehavior occurs there.
Another interesting fact about this property is that President Theodore Roosevelt's (1858-1919) favorite horse, "General Ruxton", is buried on the grounds. This is the same bronze horse he is featured sitting on outside the Museum of Natural History in New York, NY.
In "2001 and 2002, Villa Maria hosted the Hampton Designer Showcase, an event that raise money for remedial work on the facilities." , unfortunately these events did not raise enough to sustain the large property and Villa Maria was put up for sale again in the Spring of 2005, when it was sold to Nine West
Nine West
Nine West is a fashion wholesale and retail company best known for quickly translating runway trends into styles attainable by mass consumers. Initially founded as a fashion footwear brand, Nine West has since expanded into handbags, sunglasses, legwear, outerwear, jewelry, belts, watches, cold...
founder shoe manufacturer Vincent Camuto and his wife Louise for $35 million. The current owners did a major renovation on the Villa from 2005-2010. The lot has been subdivided and the owners have applied to tear down three auxiliary structures. Two of the structures were designed in 1887 by George Howell Skidmore (1841–1904) who designed numerous landmark buildings on Long island. The third structure was built in 1987.
Description
Villa Maria is an eclecticEclecticism in architecture
Eclecticism is a term used to describe a single piece of work, which incorporates a mixture of elements from previous historical styles to create something that is new and original...
-style building, incorporating elements of Beaux-Arts, Neoclassical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
and Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
design that sits on nearly 15 acres of land. It has been described as having "an arresting asymmetrical facade and complex roof lines breaking out into a profusion of windows and dormer
Dormer
A dormer is a structural element of a building that protrudes from the plane of a sloping roof surface. Dormers are used, either in original construction or as later additions, to create usable space in the roof of a building by adding headroom and usually also by enabling addition of windows.Often...
s". The main entrance is dominated by a grand Colonial-style portico, supported on four tall columns which rise to the height of the second floor. The walls are finished in stucco that looks like limestone.
The interior features a "huge" rotunda, rising to a dome-capped ceiling. The 27,000 square footbuilding includes 9 bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, a ballroom and institutional kitchen. The ballroom is now a grand living room. The original teak floor from the first renovation in 1905 is still in the living room. Its wide beams are connected by bow tie construction so the entire floor is held together without a nail. The floor was taken from one of th eships in Edward In addition to the main building, the estate also includes three cottages. The estate, which is set between Mill Creek and Mecox Bay, includes 1100 feet (335.3 m) of waterfront. The villa in its entirety has been described as a "stunning sight" and is said to be "perhaps Water Mill's best-known landmark."