McKim

Lord's Castle, Estate of the Day

Filed under: Estates

The first president of the Erie Railroad, Eleazar Lord, had today's home, a stone castle built for him in Piermont, New York. The Victorian mansion in Piermont was originally called "The Cedars" but is known to locals as "the castle."

It was built circa 1892 and designed by legendary architecture firm McKim, Mead & White, The 15,000 square foot main home is on over 18 acres with a separate cottage, two-story barn with classic cupola and in-ground pool. The beautiful older home has ornate moldings, coffered ceilings, and a grand staircase. The listing pictures are a bit dark but show leaded glass windows, columns, original fireplace mantels. The lower level includes a billiards room, a huge old style walk-in safe, walk-in ice box room, a prep kitchen with dumb waiter and second large kitchen with original wood stove. This home is listed at $9.5 million.

Gallery: Lord's Castle

Tags: estate of the day, mckim, new york, new york real estate, piermont, piermont new york

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Whitewood Point, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Today's home in Lloyd Harbor, New York has a fine architectural pedigree. Whitewood Point was created by the firm of McKim, Mead and White back in 1917 and is believed to have been done by Stanford White himself. The home is on 55 acres on a bluff overlooking Cold Spring Harbor. This striking estate has a chauffeur's cottage, caretakers residence, summer guest residence, greenhouse and a separate three car garage. We don't have many interior shots but what we've got reveals a sweeping staircase and plenty of water views through wide windows. This home is listed at $21 million.

Gallery: Whitewood Point

Tags: estate of the day, lloyd harbor, mckim, new york real estate, stanford white, whitewood point

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New England's Great Estates

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Estates, Books

Three centuries worth of New England's magnificent houses and mansions are collected in an equally grand new book from Rizzoli: Great Houses of New England, by Roderic H. Blackburn (text) and Geoffrey Gross (photography). Spanning a wide range of styles, these stately houses are the originals from which many of today's McMansions have been copied. They're more than just artifacts, however; as Blackburn writes, "Through the architecture and decorative arts we see the development of a people and their region."

Among the more splendid examples in the book is the Jeremiah Lee Mansion in Marblehead, Mass., dating from 1767 (pictured here), the impressiveness of which is "conveyed by its subdued monumentality," Blackburn notes. Lee, a shipping merchant, built it to emulate aristocratic estates in England, so you might say not all that much has changed. Also of note are the beautiful brick Georgian Macpheadris-Warner House in Portsmouth, N.H., dating from 1716; Rosecliff, a palatial McKim, Mead & White mansion which was the setting for the movie version of The Great Gasby; and Brookside, a gracious Greek Revival in Orwell, VT. See the gallery for more.

Gallery: Great Houses of New England