Last fall, I was scouting Westchester for period upscale homes when I happened to find a gem, located far back from the road on an enormous plot of land.
I try not to get my hopes up for this type of thing – for a property of this sort, most of the time, the owners simply don’t want the hassle of a film crew invading their lives. But a “For Sale” sign at the edge of the road gave me hope…
…and I was in luck! I received a call back soon after letting me know that filming would be considered. In fact, it turns out that the mansion was designed by the esteemed firm of McKim, Mead & White and built in 1907…
…And has been empty for the past seven years. Would I like to come by and take a look around?
I arrived for my tour on an overcast fall day, with thoughts of Agatha Christie-style mansion murder mysteries springing to mind.
This house is BIG.
As you walk around the property, entire wings are suddenly revealed at each turn:
The mansion was originally built for one Hobart Park, who had made money in the liquor industry and later with the Tilford line of department stores.
Very little has changed from the original construction – the pool still remains…
Located at the top of a huge hill, the grounds are said to have been designed by the Olmstead Brothers. Sadly, much of the land has been sold off over the years…
Still, it’s not hard to feel like you’re in very much your own world when touring the property:
We headed inside…
The house is in beautiful condition…
…with large, breezy rooms suggesting a hundred years of lavish dinner parties and social gatherings:
Lots of elegant passages…
But what really intrigued me were all the turn of the century details hidden in the most unexpected places. For example, in this wood-paneled library…
Tucked away in a corner…
A secret hiding spot!
We then went into the dining room…
…where, nestled in what seems like an ordinary closet: a beautiful bar made of either copper or brass (I forget which):
And, mounted on the door to the bar – three bottle holders with spigots. I love how the liquor would fill those little glass circles:
Tiled fireplace:
From the dining room, we headed toward the kitchen, coming first to an adjacent staging room. This is where hundreds of plates and silverware were kept for servants to prepare:
On the wall, a servant call box:
Press one of the many buttons located throughout the house…
…and an alarm would go off, with the appropriate room tag popping up. In the servants quarters upstairs, I found a call box with the glass removed, revealing the wiring…
…and you can see how many of the rooms were assigned:
The name “Hanes” on several of the tags refers to the second owner of the house…
…John Wesley Hanes, a corporate executive and one time Undersecretary to the Treasury in the Roosevelt administration. Hanes owned the home from 1942 – 1950.
Also in the kitchen prep area: a state-of-the-art warming box for keeping plates hot:
From the prep area, we proceeded into the kitchen…
I love the white brick tiles behind the stove (but where’s Mrs. White to show me the secret passage to the library??):
Reverse – note the door to the staging room on the left:
A sliding window in the door allowed food to be passed through:
When the house was built, its location was so remote that a fire hose system had to be installed within the house itself. Hoses can be found in various rooms, including the kitchen:
Behind the kitchen door, an old ice crusher (thanks to SNY readers for identifying!) and can opener…
And, extending from one of the cabinets, a flour sifter (thanks again to SNY readers for identifying!):
In a nearby room, a bird cage serves as a hanging lamp:
We then went upstairs…
…and into the master bedroom…
…which opens onto a very pretty balcony overlooking the property:
Heading through a door on the left…
…we went into the white-tiled bathroom…
…which features a really fascinating addition…
A shower taken from a luxury steamship of the era!
The pipes are designed to hit you from all angles, and still work to this day:
Your standard shower knobs: Hot, Cold, and “Needle”…
Hidden in the next room…
…a locked safe in one closet…
…and a fire hose in a pantry:
There are dozens of bedrooms on the second floor…
I lost count about halfway through, but it’s a safe bet you could have your entire extended family stay over…
…with plenty of bathrooms to spare:
Each bedroom opens onto a corridor snaking through the house:
This room was once used as a nursery:
We then ascended to the third floor, a finished attic which once housed the servants quarters…
…and again, room after empty room:
One room of note: this was the old luggage room…
…and still has the original shelving dedicated to storing and packing suitcases:
This door reminded me a lot of Harry Potter’s bedroom…
…and is about as big inside:
The old servants’ bathrooms:
Original sinks with clamshell soap holders:
Finally, no visit to an old mansion would be complete without a trip to the basement…
Nestled in a small hidden room, an old bar:
The house was certainly around during prohibition, and while there’s no proof of it, could this be an early speakeasy?
A nearby wine cellar…
Sadly, only empty bottles remain:
The house has been on market for several years without a buyer, and will be going to auction this September – and if you’ve got a few million to spare, it’s yours! Unfortunately, it’s not landmarked, so pretty much anything could happen to it. And judging by the neighboring McMansions built on what used to be its property, the end could be ugly:
It really would be tragic – there’s a heart in the craftsmanship here that will never be seen again. I can only hope that at this time next year, the house will have found new owners who will treat it as lovingly as decades of prior generations have.
In the meantime, the owners are open to serious filming inquiries – just send me a letter with budget and job description at nycscout@gmail.com (note: the house is within the 25 mile zone from Columbus Circle).
-SCOUT
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