Acanthus Press Publishers

Here is the new catalog for Acanthus Press. Many great books that everyone's library should have! http://www.acanthuspress.com/PDF/2012Web.pdf

Houses of the Hamptons, Ballyshear

The garden at Ballyshear. Photo from the Frances Benjamin Johnston collection at the Library of Congress.

Ballyshear is one the great houses of the Hamptons, still maintained as a private  residence.
Last year it was reported to have been bought by New York  City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg. Please click HERE to read the chapter on Ballyshear from, " Houses of the Hamptons, 1880-1930" by Gary Lawrance & Anne Surchin, Acanthus Press 2007.

Click HERE for more.
Click HERE to read ,What's going on with Ballyshear? on todays Curbed Hamptons.

Shelburne Farms, the Vermont Estate of Lila Vanderbilt Webb

If your looking for a great weekend escape and want to live in Vanderbilt Gilded Age style, The Webb family's Vermont mansion is an Inn, called Shelburne Farms. I have stayed there and it is like a step back in time. http://www.shelburnefarms.org/

If you can't get there, read the book!  The House at Shelburne Farms

Miradero, The Lila Vanderbilt Webb Estate

An interesting book about a lesser known Vanderbilt family mansion.

Miradero, The Lila Vanderbilt Webb Estate

 

 http://www.imagesfromthepast.com/miradero.html

Georgian Court,The estate of George Gould

Here is a nice old book about Georgian Court. The George Jay Gould Estate at Lakewood, New Jersey.

Georgian Court by Christina Geis

Click HERE to read about the Gould Family.

The Rich are Different by Jon Winokur

The Rich are Different. Here is a fun little book for the train, plane or Jitney! 

The Morton Plant Mansion

The Morton Plant Mansion at 52nd Street & Fifth Avenue.

Here is an early photograph of the Morton Plant mansion on Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street. The building survives today as the New York Store of Cartier Jewelers. Please click HERE to read more about it and see it as it is today. One of the famous stories about the house was that it was exchanged for a pearl necklace worth $1,000.000 in 1917.

The Duke Semans Mansion on Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street

The Duke Semans Mansion.

The Duke Semans mansion, on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street. Click HERE to see a video of it as it is today.

Spring Hill, The Henry Carnegie Phipps estate at Old Westbury, New York

The Stowe/Phipps mansion at Old Westbury.

This estate was designed by famous architect, John Russell Pope, who also designed many of the great buildings in Washington, D.C. It was originally built for the  William L. Stowe, then Henry Carnegie Phipps bought it. It remained in the Phipps family until recently and now the property is being made into new smaller estates, still retaining the beauty of the property with its now mature trees and landscaping. Sadly the mansion above was demolished by the Phipps family in the 1970s and all that remains is the terrace. Click HERE to see a video brochure.

Shoremonde

Shoremonde, the estate of Ormond G. Smith on Center Island, Oyster Bay, New York.

Shoremonde, the Center Island, Oyster Bay estate of Ormond G. Smith. This wonderful mansion once sat on the cliffs over looking the Long Island Sound. In the 1940s after being unused for a number of years, it was demolished and most of the rubble was pushed off the cliff. Visiting the site in the 1980s, you could still see, carved stone elements and parts of the marble staircase being eroded by time. Click HERE to see more photos and floor plans on Old Long Island.

Ball Giving in New York

1901 Ball at the William Collins Whitney's Fifth Avenue Mansion.

Here is an interesting article from  1899 that appeared in the April edition of Munsey's Magazine,about how to give a ball during the height of the Gilded Age.

Click below for more,

William Collins Whitney Mansion