Villa Mille Fiore, Southampton

Villa Mille Fiore at Southampton was located at the corner of Coopers Neck Lane and Great Plains Road.
Villa Mille Fiore," House of a Thousand Flowers",was built in 1910 for Albert Boardman. It was modeled after the Villa Medici in Rome. In this article from Arts & Decorations, there are some views of the living room and dining room, of this incredible, now demolished mansion that once stood at the corner of Great Plains Road and Coopers Neck Lane. Click HERE to see the site today. The house was an oddity among other Southampton houses and was used as a setting for an Austrian Villa  in an early 1920s silent film, " Just Suppose". The Hamptons was an early place where the budding film industry made movies before moving to Hollywood. Rudolf Valentino's famous scenes of his galloping through the desert, were said to have been shot on the dunes at Montauk.

Coverage of Villa Mille Fiore, it's history with floor plans and many more images can be found in the book, Houses of the Hamptons, 1880-1930, written by Gary Lawrance and Anne Surchin,  published by Acanthus Press 2007. The book contains stories about  32 other houses, most with floor plans, numerous photographs and family histories. Click HERE to preview some chapters.

See more about Villa Mille Fiore as reviewed by David Patrick Columbia in his New York Social Diary.
Visit Acanthus Press to buy and see many other wonderful books on Architecture, Interiors and Gardens from the Gilded Age.

The Maidstone Club at East Hampton.

Entrance to the Maidstone Club, East Hampton.
Maidstone Club, East Hampton.
 
Here are two old great views of the Maidstone Club, designed by architect Roger Bullard in the 1920's after the previous building burned down. Click HERE to see it on Bing Maps.

Architectural model of a Southampton residence.

Architectural model by model maker Gary Lawrance, AIA of a residence designed by Fleetwood & McMullan Architects
Click HERE to see more models by Gary Lawrance, AIA from his Exhibition, " Phenomenal Places" at the Southampton Historical Museum.

Garden at the Southampton estate of Peter Wyckoff


The colorful garden of the Wyckoff estate which was located at the western end of Gin Lane near Lake Agawam in Southampton.

The gardens at the Wyckoff estate in it's heyday were some of the most beautiful in the Hamptons. The property later was sold to Jessie Woolworth Donahue, who with her husband James redid the whole estate, making it into one of the most luxurious in the Hamptons.Unfortunately the house and gardens no longer exist, except for the carriage houses and the pool house built on the ocean by the Donahues, which could easily be mistaken for the original mansion since it has been expanded over the years. Wooldon Manor is featured in the book, " Houses of the Hamptons, 1880-1930", by Gary Lawrance & Anne Surchin. Click HERE to see a review of the book on New York Social Diary and for more views of Wooldon Manor. Click HERE to see the property today on Bing Maps.

Southampton Vs. Newport

Newport, Rhode Island, is a summer resort to which thousands of the wealthy throng each year to strive for social recognition.  Southampton, Long Island, is a quiet seaside village whither a few hundred of the old New York aristocracy go each summer to get away from Newport and all it signifies.  Newport is rich and blatantly proud of it.  Southampton is wealthy and gives the matter little or no concern.  Newport is a battleground for those who have social campaigns to wage.  Southampton is a resting place for men and women who have never found it necessary to fight or buy their way into society.

This book written in 1924 by Mrs. Van Rensselaer is one of the best books that chronicles the era of the, " Gilded Age".  Her reflections on the era from someone who like  Edith Wharton lived through it are insightful. The book covers not only Southampton and Newport, but  gives a complete analysis of High Society in the Gilded Age.  During the, "Gilded Age", Newport was always considered the, "Queen of Resorts" and all the other resorts of the era where often  compared to Newport. Southampton, which in this time was often called the, " Little Newport".

Click HERE for another amusing story about Southampton and Newport.
Click HERE for a great story about Newport Society.