tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170852285107502075.post6851579203016246751..comments2024-03-28T09:54:05.932-07:00Comments on BIG OLD HOUSES: But Would I Live Here?John Foremanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05062464473900774511noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170852285107502075.post-55635805815816609532012-11-10T20:02:33.685-08:002012-11-10T20:02:33.685-08:00In relation to the missing glass ceiling-the curre...In relation to the missing glass ceiling-the current plaster one appears to be mounted lower than it. Could its remains still be there, covered, perhaps, after it may have become unsafe? GlenHhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10978357851849422273noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170852285107502075.post-80293040628511532992012-11-09T22:56:24.346-08:002012-11-09T22:56:24.346-08:00........taking a second look at the images present...........taking a second look at the images presented, I find the 'original' Ophir Hall far superior an aesthetic construct to the subsequent development. The original is plausible, muscular, direct and credible as the romantic object in the bucolic landscape it occupies. The latter version is confused and conceptually distorted beyond the bounds of what might be called 'integrity'.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170852285107502075.post-22884390819140891522012-11-09T22:46:55.170-08:002012-11-09T22:46:55.170-08:00Thank you for the great tour! Must say despite...Thank you for the great tour! Must say despite the grand scale, sumptuous materials and details, as well as very interesting social history, including the referred-to MM&W purported involvement, there is something 'ungainly', 'commercial' and unconvincing about much of the house. The porte cochere and associated 'porch' columns show a distressingly thin, 'spindly' proportion terribly at odds with the apparent baronial castle imagery. Inside the proportions and details, although 'conventionally' elegant appear (at least to this eye) a touch malaprop and 'catalog-anonymous'. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170852285107502075.post-89065790395044385792012-11-08T19:46:37.681-08:002012-11-08T19:46:37.681-08:00PS---I don't see any pictures of the famous ma...PS---I don't see any pictures of the famous marquetry room to the right of the main hall, which Mrs. Reid had brought from the Villard House when she had the drawing room there remodeled in more fashionable French style--The Down East Dilettantehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13950254669198151850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170852285107502075.post-21412044817045542582012-11-08T17:45:31.270-08:002012-11-08T17:45:31.270-08:00That is really an interesting tidbit. Thank you so...That is really an interesting tidbit. Thank you so much!John Foremanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05062464473900774511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170852285107502075.post-84687861865196686312012-11-08T12:07:12.725-08:002012-11-08T12:07:12.725-08:00I too have always intended to make that detour, an...I too have always intended to make that detour, and next time, I will, thanks to this.<br /><br />Although I know you know, since it isn't mentioned, it's worth a remdinder that Mrs. Reid was the sister of Ogden Mills of Staatsburgh. Such a very well housed family.<br /><br />Can't tell you how much I love these thorough toursThe Down East Dilettantehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13950254669198151850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170852285107502075.post-55561135233294971612012-11-08T08:32:43.105-08:002012-11-08T08:32:43.105-08:00what a beautiful house and a great tour! How I wou...what a beautiful house and a great tour! How I would love to wander around for the day. Thanks so much for sharing -great post!ArchitectDesign™https://www.blogger.com/profile/01481754380363676771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6170852285107502075.post-66525306179743346002012-11-08T07:48:18.724-08:002012-11-08T07:48:18.724-08:00Fascinating as always. It's nice that this ho...Fascinating as always. It's nice that this house has been so sensitively re-purposed by the college.<br /><br />The paneled library that you picture is a rare survivor of a room designed by the Herter Brothers, a high-end interior design firm most famous for their work in the aesthetic style of the 1870's for clients such as William Henry Vanderbilt and J.P. Morgan. This library was originally designed for the Fifth Avenue residence of Darius Ogden Mills in the 1880s. His daughter became Mrs. Reid and she had the library removed when her father's Fifth Avenue residence was demolished around 1910 and had it re-installed at Ophir Hall (Antiques Magazine, May 2002). A sentimental gesture, perhaps?<br /><br />I've always intended to detour off I-287 and visit this house! I'll have to move that up on my "to-do list".Shawn Cullenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18270423231633162242noreply@blogger.com