Comments by "Andrew Brendan" (@andrewbrendan1579) on "This House" channel.

  1. Good for Mr. and Mrs. Stoakes for staying in the house for so long. A big, grand house yet not over-the-top. Though we don't have Before photos to go along with the After, I probably would have preferred the Before as I don't care for the busy, cluttered late 1800's interiors.
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  2. How could there be such a lack of communication that a palatial house was built when it was the opposite of what was wanted? The house that was built makes me think of an enlarged, more ornate version of the White House in Washington, D.C. but without the white paint that covers the stone walls.
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  3. I'm reminded of the phrase "the gift of giving". What a joy to be able to do things for others. I live in Bloomington, Indiana, which gained notoriety for being the least affordable city in the U.S. because people were and probably still are paying around half of their income on housing. (I'm paying a bundle for little.) So much here is run by slumlord management companies. I would love to help people with housing and paying for housing so they don't have to decide between food, rent and medication and that includes people with jobs. I would like to make sure that organizations that assist people with developmental disabilities have what they need and can pay their staff what they deserve and that excellent group homes would be available to those in need of housing and special care. I'd love to pay for people's medical bills and for things such as putting new roofs on houses. --- At the same time, even without fortunes, most of us can do things here and there for others. We don't have to wait for riches before we can help others, even on a small scale there are ways to help and serve and provide.
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  4. Rather than being illiterate, I wonder if Mrs Fish may actually have been dyslexic.
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  5.  @bonitahobbs2374  The mansion at Florham was not built by slaves. New Jersey is northern state and if it had ever had slavery it had long since been abolished even before the Emancipation Proclomation of 1863. Slavery in the U.S. came to an end a little more than 30 years before the house was commisioned.
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  6. My favorite: the library area. I could spend a lot of quality time there with a good book!
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  7. The beauty of this house goes so well with the beauty of the surrounding landscape. How could someone with such a house live there for only a small part of the year? I would make it my year-round home. Maybe it's just my imagination but there seems to be a good presence or quality to the Hyde Park mansion. I've seen one or two pictures of the house that was torn down to make room for the present house. It was quite a bit like the White House in Washington, D.C., but a little more ornate. I'd love to see a video about that house but I wonder if enough documentation exists for such a project. Ken, this may not line up with what your channel is about but here goes: Would you ever consider making videos about ocean liners? They were mansions at sea and and had beautiful interiors in both public spaces such as the loungs and dining rooms and in private spaces such as the suites and staterooms. There was the Victorian or Edwardian beauty of such ships as the Olympic and Titanic and later the Art Deco of the Ile de France and Normandie and the New Realism (I think that's the term) of the Bremen and Europa, a modern but not exactly Art Deco style.
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  8. Ken, I enjoyed the biographical information along with the historical, yet what a sad story. Still i'm reminded of that great line from the movie "The Best of Everything" in which Amanda says to one of young womene who works for her: "Gregg, I've had more experience than you and for experience to be of value somehow someone must learn by it". Arabella Huntington's life story can be a lesson to us even today.
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  9. The story of Mary G. Pickney would have been great material for a short story or novel by Louis Auchincloss.
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  10. Wonderful video, Ken, as always. My family has strong Chicago connections and it was great to learn about that wonderful couple who did so much for the city. Along with houses, I like ocean liners and, if my memory is right, Mrs. Palmer sailed on the maiden voyage of the Lusitania and reported her experiences sailing on the Cunarder. I believe it was Mrs. Palmer who made the interesting observation that the Lusitania appeared to have one deck too, many comparing it to an hotel that's one floor to tall.
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  11. A remarkable house, but so much stuff in it! Maybe someone else knows this better and can add a comment: I think it was Elsa Maxwell who encouraged people in the earlier part of the 20th century to reduce by half the number of things in the rooms of their homes. The Frick house is wonderful but so much is in there. Is there anyplace restful to the eye?
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  12. In the early 70's my family lived in a suburb of Cleveland. Sometimes when going for a drive we would go along the shore of Lake Erie and in one area there were several mansions like Bicknell though maybe not quite as large and that were probably from the same era. I wish I could better remember just where that area of beautiful houses was located, but maybe someone knows about this and can add a comment. It would be great to see those houses again.
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  13. The pickled remains would have been from the father's medical practice. ....At least I hope so!
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  14. Beautiful place and I like the glimpse of the sunken garden. -- Looks like there's been a significant amount of changes to the roof/attic area. I'm guessing some additions and expansions were made but then removed to restore the mansion to its original appearance.
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  15. Ken, I think I like this house best of all the ones you've shown in your videos. Coe Hall is beautiful and grand yet looks so comfortable and pleasant, a place one could call home. I'd say the bedrooms are the spaces I like the most. I could happily spend many hours in those spaces.
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  16. All those wonderful things and elements put together then taken apart after such a short time. And to make it worse, this has happened over and over. -- I remember reading about Millicent Rogers in a books called "The Power of Style" in which she and other influential women were written about. Very interesting reading. I look forward to the upcoming video about her.
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  17. Something I'm not quite clear about: for exactly how long was the Gates mansion standing? What was the date of compmletion?
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  18.  @lauraguida8482  I did read "Empty Mansions", great book. I could hardly put it down. I hope you'll enjoy "The Dollmaker", it's a remarkable American novel.
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  19.  @cynthiajohnston424  You might also enjoy "Dead End Gene Pool -- A Memoir by Wendy Burden". The author is descended from Florence Vanderbilt and Hamilton Twombly who lived at Florham estate which is now a school. Its a sad, but fascinating story. Also there's "Fortune's Children -- the Fall of the House of Vanderbilt" by Arthur Vanderbilt II. Both are excellent books. I especially enjoyed the latter one, could hardly stop reading it!
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  20. You might be interested in the book "Fortunes Children--the Fall of the House of Vanderbilt" by Arthur T. Vanderbilt II. It's one of the most engrossing, page-turning books I've ever read. You may already know this but, I was surprised to learn that not one of the many Vanderbilt mansions was occupied family members for more than one generation.
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  21. Your comment reminded me of what was said about the Stewart mansion in New York. Someone said the house would be good as a gentlemen's club -- and it later was used for that purpose. I can see that happening to the Stanford house had it lasted longer. I was reading the book "The Earth Shook, the Sky Burned" about the '06 earthquake and it was mentioned that the houses on Nob Hill though intended to be family homes for many years were already in "semi-public use" by the time of the earthquake. The Hopkins mansion next door was already being used as an art school.
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  22. I don't know if this is true but I read or heard somewhere that the location of the mansion was originally a shanytown and that Henry Flagler invited the residents, free of charge, to a circus he had brought to town. While the shanytown residents were at the circus, Henry Flagler had their homes burned down so the people would go away and he could have the land for the house. I hope this isn't true.
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  23.  @bobcat3658  I was thinking about the "Dark Shadows" connection! Lyndhurts for the movies, Seaview Terrace for the TV show. If my memory is right, "the old house" that was sometimes shown and that Baranabas lived in on the TV series was on the Lyndhurst estate but was lost in a fire.
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  24.  @jcsgodmother  That's a new one to me! Thanks for the information!
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  25. I second the motion! I'd love to see a video about the Schwab mansion, another house that should still be in use today but has been gone for many decades.
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  26. What with the way Long Island mansions were torn down after World War II I'm a little surprised Farnsworth lasted as long as it did. Maybe it's because I'm from a rural background, but when I see that vast landscaping, along with the gardens I think of how a lot of food could be grown there and the estate be close to if not self-sufficient and have something to share with others. My best recollection is that the Florham estate was much like that, an almost self-contained, self-supported place.
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  27. I'm the same way. I enjoying seeing and learning about these mansions and the people involved with them but, even if I could afford a mansion, I'd be happy with a one-bedroom apartment.
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  28. Ken, I don't know if this is true, but maybe you or a viewer can confirm or contradict this: I read or heard that before Whitehall was built there was a shantytown on the site and that Henry Flagler brought in a circus had the shantytown residents there free of charge. While the resdients were at the circus Henry Flagler had their homes burned down. Since the people of the shantytown had no homes there was no reason for them to stay so Henry Flager could now go ahead with bulding the mansion on the site.
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  29.  @xanthopanmorganii229  It makes no sense to me either. Items could have been auctioned or sold outright or given to museums and historical societies and the "developers" could have made more money and/or possibly gotten tax deductions or refunds, depending on how incomes taxes were done in those days. Or even just open the houses to the public and say, "Here, take what you want". Monica Randall wrote about how she and her sister did get into some of the mansions and were removing what items they could such as gold door fittings and, if my memory is correct, a hanging globe light by Tiffany. The sisters were even removing clothing from the houses; not trying to make money but were trying save what they knew where historical items. Sometimes retired servants who still lived on the estates , though the mansions were no longer occupied, actually helped the two sisters.
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  30. If you haven't already read this Vanderbilt book I'd like to highly recommend "Fortune's Children -- The Fall of the House of Vanderbilt" by Arthur T. Vanderbilt II. I could hardly put the book down I found it so engrossing. Alva's daughter Consuela wrote her autobiography "The Glitter and the Gold" with ghost writer Stuart Preston. I know of this book but haven't read it. I did read "The Vanderbilt Era" by Louis Auchincloss. If you're interested in the stories of wealthy Americans in fact and fiction, I think you'll like the work of Louis Auchincloss who was from a wealthy New York family himself. I've read maybe 40 of his many books. I'd like to particularly recommend his book "The House of Five Talents" told in the voice of an elderly spinster who grew up enormously rich durnig the Gilded Age. I don't recall the specifics but Louis Auchincloss and Jacqueline Bouvier became step-siblings or step-cousins when Jacqueline's divorced mother married a member of the Auchincloss family.
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  31. Such a remarkable house and only a few photos to tell of it. At least parts of the house were salvaged though I wonder how many people know today that part of their home may have once been part of the Leiter mansion. It's not a pleasant suggestion, but maybe the Leiters were shut of out Chicago high society (at least a new boom town's version of high society) because they had what might considered a Jewish name. I read Nigel Nicolson's biography of Mary Leiter who became Vicereine of India, but nothing specific was said of the family's religious affiliation if any.
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  32. Great video, Ken, and a great house. I could spend a lot of time living in that living room!
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  33. If you haven't already read it, I want to highly recommend the book "Empty Mansions" about Huguette Clark. I read the book several years ago and could hardly put it down.
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  34. The house was torn down after Mrs. Davison's death in 1961.
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  35. Wow! I knew of the Hopkins mansion but had no idea there was such a story to go along with it.
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  36. You may already know about this but just in case: Glensheen was used in the movie "You'll Like My Mother" starring Patty Duke. The house could be said to be one of the characters in the movie. I became an admirer of Glensheen watching the movie.
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  37.  @kridder1018  This is news to me! What is the name of the Wendy Webb novel with the estate based on Glensheen?
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  38. Both residences are great, but I lean more toward the Beaux Arts house and I would choose grandfather Crocker's Second Empire house in San Francisco over that.
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  39. Wonderful place and a wonderful presentation. That garden is terrific. I'm curious about the checkerboard flooring: I've heard that that's connected with Freemasonry. I wonder if the pattern of the floor is connected to the Masonic Lodge (Washington and other Founding Fathers were a part of that group) or if someone just liked the way it looked.
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  40. I remember that show. I don't recall that episode, but would enjoy seeing it.
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  41. Wonderful video, Ken! Fascinating and yet a cautionary tale also. Any plans for a video about Buckingham Palace? I'm not hinting at anything, mind you, just asking a question....for a friend.
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  42. Of Frick mansions this one is my favorite. I liked all three of the bedrooms that were used by the Frick family and of those three I like Helen's best. It's the least elaborate and has a friendly, homey quality.
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  43. One of the houses that is big and grand, but also looks homey and comfortable.
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  44. The floorplan isn't the same, but the exterior of the house reminds me of Seaview Terrace which many of as we were growing up knew as Collinwood Manor. Sounds like the Schell house was a happy place while Mr. Schell was still living.
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  45. A tragic architectural and artistic loss but the important thing is that no lives were lost in the fire. Compared to a human life the house isn't that important. Interesting to learn about the Smith & Weson .38. I own one!
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  46. Fun fact: the house at 3:36 is made of concrete. I saw it in a Dover book about concrete homes. The Fulton-Cutting house: what a horror of a house. I find the place jarring with it's odd, asymmetrical, arrangement of features and angled floorplan. -- I read somewhere that when Tuxedo Park residents didn't have as much money as they used to, maybe because of the Depression or after World War II, and were not able to maintain their New York residences as well as those in Tuxedo Park or maybe gave up the New York homes entirely, a butler in the park made the wry comment that "the season" there was now lasting from January 1st until December 31st. Nothing wrong with making one's Tuxedo Park residence a ful-time residence if one had to choose between two homes. As I said about another house, the gardens could be used for growing one's own food and being more self-sufficient.
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  47. Ken, I'm back again with another comment! The information about hotels made me think of a novel you and your viewers might enjoy. It's "Hotel" (1965) by Arthur Hailey who also wrote the 1968 novel "Airport". "Hotel" is a fascinating book about the people working at the Hotel St. Gregory and gives lots of information about how such an establishment worked in those days. I wonder if any of the book is inspired by the Hilton family and their hotels. The movie 1967 version of "Hotel" stars Rod Taylor along with supporting roles by Karl Malden, Merele Oberon and Melvyn Douglas.
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  48. It's the Hopkins mansion that was also lost in the fire. There's at least one video about it that I can think of here on You Tube. It had quite a history though didn't stand for all that many years.
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  49. A couple of people have made comments comparing Wingwood to the Winchester house in California. I'm thinking of Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House" in which the Crain mansion was deliberately "off" with the intention of causing confusion and unease.
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  50. Mr. Armour may not have been good to his workers, but give him credit for putting his affairs in order and paying off his debts. Too I'm glad his wife and daughter were provided for. Ken, you menioned Jane Addams's involvement in the strike situation. She operated Hull House, what might be considered a community center that started out in a 19th century home originally owned by a man named Hull. The original part of Hull House still stands in Chicago as a museum along with some office and conference space. Jane Addams and her work and Hull House might be an interesting topic for a future video.
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